Swirl Gelateria

i had gone past this shop along my travels along bukit timah road. but never thought of trying it.

saw on tv some time ago local celebs recommending this ice cream place for the interesting flavours and the jello + gelato combi. (which i think not many ice cream outlets have)

went to a restaurant nearby with my friends yesterday and decided to go there for dessert after. i had the red jello + irish cream gelato. $4. from the first  bite, it seemed good, the irish cream taste was there. but maybe it was gelato and kinda light. not very creamy. perhaps its a personal taste. but as i ate on, i didnt really taste much except sweetness.

i guess jello itself is quite soft in texture unlike agar agar or konyakku jelly. so basically as the gelato melted and became like creamy watery mess, it mixed with the jello and just all tasted the same. maybe it would be better with agar agar which is abit crunchy in texture.

my friends also commented their flavours - orange sherbet, vanilla bean, horlicks were not really fantastic. just OK.

but they have some board and card games for free in the place and magazines. which was good as we had quite alot of fun just playing simple Uno. a good way to just hang out with friends, spend the time enjoying the company. the atmosphere is relaxed and the staff are friendly. the portion size is good too.

its not fantastic gelato or ice cream but a good place to just chill out with friends and spend some quality time together, if you are in the area.

In Italian, gelato literally means "frozen". This Italian variant of ice cream which differs in many ways from the conventional ice cream. Ingredient wise, the former has a lower fat content but higher in sugar. As such, it makes a healthier choice for frozen dessert lovers.

A friend of mine took me to this little shop along Bukit Timah Road on Christmas Eve. The ambience was cozy and queit, ideal for families with kids and the young at heart.

I ordered 2 scoop for $5 - Pure Chocolate and Irish Cream. I totally loved them. The pure chocolate was rich in texture and flavour, while the amount of liquor in the Irish Cream was just right for my tastebuds. Eat them fast as they generally melt away quicker than you think.

Try their renowned durina flavoured gelato. Though I have not the privilige to taste it yet, rumors has it that its taste is legendary that a wipe out is guaranteed before it can even reach the front counter.

If you are a weight watcher and looking to enjoy peaceful ambience to have a scoop or two of frozen dessert, there is no better place than Swirl Gelateria. Do check out their website here.

For a full write-up, feel free to visit me at Amasou-Umasou.

This ice cream sits in a corner of Crown Centre that can be overlooked if you do not know the area. Credits to HGW that allowed me to find this little gem in the Bukit Timah area.

Swirl Gelateria is a nice ice cream parlour that offers ice cream, espresso coffee, ice sticks and even jellys.

They bring back fond memories if you are in search of those ice sticks that can hardly be found anymore.

Now, back to the crux of the show, the gelatos. They offer at least fifteen flavours a day and some flavours are not always presented. I came here wanting very much to try the chendol ice cream but it was unavailable that day but the durian flavour was. However, as I just had durian the night before visiting this place, durian was definitely not on my wanting list.

The five of us, which includes 2 kids tried a total of 6 flavours. Namely, Cheese Mascarpone, Double Chocolate Mint, Caffe Brasil, Vanilla, Pure Chocolate and Berry Yogurt.

I didn't try the pure chocolate or the Berry Yogurt as asking the kids to let me try them is akin to asking them to give me their lives. However, the cheese mascarpone was heavenly, not too heavy with the cheese flavour and the double chocolate mint was equally good was just right mix of mint and chocolate chips.

The Caffe Brasil and Vanilla was also good. The one thing I noticed about the ice cream are that they are not very sweet like some other ice cream parlours.

Furthermore, they also have the ice cream board where they can mix the ice cream you want with toppings. They also have recommended mixs for you if you have a hard time deciding what you want.

The place was filled with students when I was there. They were mostly studying and it was kinda quiet. However, I would believe that on a normal school day it would be more vabriant and filled with even more students.

Is this better than Island Creamery which can be counted as opposite in some ways? To me, YES!

Do visit this place if you can!

Looking forward to my next visit and hopefully, the chendol will be available!

...here's the place to come to for your chendol ice-cream fix. It doesn't come with bits of red bean and jelly like the version sold at Island, but it's smoother and the coconut + gula melaka flavours are very strong - just as I remember them to be.

Looking at the reviews here, I'll be back for the marscapone I guess. I had space for just one scoop tonight. This parlour really doesn't deserve to be overlooked.

(I don't have many comments on the ambience or the service. Aside from the usual sampling service, I didn't find the need to test it. Oh, they have board games for folks to play with friends.)

Edit: I adore the marscapone ice-cream. It's light and mildly sweet...and as subtle as tiramisu without the liqueur and cocoa.

well, so as the title goes.. the icecream from swirl geleteria was nothing short of great. I had the caffe brazil on my first visit and the mascarpone on my second (the day after the first time.. believe it or not?) yes.. that was how good the ice cream was. As for the choice, i much prefer the latter to the former.

