Always Room For Desserts 🍮 🍨 🍦

Ordered this via Deliveroo (they no longer have islandwide delivery but some places in west coast might fall in the delivery radius!)

The mane was a little bit squashed during delivery, but most of the cake arrived safely nonetheless.

Cut for a real surprise - beautiful rainbow cake layers hidden in such a mini cake was a true treat. The layers were all moist and fluffy, so this wasn’t just aesthetic but actually tasty! The frosting layer was a bit too thick around the sides but thankfully it wasn’t too sweet. It also helped that the sweetness was cut by zesty and refreshing flavours of lemon. Good for 2-4 pax for a mini celebration especially if no one wants to eat THAT much cake. Would definitely buy this again for small celebrations or get the other cakelet flavours for myself 😂

Forget the waffles, the rosemary cones at HAC are where the goodness is at. The cones aren’t as fragrant as certain local ice cream parlours but they hold up really well (none of that nonsense where you’ve queued soooo long for your delicious herby cone and ice cream only to have it crumble in your hands - literally). I love that these cones are thick and soooo crunchy.

On to the ice cream - Vietnamese coffee flavoured ice cream isn’t that common yet, and it’s definitely one of my top picks from the flavours I’ve tried here. It is really aromatic, and hits all the right notes of bitterness, sweetness, milkiness, plus the texture is soooo creamy and good. Plus points that the ice creams here don’t melt in the blink of an eye. My favourite flavour here still remains as coconut (I’ll always go for the coconut affogato), so this comes as my top pick for scoops, before pistachio (shockingly) or the blue pea nori white chocolate. Can’t wait to try the bacio and other flavours!

One of the three new ice creameries that opened at Sunset Way, but perhaps the most underrated. Hundred Acre Creamery is located along a more quiet stretch facing the carpark, and occupies a smaller unit than the other new offerings in this neighbourhood. Surprisingly, they were empty on a Tuesday night (while BC was packed on Monday night). Service here is impeccable, the staff are all cheerful, welcoming and friendly. They’re extremely patient and attentive as well.

First of what we tried - the Dalat. If you love coconut and avocado, you’ll love this. The coconut ice cream at HAC is amazing. It’s packed full of coconut flavour and is super smooth, I made sure to get myself a pint ($12) to bring home. There wasn’t any strange artificial taste or an overwhelming smell of coconut oil. While I wasn’t such a fan of the avocado mousse (I’m more team savoury avo-toast rather than avo-dessert), it had a pleasant mouthfeel that complemented the creamy coconut ice cream really well. The dessert was topped off with a slice of nuts florentine and crushed nuts for some crunchiness too.

Not my personal favourite but if you like coconut-avocado, this should be a must-try.

Simply can’t pass up pistachio ice cream, and I fell in love with Da Paolo’s pistachio gelato ever since I first tried it!

Very creamy, with a strong pistachio aroma and nuttiness. I sort of wish that there were some crushed pistachios or whole bits of nuts inside but it’s okay - there are other gelato places I turn to for that 😂

A new contender to the waffles and dessert scene at Lorong Kilat. This new ice cream joint is really going head to head with Udders by occupying the unit right next to them. Despite being in direct competition, their business is booming.

Ambience-wise, I love the white lighting and minimalism in Salted Caramel as compared to the slightly warm, garish lighting with over the top humour and decor at Udders. It makes for a calmer dessert experience in my opinion, and also gives me less anxiety as the seating is better organised. The service team here is notably smaller than their competitor, but also more on the ball and take more initiative to organise table allocations according to time of arrival (important especially in these times of social distancing).

There’s a QR menu printed on each table, which is great. You do have to check out the flavours that are available on the day itself at the counter though, as the menu showcases everything they have but might not be available at the outlet on a given day. The assortment of flavours here isn’t as great as Udders, but I found more than a handful of flavours I would easy go for. In terms of pricing, it’s much more straightforward (just a single price for all flavours while premium+$1, vs too many fancy named categories with different pricing) they’re pretty competitive too.

