The best ice cream parlours for Asian flavours in Singapore

Tom’s Palette

A small-batch producer using simple ingredients, Tom’s Palette features flavours such as dragon fruit, mango sticky rice and lychee. If you’re feeling adventurous, try their more outrageous flavours such as mala chocolate and nasi lemak.

Popular Singaporean specialities such as teh tarik, pineapple tarts and pulut hitam (black sticky rice dessert) are recast as ice cream choices here. For an alcoholic treat, there’s also Tiger beer sorbet, pear sake and Kahlua latte flavours.

This unexpected find in Singapore’s northeastern suburb of Yishun is all about innovation and creating wild new offerings for your tastebuds. Some examples of their ice cream flavours include muah chee (glutinous rice dough with sesame seeds), orh nee (yam paste) and black sesame.

What started out as a standalone store in Toa Payoh back in 2011 has now branched out to include outlets in Gillman Barracks and trendy Tiong Bahru. Pair their beloved waffles with decadent scoops of sea salt gula melaka (palm sugar) or Thai milk tea ice cream, among other flavour options.

Favourites here include kopiko (inspired by a brand of coffee confectionery) and orh nee gelati, plus the aromatic durian sorbet. Keep an eye out for their limited salted egg yolk flavour, which makes a surprise appearance every now and then. They also whip up a splendid Shibuya toast (an elaborate, Japanese-inspired version of French toast).

Best known for the Mao Shan Wang durian ice cream, which combines the bitter, sweet and complex flavours of the premium fruit, this local chain has many outlets and is also sold at selected supermarkets. Another highlight is their interpretation of local dessert chendol, which features green rice flour jelly, coconut milk and palm sugar syrup.

This Neil Road establishment creates flavours such as a delicious, organic Japanese soy milk and an intense matcha. If you prefer a coffee, try their cold-brew, which uses beans sourced from Indonesia. The flavoured waffles are also worth a try.

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Additional reporting by Claire Ang

A version of this story originally appeared in the December 2018 issue of SilverKris magazine