Lucy Menon strikes back at dentists everywhere with this dangerous yet tasty list of the best places in South Wales to rot your teeth. Be careful. Don’t actually rot your teeth. Make sure to brush and floss for God’s sake.
LOLLIES TRADITIONAL SWEET SHOP
With shelves of jars filled with sweets of every description, this is the sort of place Willy Wonka would get his supplies from. From chocolate and fudge to old favourites like gobstoppers and kola kubes, this shop stocks everything you’ll need to sit on the seafront and indulge your sweet tooth as well as your nostalgia.
20 High Street, Tenby. Info: 018 3484 4472 / www.lollies-sweets.co.uk
I AM SUBZERO
Back in the day, they were Mr Creamy, and they produced the most incredible ice cream. Now they’ve changed their name but not their secret recipe. Family run and using Welsh milk and cream in their products to make a large selection of flavours means they’re on to a winning combination. Definitely worth a trip out of town!
4 Ely Industrial Estate, Williamstown, Tonypandy. Info: 014 4344 1159 / www.iamsubzero.com
POOJA SWEETS & SAVOURIES
Mostly made with cream and sugar, Indian desserts are sweet indeed. A lot is on offer here, including gulab jamun (small doughnuts drenched in syrup), jalebi (bright orange swirls of hard, crunchy batter soaked in yes, more syrup) and carrot halva (something a bit like fudge). And, it’s all vegetarian, if not vegan!
3 Albany Road, Cardiff. Info: 029 2021 4987 / www.poojasweets.com
ST FAGANS SWEET SHOP
This working replica of a sweet shop is a wonderful memento of times gone by. The theatre of weighing out sweets and having tiny paper bags is a wonderful reminder of when sweets were a true luxury, and sometimes it’s good to recall this! A decent range of confectionary, once again displayed in jars, allows you to eat with the eye too, and makes this a truly sweet memory.
St Fagans National History Museum, Michaelston Road, Cardiff. Info: 030 0111 2333 / www.museum.wales/stfagans
AMERICANDY
With Lucky Charms cereals and Pop Tarts, you can start the sugar intake from breakfast. Things are a little pricey, to cover the import costs, but worth it for the novelty of items containing more unusual E-numbers, such as radioactive-green drinks like Mountain Dew, retro candy and all kinds of Reese’s chocolates. There’s bound to be something to sink your teeth into…if you’ve any left.
17 Upper Level, Queens Arcade, Queen Street, Cardiff. Info: 029 2022 3581