I mean mascarpone in ice cream? now that's quite a rare ingredient.. and being a baker myself, I knew that mascarpone on its own was low on flavor and not to mention calories (as compared to cream cheese), however, it could provide a very rich texture. And the icecream itself was an ode to the marvellous ingredient, every bite as creamy and dreamy as ever. It was soooo good.

The caffe brazil could use a bit more work though. It would help if the coffee flavor in there was pushed up a notch.

Will still be heading back to sample the rest of the flavors though... Without a doubt.. though i'll give the durian one a miss. hehe.

I've been here a couple of times as I live nearby but I've never really felt that the gelato was much to rave about. It was good, no doubt but it wouldn't spur me to take a pint home to have at my fancy.

However, sometime last week, I came here for some dessert with my family. To my surprise, from the very doorstep before entering the shop, we should smell durian. Mind you, it wasn't over powering but rather a slightly sweet durian aroma permeated the air. Puzzled when we didn't see any durian gelato on display, we enquired about it. Turns out that the durian gelato was being made fresh on spot for a customer to take away and he had already been waiting for a whole hour. We were intrigued as the durian gelato must have been quite good such that the customer was willing to wait for one and a half hour for the gelato to be ready and it was near closing time. As we needed to wait another half an hour to be able to try the durian gelato, and unlike the enthusiastic customer, we chose other flavours and put off the durian gelato to another day. We had a double scoop ($4.50)of mango sorbet as well as rocher. The mango sorbet was slightly sour, a contrast to the sweet rocher flavour. My sister had the choc-alot-nuts or something where they added cookie bits, nuts and cornflakes to her hazelnut flavour and it was yummy-licious!

A couple days later, I dropped by the shop again and chanced upon the durian gelato. I shared a double scoop of icecream of vanilla and durian gelato with the bf. The vanilla ice cream was not too bad but I find vanilla boring, feeling that it tasted similar to Macdonald's vanilla cone. The bf enjoyed it, saying that the texture was much better than Macs. The durian gelato on the other hand, was so amazing! I finally understood why the customer was willing to wait one and a half hour for the durian gelato. It was practically putting durian pulp into your mouth! (Unless, you're the type who enjoys the durians with the slight bitter taste which I don't). It was cool and creamy, sweet and mostly important, it didn't give you the 'jerlat' feel. You won't get the sinful guilt of overindulging in durian or worry that it will be too 'heaty'. I rather have this than the real durian fruit! After that, we were greedy so we had a single scoop ($3.00)of gelato. This time, caffe brazil. Bf felt like it tasted as a latte where you didn't add sugar. It was sweet enough for me though, the bitter taste of the coffee a wake-up call to the senses.

Later, I took home a pint of durian ($10.80) for the family.

It's just that good.

As a sidenote, my freezer didn't smell of durian later. It was probably because the making of the gelato created the durian aroma that enticed us into the shop.

i studied in schools located at bukit timah for 6 years, so i've been to almost all of the places in that area that sell ice cream/gelato (venezia at guthrie house, island creamery, swirl gelateria, cellar door deli, estivo gelato etc) but i think swirl's gelato is the most delicious! unlike some gelatos which are a little too icy or the flavour is not intense enough, swirl's gelato is full of flavour and tastes as good as premium ice cream! and it's not as creamy or filling as premium ice cream, which is a good thing cos it won't make you feel bloated after eating it (especially when you add mix-ins). i've eaten premium dark choc ice cream with m&ms and oreo mix-ins before, and i think it's way too filling, considering that it's only a dessert >< but swirl's chocolate gelato with oreo, chocolate bar and choc chips mix-ins was just right and didn't make me feel full.

also, the shop is a pretty conducive place for relaxing or studying cos human traffic in that building is not high so it's rather peaceful. also, magazines and books are placed in the shop for your browsing pleasure (you can even bring your own books/magazines to exchange with the ones there), and free flow of iced water is provided.

service there is good too! the staff are friendly and helpful, and they deliver the gelato to your seat, even if you're only ordering a small cone of it.

Setting: 10pm, Sunday night. Fulfilling an insatiable craving for late night icecream, sans the fat....

Hadding been wanting to check out this place for sometime now, after hearing about it during the recent HGW promo, it was the first place that came to my mind at 9.30pm on a sunday night. Surfed onto the HGW website (which i love cos of the comprehensive details on almost EVERY food establishment in Singapore! Keep it Up, HGW!!) to check out the operating hours not expecting much cos it was after all a sunday 'late' night. Lo, and behold, to my surprise (and a PLEASANT one that was, mind you) I found out they close at 12am!!!! We quickly grabbed the car keys and headed off excitedly on our little late night ice cream escapade!

oh, one thing i should add, parking at Crown centre is rather freaky (for those who drive). The car park VERY quiet and although sufficiently bright, there are creepy water dripping sounds coming from near the stairs. AND the stairwell is narrow (typical of old buildings) and totally shuts out any sound from ouside once the door closes. CREEEPPPYYYY!!!! Last place i wanna get trapped in... But once you get out it's fine. Just try not to go alone unless it's daylight or you're not afraid of small tight quiet places.