Service was quite fast, we didn’t have to wait long for our waffles. I personally thought the size of the scoops were inconsistent, and also slightly smaller than their neighbours but not enough to really make me reconsider visiting again. The texture of the waffles was very pleasant, crisp and light, but I found the cinnamon taste to be way too overpowering. I would’ve preferred a lighter hand with the spice so I could have a “blank slate” to enjoy the ice cream with. That said, if you like flavourful spiced waffles, this might be one place. The salted caramel that accompanied their waffles was pretty good as well, not too sweet with a hint of saltiness. The texture was good for dipping or for drizzling.

I LOVED the roasted pistachio flavour. The nuttiness really shone through and it’s one of my top pistachio picks for ice cream/gelato in Singapore. Even found a whole pistachio in my scoop which was delightful! The roasted sesame comes in second, with its own unique nuttiness and fragrance. I didn’t quite like the Kaya toast flavour, as I could smell the bread and see it, but couldn’t quite reconcile the disconnect between the lack of crunchiness in Kaya toast ice cream that I had come to expect from Butterknife folk’s version. The Kaya also seems to be swirled on top and not through the ice cream, so I felt I didn’t get much taste of Kaya. Not really a fair judgement, but this flavour fell short of my expectations. It does smell of bread though.

Note that they don’t accept credit card here, only cash or paylah or paynow, which was quite inconvenient as our data service seemed to be disrupted while at that location. Apparently we weren’t the only ones as payment seemed to be a bottleneck with quite a few customers waiting for their payment apps to load.

One of six cakes on display at Tsujiri. We tried the Swiss rolls the previous time and were not impressed with the amount of cream to cake ratio so we decided to try the cakes instead. There are two mock up cakes on display but actually three different types of cakes. You can get either matcha cream with matcha cake, or chocolate cream with black tea cake, or chocolate cream with chocolate cake. This was the black tea cake version.

Sadly, I’m also not a fan of this cake. The black tea cake layer was fragrant, but dry. Also, there was probably more chocolate cream than cake which once again is a cross in my books. While I did like the thin layer of cream at the top with chocolate flakes, the layers below were too way too thick. At least they did come with some tiny bits of nuts inside though.

What’s a trip to Baristart Coffee without ordering their famed ultra-kawaii shaved ice? We ordered the matcha version, and almost couldn’t bear to pour it over the ice bear’s puffy cloud-like head. But pour we did, and we watched its head stain green under the watchful eyes of our smartphone video recorders.

While I would’ve preferred the matcha (and probably all the pour overs too) to be less sweet, I guess it would suit an average person’s sweet tooth. The shaved ice wasn’t ultra fine like bingsu. It was more reminiscent of kopitiam ice kacang. Overall, this dessert is something you’d probably order for the gram as it’s nothing spectacular tastewise. It’s made a simple ingredients like an assortment of canned fruits, vanilla ice cream (nose), chocolate (eyes, nose), mini Marie biscuit (ears) and shaved ice. You can choose which flavour you want for the pour over, with the classic choice being Hokkaido milk.

I wouldn’t order this again unless I wanted to post something nice on Instagram, but I’d try to visit again soon to try their mini kuma parfait in a glass!

I now know why the cream puffs at Baristart Coffee keep receiving good reviews. They are indeed very good. I’m not a fan of cream puffs as they tend to be too sweet for my liking, but the version at BAC won me over. It’s got a crisp, layered exterior that crackles satisfyingly when you slice it, and there’s a generous filling of thick luscious cream that isn’t overwhelmingly sweet.

Despite how good it tastes, it does get jelak after a while. I can’t imagine finishing the whole puff by myself, so this is good for sharing with a dining partner or two.

The only other place I’ve tried Burnt Cheesecake is at the kins’, but based on my experiences there, the version at Keong Saik Bakery seemed underwhelming. KSB’s version lacked the gooeyness I’d learnt to associate with this trending dessert, and while the middle was slightly softer than the edges, it still wasn’t anywhere near melty texture. Maybe it’s just much harder to be consistent between batches, as I realised that the two separate times I had burnt cheesecake at the kins’ were quite different experiences too.

Pandan is a creative flavour, but didn’t hit it off so well with most of my colleagues. I think that the classic cheesecake flavour would have been better received, but they come out in batches and this was the only one available early in the morning.

The eateries and shops around Clarke Quay are in the growing list of casualties in 2020. With the COVID-19 situation and unpredictable rain, there are no short term tourists around and fewer locals taking the time to eat out, leaving Clarke Quay practically deserted.

