Ice3 Cafe

A small dessert cafe at serangoon gardens, it's opposite serangoon gardens country club. other than getting ice cream in scoops, they have mudpies, crepes and waffles too. they also serve food, but i have yet to check that out, tried the ice cream, crepes and mudpies.
Interior of the cafe is cool, table with blue light in side, giving the cafe a nice cool feeling, although the place is not big, it's a nice place or a few friends to have a chat over some dessert. ok, here's the dessert we ordered.

A scoop of peanut butter ice cream. peanut butter taste is not too rich, the ice cream is just nice in terms of sweetness. if you like very rich and sweet ice cream, this is not for you.

Oreo mudpie. i like this one. very nice, not as sweet as the mudpies you get elsewhere, finishing up the whole thing won't give you a sugar rush, this is a good item from the menu to be ordered for sharing.

Crepe with chocolate coated sunflower seeds, whipped cream and i forgotten what ice cream.. the crepes are served with your choice of item to be wrapped inside, topping and ice cream. and on tuesdays, crepes are on half price!! don't choose sunflower seeds, it has a yucky oily taste, not fresh at all. the crepe itself isn't fantastic in term of texture and taste. but if you mix with the right side, it might be ok.

Crepe with brownies, peanut, strawberry cheesecake ice cream and caramel. this combi is much better the first one.

Check out their website here. They do have another branch in tampines.

address: 11 Kensington Park Road, Serangoon Garden Estate
contact: 62828126
ambience: 8
taste: 6
service: 6
value for money: 7
overall rating: nice ambience, dessert so so.

Cold Rock

Heard about this ice cream cafe when it opened up at holland village, but never got the chance to try it out until now. the cafe has got limited seats in side, most of the seats are outside, without air con.. decor is very refreshing, mainly white, quite a wide selection of ice cream flavours and crunches/toppings.

The main speciality is that you can choose your ice cream flavours, and then choose the crunches or candies like mars bar, snickers bar, fudge etc etc, and they'll mix everything up before serving the ice cream to you.
Chocolate with marshmellows and i forgotten what it was which was crunchy. the ice cream itself wasn't very good, the only thing i like is that i can choose the crunches i can have in the ice cream.
Honeycomb ice cream with violet crumble and cookie dough. the cookie dough taste very raw, very floury. should have gotten fudge instead. again ice cream was just so so, the crunchy violet crumble made it much nicer.

Generally speaking, i feel that it was not worth the price, but if you have never tried ice cream with additional items added in like that, you might wanna go take a look, i forgotten to take photos of the staff mixing the stuffs on the cold plate.

address: 24A Lorong Mambong, Holland Village
contact: 67631323
ambience: 7
taste: 4
service: 6
value for money: 4
overall rating: not that fantastic, quite expensive

The Sweet Stone

A friend told me about this place, and after 2 previous failed attempts to try the chocolate at the sweet stone (first time, i went at around 8pm, and it happen to be the day it closes early. second time i went during a weekday lunchtime, and it was closed, it was his sister's wedding day), i finally got to try it out and i must say that this is a place that all of you reading must go try!!
They sell waffles, and you can have it with their special belgian chocolate dip. the chocolate taste is really rich and the interesting thing is that it doesn't solidify!! usually when we have chocolate fondue at other places, they serve it with a tea light to keep the chocolate warm, but after a while, you see the chocolate dip turning hard on the bowl. this one they have here is not served with any heating element but it remainds liquid even till the last drop.. totally impressed.

We got the royal claypot fondue set which comes with waffles, fruits, marshmellow, and 2 scoops of ice cream. Having these with the chocolate dip was really heavenly.. they have a few flavours of home made ice cream, and you must try to super lemon flavour, very sour, very shoik!!! although it doesn't go well with the chocolate, but you can eat it separately right?


