Island Creamery

Full review and photos:  http://foodiefc.blogspot.com/2012/03/island-creamery-serene-centre.html

Island Creamery a ice cream parlour specialises in producing freshly made premium ice creams with local flavours. Premium ingredients are used with no artificial flavours, colourings, preservatives, eggs or gelatine. 

I visited Island Creamery at Serene Centre, located at the junction of Bukit Timah Road and Farrer Road. Island Creamery and Tom’s Palette seems to have similar branding. But the key differentiator is that Island Creamery is known for its local flavour ice cream such as Teh Tarik, Pulut Hitam, Pineapple Tart, Holicks and Bandung. The lastest addition they have is Bak Kwa ice cream!

Another differentiator is that besides Ice Creams, there are Ice Cream Cakes, Baked Alaska and Mudpies

We ordered the Double Scoop Ice Cream with the 2 flavours Pulut Hitam and Nutella. Pulut Hitam is also know as Black Glutinous Rice. The Pulut Hitam ice cream taste just like the real thing! Whoever though of making this dessert into an ice cream is a genius! The Nutella was good too. I wish that there was more chunks of Nutella in it.

The Mud Pie is highly recommended by my sister. The top layer and bottom layer is covered in Oreo Cookies. In the middle, there are 3 layers of ice cream namely; (top to bottom) ReversO, Cookies'n Cream and Burnt Caramel. The Mud Pie was superb! I like their crunchy, crispy Oreo Cookies. And it certainty helps that their ice cream is fabulous too! Another must try item!

We decided to buy a tub of ice cream back home, had a hard time deciding what to buy.

After hesitating for a long time, we decided to buy a tub of Nutella. We were torn between buying Pulut Hitam or Nutella. This time round, I felt that the Nutella taste slightly different from the one I had at Serene Centre. It was more diluted with much even lesser chunks of Nutella. Do note that the ice cream has to be consumed within 3 days as no preservatives were added.

I wish that I live near Island Creamery. However, I am putting up in the north and Serene Centre is located too far away. If not for that, I would frequent this ice cream parlour for its Pulut Hitam Ice Cream! If you are in the area, try the ice cream there!

ps: Readers in Indonesia who happen to read this, Island Creamery has opened a Indonesia (near Jakarta)

Full review and photos:  http://foodiefc.blogspot.com/2012/03/island-creamery-serene-centre.html

The trip to Serene Centre was like a walk down memory lane. Years had flown by and I hadn’t been back since graduation. Along with Coronation Plaza, these two old-school malls were my hangouts and it’s heartening to see that the Golden Arches was still here.

How I wished Island Creamery was around then. There were times when the lot of us would avoid the fast food joint when we got too loud and inevitably invited stares. When that happened there wasn’t any alternative place to hang and we had to go home after school.

In any case, I brought K here for desserts. By this time our lunch had partially digested and I was able to indulge in some sweet treats.

The mini baked alaska ($4.80) was given a few spins in the microwave oven before it’s served. The very berry ice cream didn’t melt too much but the meringue had gone totally soft. The cake base was dry on its own so it’s best to eat it with ice cream and meringue.

We had teh tarik ice cream (single scoop $2.80) which was rich, smooth and creamy. It wasn’t too sweet and we liked the kick of a slight bitterness, an indication of a strong tea presence.

It seemed the main clientele was students. Not that we felt out of place but now that we were no longer in uniforms, it would've been a bit strange to linger too long in an ice cream parlour.

You have to hand it to the folks at Island Creamery, who cracked their heads and came up with creative ice cream flavors based on local favorites, such as Teh Tarik, Pineapple Tart, Tiger Sorbet, Bandung, etc. 

Island Creamery proudly declares that they don't serve they usual Chocolate, Strawberry or Vanilla flavors of ice cream. Their ice cream flavors and desserts are all made in-house. 

Other popular flavors of ice cream at Island Creamery include Burnt Caramel, Apple Pie, and Ping Pong Milo. 

Do try their Baked Alaska and Mudpies too!

For more photos, please visit Rubbish Eat Rubbish Grow.

After eating so much at The Curry Wok, we wanted to eat more. Naturally. Like kindness begetting kindness, eating also begets more eating.

We were shocked at how this looked like ulu land on the outside, but the parlor was bustling. So popular with families, teenagers, students, and bears aka fat gay men!

The decor looks like a bad and cheap imitation of 1950s American restaurants. Definitely not a date place, unless you’re a teenager.

Mudpie was mine while Mr NGFL got two scoops of ice kalim. The mudpie was not bad, with coffee ice cream on the top, cookies-and-cream ice kalim at the bottom and a very awesome peanut-buttery(?) crust. After we finished – did we stop? OF COURSE NOT!

We shared an apple pie with a scoop of burnt caramel ice kalim. The two of them went very well together (I have good taste, I picked the ice cream although Mr NGFL insisted he was the one). The apple pie was cold when I like the apple pie to be hot. It wasn’t too sweet or sour. The crust wasn’t the flaky kind; it was the doughy kind. Mr NGFL liked it but I’m not sure how I feel about carb-by crust and wolfed everything down anyway.

