The Jalan Besar / Boon Keng neighbourhood does seem to be rather happening of the late these days — we have written about he opening of the new Moonchild at Jalan Besar which is a concept by the same folks behind Atlas Coffeehouse, Colombus Coffee Co., Apollo Coffee Bar, Neptune and Supernova recently; we have also been tipped off about the new opening of Muted. at Lavender Street which is just a short distance away from Moonchild. Turns out, Muted. is located along the row of shophouses that are now managed by Coliwoo — apart from Muted., the same row of shophouses does also found themselves home to other F&B concepts such as KAEN that seem to have moved in fairly recently as well. Muted. is an ice-cream parlour that seemingly does their own flavours in-house; something quite worthy of a mention considering the sheer number of ice-cream parlours that seem to serve up ice-cream that is supplied to them. The space Muted. occupied does seem to be pretty large; the layout of the shop can be said as spacious, with the space being divided into two sections — the counter area where the display chiller and espresso bar is being located, and a proper dine-in seating area at the back that features definable and chairs; there is also seating capacity for dine-in at the counter area considering the wide aisle that divides the counter and the bench seating by the wall on the opposite side. Muted. offers a good variety of safe and adventurous flavours of ice-cream; think flavours like Soy Gula Melaka and Hokkaido Cookies, just to name a few — their ice-creams being served only in cups (there is no cone option here). That being said, one can also opt for their ice-cream to come in the form of an Affogato (i.e. served with an espresso shot), or with their Buttermilk Waffle. Beverage options available at Muted. includes espresso-based specialty coffee, as well as matcha and drinking chocolate.

Skimming through the display freezer for the various flavours which they have to offer on the day of our visit, we found our attention drawn towards three of the more adventurous flavours which they have in-stock; this would be the Earl Grey Sakura, Evergreen Sorbet and the Soy Gula Melaka. Since there were only two of us that made our visit to Muted. on the day of our visit, we thought it would be better for us to just stick with two scoops of ice-cream instead; our final choice of flavours would be the Earl Grey Sakura and the Evergreen Sorbet — this is given how one is milk-based ice-cream while the other flavour is a sorbet which allows us to try both varieties at the same time. The Earl Grey Sakura is described on the description card at the display chiller to have comprised of elements such as single origin black tea. This flavour is rather interesting considering how their variant sees a fusion of Earl Grey with Sakura — the more commonly found flavour combination of Earl Grey would have been Lavender in most circumstances. The base note here hints subtly of that similar to milk tea, though it isn’t too overly milky and was light-tasting; the more prominent note that provides a contrast of flavours here would be that of the Sakura-infusion. Whilst some may find the typical combination of Earl Grey Lavender to be a little “soapy”, the Sakura provided a floral note that was pretty rose-like in its finish for a twist.

Meanwhile, the Evergreen Sorbet is said to have comprised of elements such as cucumber, lime and mint according to the description card; a combination that we are pretty much a fan of considering how refreshing it could potentially be. This was a good palate cleanser, though we do admit that it makes for an oddball combination with the Earl Grey Sakura in the same cup when everything is melted down — the Evergreen Sorbet carries that cooling, refreshing and zingy notes that we had somewhat expected from our previous experiences from such combinations, though there was a particularly “green” taste that one usually associates with vegetables in its opening notes as we dig in further into scoop of sorbet. One thing we do like about the ice-cream and sorbets at Muted. would be the texture — their ice-cream does come smooth and creamy without being too dense or heavy in flavours; probably something that they have looked into to cater to a larger audience; the sorbet are also not too icy and carries sufficient flavour with a clean finishing note. Given how they have executed their ice-creams with an emphasis on creating something unique flavours whilst not forgetting to also offer something more conventional for those who wish to stay on the safe side (and yet, still with a premium twist), Muted. does make for quite the destination with an aesthetic appeal in its interior as well — a great addition to the ‘hood since ice-cream options just aren’t aplenty here as well.