It doesn’t help that heavy rain leaves more than half the seats outside Tsujiri wet and non-functional. Essentially the only seats left are the long high table. At least you get to face the quay while enjoying your drinks and desserts.

From left to right:

O Matcha Yuzu: considerably expensive drink at approximately $7 for just a small cup. It’s a dual layered drink with yuzu juice below and matcha to top it off. It only comes as a cold beverage. It’s my first time trying this drink at Tsujiri, but I really liked it. The staff recommended drinking each layer separately before mixing it together. The yuzu layer was sweet, slightly tangy with hints of bitterness, but very refreshing. Tsujiri uses high grade, vibrantly hued matcha whisked to a lovely smoothness so you don’t get any clumps or bursts of bitterness. Perhaps the yuzu layer could be thicker though as by the time I mixed them both together, the yuzu flavour was almost undetectable.

Genmaicha: simple roasted tea with toasted rice brewed with a tea bag. A lot more fragrant than whatever you usually get at restaurants. Overall a very pleasant and clean flavour profile thats a good accompaniment to their ice creams and cakes.

Houjicha roll cake: my least favourite out of what we ordered today. Tsujiri’s isn’t the softest Swiss roll, but the Houjicha flavour was detectable in the cake at least. I thought the cream to cake ratio was too skewed towards the former, which I’m really not a fan of. I’d pass on this next time, but if you like Swiss rolls, they do have matcha and black sesame flavours available as well.

Chiffon cake parfait (O-matcha): choice of matcha or houjicha soft serves to go with the parfaits. These soft serves form the base and also top off the whole parfait. I really liked the chiffon cake, it’s soft and spongy, and the matcha flavour is yum! The o-matcha soft serve has a nice matcha flavour to it. It’s not too intense, nor is it overly sweet, so it’s in a good in-between zone that should satisfy the majority of consumers. Pairs well with the adzuki paste provided. The soft serve doesn’t melt too quickly either. There’s a layer of cornflakes in the middle, which were still crunchy despite being sandwiched by the ice cream! I’d definitely order this parfait over the shiratama ones anytime.

Drips Bakery Cafe serves the full board of food from starters, mains (including DIY healthy bowls!), coffee, tea, alcoholic drinks, desserts and baked goods, making it a great place for a chill meal, or a drink and dessert stop after hitting up other joints in the Tiong Bahru hood.

They’ve got a whole slew of cakes on display, but the only dessert dish on the menu are the egg white waffles with berry compote, mascarpone cheese and a scoop of gelato. They’ve got 5 different gelato flavours at the moment - vanilla, double chocolate, matcha (powders sourced from matchaya), mango and strawberry. An additional scoop costs $3. For today, we went with the chocolate gelato.

The waffles were freshly prepared and served promptly, and they were GOOD. I found their shape pretty unique, but more than that, these waffles were so light and crisp!!! It tasted almost as though I were biting into a meringue-waffle hybrid (which I later realised was the technique behind these waffles, and also why they were called ‘egg white waffles’). The gelato texture was creamy and so on-point. It did melt a little quickly, but not before we got to slather it on our waffles. We really enjoyed the chocolate flavour in this too, as it came through very very well. You’d definitely not mistake this for any other flavour.

For $9.80, this dessert dish is actually relatively affordable. Definitely one of the more outstanding (and slightly different) dessert waffles available in the cafe scene today. Can’t wait to come back and try the mains too (they also have an offer for 50% off the second main!).

One of the best places to satisfy your k dessert or drink cravings in town with your family and friends, not just because of the taste, but also because Coffeesmith is open 24 hours.

Coffeesmith is a casual joint on the first floor of Orchard Gateway. This outlet has a pretty good and spacious layout. Apart from the drinks (I love their sweet potato latte), one thing we have ordered from the menu multiple times is this Choco Brownie Bingsu. Coffeesmith’s bingsu comes with finely shaved ice that isn’t bland at all. It melts in your mouth, not in the bowl. While the bingsu flavours aren’t super unique, they’re solid offerings. I do enjoy the brownies very much as they’ve got a dense, fudgey and super chocolatey flavour. The cocoa powder (maybe milo) is just sweet enough without being too overwhelming. There’s also a layer of cocoa powder right before you hit the bottom of the shaved ice stack, so it’s like spelunking and finding hidden gold. 🤣