My brain is racing faster than my fingers.... the gelato!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had the sampler set (3 bigger-than-usual shot glasses choc-a-block-to the-brim full of yummy gelato!) with coconut, peanut butter and marscapone cheese (MY FAV!!!!!!!!) the gelato is really much less sweet than usual gelato, and less milk-creamy too (so it doesn't feel so fattening), tho still smooth and yummy. DELICIOUS!!!

The service is great too. You can sample as many flavours as u like, all with the young service staff's warm smiles and playful bantering suggestions. And if you're as indecisive as me. they'd gladly recommend the sampler sets-3 shots for $4 and 6 shots for $7. (Very good value for money!!) I didn't tey the Geloshots tho they looked real good too. next time maybe.

That totally satisfied my gelato craving..... for the night. Only to leave me with an insatiable appetite for more the next morning.... Wow. Good stuff! EVERYONE should come by here! Island creamery could do with a little HEALTHY competition... ;p

*Edit: oh, did i mention thay have games like Taboo and connect 4 as well as a shelf of books in casse u getbored!!! Thumbs up for great ambience!!

Having sampled most of their gelatos, I decided that I should try something new - Milk Shake.

As you know, most Gelato makers claim to have lower fat content than their richer brother - the ice cream. In a way, that is true. But if you look at the sugar content, its nearly the same.

At Swirl, one would be pleased to know that the gelatos have just enough sugar make it into the "dessert" category. It is true, the gelatos made at Swirl are less sweet than its competition.

If you've read my earlier review of Swirl, this is a local outfit in Bukit Timah that deserves to be a stayer in the local Gelato market. Three good reasons why:

1) Gelato tastes good
2) Service is fantastic
3) There is wireless internet in the form of Wireless@SG and ample table space.

In terms of service, they really blow the competition away. Whenever I have feedback about their gelato or coffee or hot chocolate, they will endeavour to improve it and make it up to me.

Like tonight, the milkshake I ordered turned out to be an icy affair where the gelato was blended with ice instead of milk (a first time for me). Where I expected the milkshake to be thick enough, this one was watery. Since it was so watery and not worth "burning" (by exercising), I left 70% of the milkshake in the glass.

When I told the boss about it and he was just as surprised as I was. It turned out that the staff in attendance had mis-read the recipe and given me a "lactose intolerant" version of the milkshake. Anyway, in a quick turn in service recovery, the boss ended up making another milkshake for me (just the way it was supposed to be) and guess what, the milkshake turned out to be as thick as a gelato shake could be. Even better, it was all done with a nice big smile (genuine one).

If you like your milkshakes thick and milky and really heavy on your stomach and waistline, the gelato milkshake here won't rock your world.

But if you, like me, just want a comparatively less sugary and fat free version of the milkshake, then you'll be quite satisfied with what Swirl has to offer.

Tips for people who want low fat less sugar milkshakes:

1) Order the fruit sorbets or berry-based gelato. These have less milk content and therefore less fat. However, the density of the milkshake would be about 40-60% of a regular "ice cream base" milkshake
2) Order the non-fruit gelato eg Jamaican Banana, Cafe Brazil, Durian, Chocolate for a denser gelato milkshake. It's not going to be an "ice cream milkshake", but you'd definitely be able to finish your beverage without feeling bloated.

Was having tuition on the second floor of Crown Centre when I found myself dozing off a bit. Decided to pop down to Swirl Gelateria to get an ice-cream fix before I hit the table. The young woman at the counter was very friendly and did not hesitate to let me sample some of the flavours.

The flavour I got was something chocolate-y with peanut butter. It was of just the right consistency. Not too frozen and not gooey from lack of a suitable temperature. It was a bit too sweet for me, I reckon, but that could have been just the flavour I chose. Oh well. But it did perk me up from a sleepy afternoon!

Relative to other gelaterias, I presume that the price range is justifiable and quite a pinch in the pocket IF (note: IF) one is a student who lives on a weekly allowance. It's a treat for teens, but definitely not a problem for those who don't mind satisfying a craving or out there looking for a treat.

I'm not one to judge on ambience for this one. Barely stayed 5 minutes in the place. Had to run back up or else my teacher would get angry. =) The atmosphere there is very quiet (when students from nearby schools are not around) and you can even find some expats working on their laptops there on afternoons. My guess is that it's a great place to just chillout and relax from the hot sun.

I've been there only once, but I'm quite positive that I will go back whenever I'm in the area. The service was friendly and the ice-cream, delicious.