Ice Cream Waffles

Nian Gao waffles ($6.80 alacarte)
+ Double scoop ($15.80)
⭐️ 4/5 ⭐️
🍴Finally tried the popular tea-based gelato spot. The nian gao waffles certainly lived up to the hype with its enjoyable textural contrast of soft, chewy rice cake with crispy, airy waffle, and creamy ice cream.

Was spoilt for choice among the tea flavours and settled on matcha butterfly pea soy and tie guan yin. The former was a feast for the eyes and reminded us of earth 🌍. Comprised of two distinct flavours of matcha on one side and soy on the other. As a matcha fan, did appreciate the distinct tea aroma in the green section but found the creamy soy element in the blue section to overpower it. Enjoyed the aromatic and roasted notes of tie guan yin. Fortune cookie element was cute but it had unfortunately lost its crisp.

Will be back to try their other unique tea flavours like yuzu shiso and duck shit oolong.

📍@riricha.sg, 24 Sago Street, Singapore

Freshly made, small-batch gelato by a friendly uncle (who happily shows you his ice cream set up if asked, and leaves the cutest responses on google reviews 🤩). Step into the cosy space and be greeted with a variety of choices and generous scoops of ice cream samples. All were smooth, creamy, and not too sweet, just how we like it.

As a fan of pistachio ($4.70/premium), this satisfied in distinct nuttiness. Not the strongest around but liked that it wasn’t sweet or surfeiting, with tiny crunch bits from actual nuts within. Bourbon dark chocolate ($5.50) was a good balance of rich bittersweet chocolate and malty undertones.

Paired it with a warm croffle that was a good balance of flakiness and fluffiness, and went well with the creamy gelato.

Flat white ($4.20) - Standard ‘buffet-style’ coffee of darker and bitter beans.

📍@freshiogelato, 01-60, Sunshine Plaza, Bencoolen Street, Singapore

Love the aesthetics of this neighbourhood ice cream shop, with the carnival themed decor and ice cream character graphics. Cosy space for a sweet treat in the West.

The buttermilk waffles was served warm with a crisp exterior. The use of buttermilk made it more flavourful and moist, but on the denser and cake-y side. Enjoyable in smaller portions but a tad too heavy on the palette; wished it was more fluffy and airy (although this probably comes down to personal preference). Also would have preferred if the generous drizzle of maple was optional/ kept to the side, although glad that it wasn’t too sweet.

Was tough making a choice among the 28 flavours but went with the recommended hazelnut. The ice cream was thick, creamy, and somewhat stretchy. Had distinct nutty flavour but did feel that the big chocolate chunks overpowered the hazelnut at times.

📍@icmnf, 01-23, Taman Jurong Shopping Centre, 399 Yung Sheng Road, Singapore

Insta: cafehoppingkids

Tucked in Midpoint Orchard (opposite 313 Somerset), this gelato shop is run by a friendly and humble young couple. Priding on healthier and eggless scoops that use 100% all-natural ingredients, the gelato was enjoyably rich, smooth, and creamy.

The dark chocolate sorbet was rich with bitter undertones. Pistachio (+$1) was strong in nuttiness and creamy. Did feel it was a tad sweet and personally would have preferred for slightly richer roasted aroma, but this was a good rendition nonetheless.

In comparison, the fruit sorbets were more refreshing and lighter on the palette. They tasted like a pure blended up (smoothie) version of fresh fruits. Enjoyed our choices of soursop and mixed berries that leaned towards the sour > sweet profile.

Do note there is dining area but limited seating space (~10 seats). Thankful that the kind owners rushed their lunch to offer us their space but would recommend avoiding peak hours.

⚠️ Definitely recommend visiting, especially with the 1-1 scoops/ waffle with @burpple

📍@playgelato, 01-09, Midpoint Orchard, 220 Orchard Road, Singapore

Insta: cafehoppingkids

Still one of my favourite ice cream places, especially with the special and fragrant thyme cone! Personal bias goes to strawberry basil

Checked out the relatively new Cotta and loved the hidden door, long stairway up, and cosy space overlooking Tanjong Pagar. Was spoilt by choices between their gelato-based desserts and classic waffles & ice cream but eventually settled on the staff’s recommendation of waffles.

Double scoop of ice cream was $9 +$1 for premium flavours. Generally enjoyed our two choices of creamy and smooth ice cream that were rich in flavour without being too sweet. Would recommend the roasted nutty 𝐒𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐏𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐨 (4 ⭐️) while those looking for a more unique option can consider the 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐭 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐤𝐞 (3.5 ⭐️). The refreshing sweet and floral profile brought back nostalgic vibes of eating Hichew grape candy, while we couldn’t quite discern the sake.

Their 𝐰𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐬 (3 ⭐️) were well-grilled to be highly crispy throughout and consequentially dry. We generally prefer fluffy, softer/ chewy cross sections thus weren’t huge fans of this light, biscuit-like rendition. But worth trying for fans of airy waffles that stay crisp and don’t soak up the melted ice cream.

