Imagine my "udder" delight when I first spotted this hidden find when walking from United Square to the Novena station! I said, "Hey! New ice cream shop! The crepe place closed down!", perhaps a little too happily at the demise of another food business.

As usual, I wanted to know how this ice creamery compared to my regular favourite - Island Creamery. So in I went....to be greeted by 3 smiling and happy "milkmen" (that's what they put on their name card).

I was informed that there were two sections in their ice cream offering: Premium ($3.90 per scoop) and Classic (meaning: Alcohol, therefore more expensive, and Non-Alcohol. $3.10 per scoop). So promptly I concentrated my attention to the Premium section.

As I was not in the mood for waist expansion from cream and sugar calories that day, I informed my kind server - the Chief Milkman - that I wasn't going to order anything that day. But, bless his kind soul, he said "it's okay, how about tasting our ice cream? We are very proud of it".

So I thought, "ok, why not. At least "tasting" is less guilt-inducing than having an entire scoop.". So I proceeded to sample the following that caught my eye:

1) Triple Sec Chocolate.
It was rich and the Triple Sec added a subtle lift to the usually "chocolatey chocolate until cannot chocolate anymore" taste of other ice cream places. In fact, this chocolate ice cream was SO GOOD! that it immediately kicked Awfully Chocolate's Chocolate ice cream out of its 1st place. Its denseness and smooth texture of the ice cream was really something I had to close my eyes to savour, to enjoy every wonderful moment of chocolate bliss.

2) Ameretto Expresso
Ah....almonds. I've always loved the flavour of almonds (even if it is a synthetically created one). I was excited when David the Chief Milkman passed the sample over the counter.

mmmmm....lovely....(release satisfied "sigh" here)....like the TSC, the AE was smooth and rolled very nicely over my tongue, releasing first the Ameretto "bang", then followed closely by the familiar and comforting Expresso flavour. I liked it. Very much.

3) Chempadak
For this "sample", I took it straight off my friend's cup. Unlike me, she felt very "pai seh" walking into the shop and not ordering something.

This extremely pungent fruit lent its famous scent and taste to the ice cream. Unlike the TSC and AE, this fruit blended ice cream was not smooth. It had the distracting "icey" particles in the ice cream that immediately reminded me that their technique for ice cream making was still "not there yet".

When I pointed this out, David informed me that because his ingredients are fresh, it is inevitable that when mixed with ice cream, the fruit would retain its water in the form of "ice". To my surprise, he even told me that his customer actually liked the "ice" in their ice cream....hmmm....

4) Durian
Anyway, to prove his point, David gave me a sample of the Durian ice cream. As he used the fresh version of the fruit, the ice cream immediately effected the "durian" effect. Alas, I didn't like the "ice particles" that gave the "extra crunch". Also, I didn't like the fibre from the durian that gave my teeth extra chewing duties.

Overall, I was a happy happy girl with my new find (just opened 2 weeks ago, ie. since the start of 2008). And I promised David that I would come back again. And again. And again. Till he got himself a regular clientele.

I hate it when local businesses with good products close. I'm going back on the 21 January and I'm looking forward to it. Support Local!