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Where to Find Real Turkish Ice Cream (Dondurma) in Canada

Real dondurma is made with sahlep and mastic, can stretch like dough, and is dramatically different from anything labelled 'Turkish ice cream' at a chain. Here's how to find the real thing.

By the Editors4 min read
Stretched Maraş dondurma
Stretched Maraş dondurma

The first time you eat real dondurma — Turkish ice cream made the way it’s made in Kahramanmaraş — you will know you’ve been eating something different from “ice cream” your whole life.

It is denser than gelato. It can be stretched into ribbons. It melts at a strange rate — slower than regular ice cream, faster than soft serve. The texture against your tongue is unlike anything else, almost chewy, almost elastic. The flavour is delicate and clean, with a faint floral note from the orchids and a piney bite from the mastic resin.

In Canada, the number of places serving real dondurma can be counted on two hands. Most “Turkish ice cream” served in malls and at fairs is regular ice cream stretched with cornstarch for show.

Stretched Maraş dondurma served with candied squash
Real Maraş dondurma is dense enough to be cut with a knife and pulled into ribbons — nothing like soft serve. · Wikimedia Commons
The first time you eat real dondurma, you’ll know you’ve been eating something different your whole life.

What makes dondurma “dondurma”

Real Maraş-style dondurma has two ingredients you won’t find in any other ice cream:

Sahlep. A flour ground from the dried tubers of wild mountain orchids that grow on the slopes around Kahramanmaraş. It’s what gives dondurma its stretchy, almost elastic texture. Sahlep is extremely expensive (the orchids take years to mature and are now protected) and rare even in Turkey.

Mastic. A resin from the mastic tree, native to the Greek island of Chios and parts of southern Turkey. It adds a faint piney, almost evergreen flavour and contributes to the chewy texture. A pinch is used per batch.

A real dondurma maker pounds the ice cream — literally beats it with a long stick — to develop the elasticity.

How to tell if it’s real

The stretch. A small piece of real dondurma can be pulled like soft taffy without breaking. Fake dondurma cracks.

The chew. It has a faint resistance, almost chewy. Regular ice cream is smooth-soft.

The melt. Real dondurma melts slowly and evenly. Regular ice cream goes from frozen to puddle in a minute.

The flavour. Faintly floral, faintly piney, slightly grassy. If your “dondurma” tastes only of vanilla or pistachio, the sahlep and mastic aren’t really there.

The price. Real dondurma costs $7–12 a scoop in Canada. Anything cheaper is using substitutes (or no sahlep at all).

The flavours worth ordering

A traditional Maraş ice cream shop will offer:

  • Sade (plain). The benchmark. Order this first so you know what dondurma actually tastes like before trying flavoured ones.
  • Fıstıklı (pistachio). Made with Gaziantep pistachios. Spectacular.
Gaziantep pistachios
Gaziantep pistachios — the deep-green nuts behind a proper fıstıklı scoop. · Wikimedia Commons
  • Kaymaklı (clotted cream). Richer, denser.
  • Çikolata (chocolate). Less common but excellent if they do it well.
  • Limon (lemon). A summer flavour, sharp and bright.

Skip “Turkish delight” flavour, “rose,” or “saffron” unless the shop has serious chops — they’re often used to mask weak sahlep.

What to eat it with

Dondurma is traditionally served with kaymak (clotted cream), a slice of baklava, or by itself. A piece of fruit (cherry, fig) is also classic. Avoid drowning it in chocolate sauce — you’ll lose everything that makes it special.

Where to find it

Real dondurma in Canada is rare — most places that serve it are either dedicated dondurma counters or full-service Turkish restaurants that import sahlep. The starting point is the verified GTA Turkish restaurants below, grouped by city; call ahead and ask specifically for Maraş-style dondurma before making a dondurma-focused trip.

Toronto· 90

Mississauga· 31

Vaughan· 27

Mr Zagros

Woodbridge · Vaughan

525 Cityview Blvd Unit #7, Woodbridge, ON L4H 0Z4

turkish
(905) 417-8899Details →

Richmond Hill· 9

Oakville· 4

Pickering· 3

Ajax· 3

Markham· 3

Whitby· 2

Burlington· 2

Milton· 2

Newmarket· 2

Brampton· 1

Oshawa· 1

Aurora· 1

King· 1

For more on a specific restaurant, open it from the restaurant directory.

Help us build the dondurma shortlist

If you know a place in Canada — Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, anywhere — that serves real Maraş-style dondurma (the stretchy kind, made with imported sahlep and mastic), please email tips@turkishdining.ca. We travel for it.

Our methodology

  • Restaurant directory compiled from OpenStreetMap and refreshed quarterly
  • No paid placements — see editorial ethics
  • Editor notes on individual restaurant pages reflect anonymous visits paid for like a regular customer
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