Where to get bubble tea and dessert in Chinatown

Chinatown sits in the south-east corner of Soho, and after dinner it turns sweet. Chinatown London, the area's business association, calls the lane of ice cream and tea shops Dessert Alley, better known as Newport Court, and says the neighbourhood's sweets span traditional Chinese bakeries, Hong Kong waffles, Japanese matcha and mille crêpe, Taiwanese bubble tea and Filipino ice cream. Here is where to start.

Egg waffles: Bubblewrap, 24 Wardour Street

Egg waffles are gai daan jai in Hong Kong, batter cooked in a honeycomb mould, and Bubblewrap folds them into cones and fills them with gelato, fruit and sauces. Its founder says the egg waffle has been one of Hong Kong's most popular street foods since the 1950s. Expect a queue, according to Visit London. Listings put opening at around noon and closing around ten, so it suits an early dessert rather than a late one; check the Saturday close.

Order: a loaded egg waffle with gelato. Chinatown London points to chocolate, matcha and strawberry fillings.

Taiyaki and bubble tea: Taiyakiya, 20 Newport Court

Fish-shaped taiyaki, made fresh, with a lightly crisp shell and a soft centre. Red bean paste is the traditional filling, but there are also peanut and sesame, Nutella and banana, and a savoury kimchi cheese. It also does soft-serve taiyaki (matcha and lychee rose among the flavours) and bubble tea with classic boba, red bean, fruit jelly or taro balls. Chinatown London lists it open until ten most nights, with half ten on Friday and Saturday.

Order: a red bean taiyaki, then a boba tea to carry.

Ube ice cream: Mamasons Dirty Ice Cream, 32 Newport Court

A Filipino ice cream parlour. Time Out explains the name as a nod to the traditional Manila method of making ice cream by hand, and describes a small café with palm-print wallpaper, neon, and drawings of desserts on the wall that work as a menu. It is rated cheap by Time Out, and listings show it open later than most of its neighbours.

Order: the ube bilog, a warm toasted pandesal milk bun filled with cold ube ice cream. Time Out's writer prefers the ube ice cream and brownie combo as slightly less sweet.

Fresh mochi: Sakurado, 66 Shaftesbury Avenue

Mochi made to order at the counter, where you can watch it happen. The range runs from classic fresh fruit to matcha yuzu and pistachio, and the patisserie side adds matcha mille crêpe, jiggly cheesecake and burnt Basque cheesecake. Third-party listings suggest roughly £7 to £9 a piece, and reviews are mixed on value, so treat it as a treat rather than a bargain.

Order: fresh mango or strawberry mochi, or the matcha mille crêpe.

Matcha: Tsujiri, 33 Newport Court

A Japanese tea house with matcha soft serve, sundaes, cakes and drinks. Listings show it open late in the week, until half ten Monday to Thursday and eleven on Friday. Portions are small for the price, so share.

Order: the matcha soft-serve sundae with shiratama rice dumplings and red bean.

Something warm: Bun House, 26 to 27 Lisle Street

Steamed buns in a cosy café over two floors, and a handy takeaway stop. Time Out calls the custard lava bun a must-order, and recommends the Kaya French toast, triple-stacked bread with custard between the layers and jasmine clotted cream on top.

Order: the custard lava bun to eat on the street, or the Kaya French toast if you sit down.

The bakery stop: Chinatown Bakery, 7 Newport Place

For daytime or a bag to take home: soft pineapple buns, pandan sponge cakes and pastries filled with red bean or custard, according to Chinatown London. Reviewers on Tripadvisor praise the custard buns and egg custard tarts as reasonably priced.

Order: a custard bun and an egg custard tart.

Timing

• Go at opening for Bubblewrap if you hate queues.
• Half nine onwards, Newport Court's later shops, Mamasons and Tsujiri, keep the evening going after the others wind down.
• Hours shift, so check each shop before a long walk.

More reading: Chinatown London's sweet spots guide, Time Out's Chinatown guide and Sakurado on Chinatown London.