You can see how run-down the ice cream parlor is becoming over the years. The ice cream is still good but then ice cream is ice cream – the few bad ice creams… we call it “sorbet.” But still, a nice way to end dinner. We liked everything we ate. Less noisy teenagers–or teenagers hanging out in groups with a confused teenager who doesn’t know yet he’s gay–would be nice but then again, in American movies, teenagers hang out at ice cream parlors all the time too. Recommended if you want good ice cream and don’t mind teenagers or are a pedophile. It’s Pedophile Paradise, peeps! Lick it up!

I seriously recommend people to try out their apple pie flavour icecream. Totally awesome! They have very unique icecream flavors sold there & also if you love them you can buy tubs of them home to enjoy! 

Because of the good

feedback I saw, I decided to buy their ice cream cake. This is my first time

trying their ice cream... after some taste testing I must say yes, the ice

cream is nice.

But this cake buying

experience will be my last with Island Creamery.

*Gross factor 1*- The

lady packed my cake into a box, she didn't bother to open up all the sides of

the box but crammed the cake from the top of the box... her bare hands (serving previous customers, handling money) were

touching all over the sides of my cake.

*Gross factor 2* - She

closed the cake box and I felt puzzled. Every ice cream cake that I buy, the

person will put dry ice into the cake box to keep the ice cream from melting. I

asked for it and she gave me the - You are so troublesome look. Then she went

on to take the dry ice, poked it with a blue pen and then placed it right

beside my cake. The ink of the pen was touching my cake. 

*Dumbfounded* - I paid,

and then waited for her to give me a bag. But no. She left to serve the

customers and I was left standing there. I waited for the customers to finish

with their orders and asked for a thermal bag if they have any. Alright fine,

they don't have any. Can I at least have a plastic bag to carry the cake

home........ no, they don't have that either...! 

If the box was made of Styrofoam, I would have left for home already... but it was paper box. The box's ears

were not secured and the best that they could do was to scotch tape the

ears down... The whole journey carrying it home I was hoping the cake don't melt or the water from condensation will not cause the paper box to break down.

I seriously have never

been to a place where I buy a cake (any form of cake) and there is no bag for the cake... 

The hygiene and service

left me feeling dumbfounded. 

I will never go back to Island Creamery again. I rather buy Swenson's or Haagen-Dazs.

 

Island Creamery does serve up good ice cream, hence wanted to get their cakes for a birthday celebration.  I made a reservation for their whole mudpie cake and mentioned it was for a birthday.  When i went there to collect, noticed the cake was pre-cut into 8 slices.

After seeing that, I asked if they have a whole uncut cake (wic is obviously very normal for a birthday cake).  The gentleman there who could be the boss or supervisor, gave me the brush off kind of reason that their mudpie cake is "like that", his other customers who bought the same have celebrated birthdays with uncut cakes, and said to me there is nothing wrong with celebrating a birthday with a cut up cake.  

I found that reason quite lame and not too glad like he is teaching me how to celebrate a birthday.  He needs to respect that people have their own ways and traditions to celebrate an occasion.  If indeed that is how they sell their whole mudpie cakes, perhaps explain in a better manner like it's more convenient this way, etc etc, rather than appear like u r trying to brush off a client who is actually giving you business? as good as saying to take it or leave it.

Obviously, he wasn't very friendly and no thank you from him even after I settled the bill.  Must say the waitresses there are much more customer service oriented, warm and friendly folks, and the only reason why I still went ahead with the purchase.  Hopefully the positive staff spirit can rub off more on their boss/supervisor.  Quite the irony.

Though they serve good ice cream, they really need to improve their service. As it was our first time day yesterday, we took some time to look at the menu and to go through the ice cream flavours. The staff gives us the pure impatient and fierce look. She fails to listen on our simple order that we want ie two scoops and another waffle with one scoop. In the end, we end up with 3 scoops and a waffle. After making the waffle which is almost burnt, she left the waffle impatiently on our table! I even saw her complaining to her staff about us perhaps on the amount of time we spend to place the order. Food and beverage is a service line, if you do not have the customer service, you are not fit to be in this line as simple as this. Staff of this store need to listen more and smile more. Hope that the management can look to this and reply to my comment if possible.

While I sincerely applaud your ingenuity, Island Creamery, but it's best to let sleeping (flavours) lie.

What do I say? There are some really quirky flavours put together by the Creamery crew, some of which attained instant success, while some... are just better left untouched.

Their Chocolate Peanut Butter is one prime example (of the latter). I consider myself a die-hard chocolate as well as peanut butter fan (I can eat a bottle of skippy raw :D) but nothing could prepare me for this. The first bite was like WHAM! - I taste peanut butter. - Then I felt the chocolate sinking in. Those two flavours, they simply don't match. Have you ever tried dunking your toast in peanut butter + melted chocolate before? Or a kitkat bar in skippy? Can't imagine? Try this flavour and you will see. Don't say you're not forewarned though.

Nutella: The same grouch. Too much vanilla, too little (to none of) nutella.

My virgin taste of Pulot Hitam: tastes too much like the dessert itself. Which can work both ways really. Either you're a fan... or not (like me).

 

Ah wells. Back to the safe Cookies-and Cream, Reverso and mudpie for me. :D

Or better yet, give me a cup of frolick.

bought a few tubs of icrecream from them... really like their innovation in teh tarik icecream & other local flavours! a great asset to Singapore!