By K.F.Seetoh
There was an era, no too long ago, when western sounding ice cream brands came a calling touting their vanilla, chocolate and strawberry scoops of cold pleasures. They came chugging in their ring-a-ling trucks and were available in all provision shop fridges. They came in flavours which were never native us.
Then, somebody decided to turn durian and red bean in to ice-lollies and suddenly, these iced creamy delights had a local character that we all could associate with. Then chempedak, jagong (sweet corn), bananas and coconut followed. It stood out. People loved it. They could taste it just by pronouncing it. Then they got bored and it was back to fancier international flavours that came in fancy names (although it was pretty much the same stuff) like Chunky Monkeys and Nut Brittles or Extremecocos (I made the last name up, but you know it’s the same song!)
Today a new flood of ice cream-preneurs are humming to a brand new beat that came from their locally inspired imaginations. They know that in this little country with a big appetite that loves to eat way more than they love like to cook, a clear distinction in their offering will set them apart from their peers. So of late, beyond the heartstring pulling flavours like D24 durians, MiloDinos, mangofreeze and even soursop sorbets, many local ice cream mavens are brewing stunning flavours that will uniquely set them apart from the competition.
Island Creamery
Address
10, Jln Serene
#01-05 Serene Centre
Telephone
64688859
Regarded as the pioneer of modern-generation local ice cream-preneurs, Stanley Kwok set up his ice cream dream machine in 2003 after studying the craft and slogging in an ice cream parlour in the United States. He returned and knew local flavours was the way to go and started small, in a little take out booth in a residential area. He then experimented with many flavours, some stunning, some flops, some seasonal stuff like pineapple tarts ice cream. His one all time favourite, which he “can never seem to make enough of”, is the Pulut Hitam ice cream. Rich, coconutty and dotted with just soft and chewy enough black glutinous grains. Close your eyes and it’s almost like having the real thing you left in the fridge last night. His other killer applications are his chendol and Tiger Beer sorbet. His Teh Tarek is so popular, he patented it.
Daily Scoop
Address
41, Sunset Way
#01-04 Sunset Arcade
Telephone
64633365
Australian ice cream school trained Melissa Phey is the most imaginative of the lot. Besides the usual local flavours, she touts Brandied Figs and Honey, So Berry Cheez and a fragrant Earl Grey ice cream. Then you notice that there is this Chocolate Chilli (which sounds like a mistake) flavour that is one of her top sellers. It is very chocolaty without the cloying sweetness. The first time I bit into it, I that it was some hoax till the counter staff patiently smiled and counted to ten, and went “it should hit you about now”, and the chilli padi juice hijacked my mouth for a cool ten seconds. If you think that’s appealingly weird, then try her Lime and Black Pepper ice cream. I’ll say no more. If you can read it, then it’s not hard for you to imagine the taste. Delightfully incredible comes to mind (do call to check if it’s available for that day).
Icekimo7585
Address
8, Sin Ming Road
#01-03, Sin Ming Centre
Telephone
64557585
Opening Hours
Open daily
Tan Yong Soon and his fiancé Roh Lin, on a whim decided to sell ice cream. So they set up a humbly pink outlet in the ulu Upper Thomson Road boondocks after an ice cream making stint in the same school that Melissa went to. While their creations like Milo Dino, Jasmine Tea and Tiramisu are not eye-popping offerings, what makes them stand out is the quality in some of their products. Their arrestingly addictive Horlicks ice cream is pleasantly folded in with crushed Maltesers chocolate with crunchy malt centres. And while it is not extremely local, their Peanut and Snickers creation is addictively rich. I repeat…rich! Then again, if you are going to sin, do it properly!
Lime and Black Pepper Ice Cream anyone? 
Re: Lime and Black Pepper Ice Cream anyone? 