📍@cotta.sg, 104A Tanjong Pagar Road, Singapore

We enjoyed the creamy ice cream (from $4/scoop) although they were all on the slightly sweet side. Preferred the nutty hazelnut cookie dough with extra chocolate brownie bits over the sweeter caramel almond. We also tried the special mao Shang Wang ($6.20), which was (nicely) pungent but sweet. P.S their ice cream is halal certified.

Now available at Tribeca at the grandstand

Insta: cafehoppingkids

Despite the emergence of many new ice cream-waffle places, we still enjoy the good ‘old’ Salted Caramel. In general, their handcrafted ice cream tends towards the richer and creamier side, with distinct flavour profiles befitting of their description.

#happyburpday

Went with two gourmet flavours (+$1 each) and was pleasantly impressed with their smooth texture, light yet complex flavour profile, and achievement of delightful tastes despite the use of unorthodox ingredients and exotic pairings.

𝐒𝐚𝐤𝐮𝐫𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐤𝐞, 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐤𝐞, 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐞 - Creamy, slightly floral, and with a distinct smoky aftertaste from smoking using aged sakura wood. While we couldn’t quite discern the role of the artichokes (sousvide for 18 hours), the mix in of sweet, tart, and slightly crunchy pear made for an impressive scoop that we’d return for.

𝐊𝐲𝐨𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐨 & 𝐲𝐮𝐳𝐮 𝐣𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐲 - Super refreshing with its use of Japanese inspired herb (Shiso) that gave a bright and minty fragrance. Loved the hint of citrus and soft bite texture that the yuzu jelly added.

Definitely keen on trying their other flavours (Do let me know your top recommends)! However, we probably wouldn’t recommend the hole-in-the-wall store at Cavan Road (Jalan Besar) outlet if not for takeaway. Being indoors (only 1 tiny bench) felt like being baked in a microwave with their use of red LED that emit high heat, and being outdoors felt like a haze fest with consumption of fine dust particles with each scoop 😅.

📍@gelatolabo. Outlets at 01-09 Cavan Road, 108 Faber Drive, 18 Mohammed Sultan Road

Insta: cafehoppingkids

Ice cream ($5.80-$8.80) ⭐️ 3-4/5 ⭐️
Matcha houjicha latte ($6.80) ⭐️ 4.5/5 ⭐️
🍴Overall, we found their ice creams pretty “gao” in flavour, creamy in texture, but on the sweeter side. Our favourites - in order - were first the matcha no. 3 that had an earthy intensity, although we have eaten matcha ice cream at similar intensity for less pricey. Second the goma with a distinct nuttiness, and third the hojicha. The genmaicha was on the sweeter end and while it had a subtle roasted pop brown rice aroma, would have appreciated a deeper tea flavour. The matcha cookies and cream was quite a let down - mostly sweet with no real distinct aromas. Would probably recommend getting their rich and flavourful drinks over the ice cream! My longstanding favourite being the iced matcha houjicha latte for best of both worlds 😋.
📍@hvala_sg, 01-10, 111 Somerset (other outlets at Chijmes and Keong Saik)

Insta: cafehoppingkids

Double scoop ($7.60)
⭐️ 4.5/5 ⭐️
🍴Yes, I’m slow to the game but #saltedcaramelsg might be among my favourite ice cream spots. They offer a whole range and we went with unique offerings of lemon cheesecake and kaya toast. To our amazement, they tasted highly similar to their description with the former having a nice sour balance from the lemon and creaminess of a cheesecake. The latter reminded us of yakun kaya toast with its pandan gula fragrance and even had a bit of a toast-like crumby sort of texture which made the flavour more believable. We are already planning to return to try their delicious ice cream of a whole range of flavours!
📍@saltedcaramel.sg, 01-08, 17 Lorong Kilat, Singapore (other outlet at 246F Upper Thompson Road)

Classic Froyo ($5.50)
⭐️ 4/5 ⭐️
🍴Highly affordable with 1-1 on both @entertainersg and @burpple, this was an enjoyable froyo. The natural yogurt had a sour tang that we enjoy in natural yogurt, and was less sweet than the likes of yole and llao llao. They also offer a rotational special flavour and we went with a mixed option to try the biscuit flavour but was confused as to what it was meant to be as besides the light brown colour, it tasted 99% similar to the natural one. The classic option came with two toppings and we went with one sauce each. Loved the thick and rich matcha sauce (paired up with my favourite @matchayasg) that had its classic bitter flavour. The hazelnut crunch reminded us of ferrero roche although was on the sweeter and richer side. While we liked the granola, we wished it had been more oats and less of the accompanying chocolate bits.
📍@smooy.sg, B2-K1, @payalebarquarter PLQ, Singapore (other outlets at Jem, OUE, NYP, NTU