You'll get a loyalty card to collect points, and when you get 20 points, you get a fre waffle, and by registering the card online, you get extra 20 points!!! it's time to go collect my free waffle!! check out their website here..

address: Blk 505 Beach Road (Golden Mile Food Centre) #01-67/76
contact:
ambience: 5 (Hawker Centre)
taste: 8
service: 9
value for money: 7
overall rating: Something you won't expect in a hawker centre, much better than expectations. Impressive

Barracks @ House

You might have seen this old building which has been painted green at dempsey hill with a huge "house" printed on the wall. house is actually consist of a spa on the second level and a cafe/restaurant and bar on the ground floor, quite a different concept to mix spa and eatery. check out their website, it's quite nicely done up.

They called the cafe barracks, and it's made to look like an army camp, and the staff wears something that looks like uniform. look at the menu, they used the figurines that we used to play when we were kids, so cool..

They have very interesting teas in their menu, so since there were 5 of us, we decided to have 5 pots of tea.

Ordered this one called the jungle julip, supposed to taste of spearmint, when i took the first sip, i recalled the spearmint chewing gum that i used to like, and without sugar it taste like gum after you chew it for hours. and when sugar is added to the tea, it taste like fresh gum again. buddha blend taste like oolong tea. spa esprit smells like some aroma oil but taste like plain warm water.. not impressed with the tea at all.

Carrot cake, quite nice except for the rasins, i happen to not like rasins, but other than the rasins, it's a nice cake.

Strawberry shortcake, this one is good, rich taste and it has different textures in the cake, there's something crispy in it and the strawberry taste really good. must try.

The place is set up wonderfully, very good place for a chat, if you want privacy, they have a few private rooms which you can book, as long as you spend $300, there's no extra cost for the rooms (if i did not hear wrongly), the best room in my opinion should be the green house, it seems that you are dining in a green house with all the glas walls and ceiling and the green plants that put in the room. thumbs up for the decor!!

Some of the staffs are wearing uniform and a few were wearing own clothes, i would presume those are the owners or the managers.. but generally, it's the uniform ones who smiled more and were more polite, the better dressed ones were very stucked up.. maybe we don't have the rich men look, so they didn't bother about us, except this one called desmond, he was really patient with us when we asked him about the things in the menu, and he could even joke with us. The reason why we might go back to this place is definitely because of him, plus the ambience..

address: 8D Dempsey Road
contact: 6479 0070
ambience: 8
taste: 6
service: 5 (general) 8 (this person called desmond)
value for money: 7
overall rating: This place is more for ambience. food so so.. service not that good

Secret Recipe

Went to the secret recipe at holland grove. it's opposite raffles girls primary school on the first storey of an old apartment block. if i'm not wrong, this should be the first secret recipe branch in singapore.
I loved this branch because it's located at a very quiet place, out of the crowed and noisy town area. the small little park right outside the cafe is a relaxing sight to look at while having a nice afternoon dessert and tea. but this time, i went there for dinner. and i guess i ordered the wrong item on the menu, it taste quite bad
Catch of the day with lobster sauce. when it was served in front of me, there was this foul smell, i was thinking to myself, "Wow, the fish must be really stale for me to smell it from so far" after that i realise it's the smell from the lobster sauce.. hhhmm i think the last time i had lobster was many years ago, but i dun remember lobster tasting or smelling like that.
My friend had the grilled chicken with mushroom sauce. i didn't try that.

A few items that you must try, the chocolate banana cake is definitely a must try, the lamb stew is very good too. the rest of the items, so so.. but please do not order anything with lobster sauce.. will still go back there for the ambience and atmosphere. and i should probably be less adventurous when ordering the next time.

address: 42 Holland Grove Road (Other branches here)
contact: 68751233
ambience: 6
taste: 3
service: 5
value for money: 4
overall rating: They have good food, but i was unluckly this time round

PS Cafe

Heard about ps cafe some time back from a few people, got mixed reviews about the place, finally i went to to see it and taste it for myself. been there twice, both times late at night, just for tea and dessert.. i've yet to taste the food there. i wonder if it's good, cos it's not very cheap.

Here are some of the stuffs that i've tried.

Mint and lime soda, tasted like normal lime juice with mint leaves scattered over it.

Earl grey tea. they give quite a generous amount of tea leaves, even after you ask for a refill of hot water 3 times, the tea still comes out thick and fragrant.

The "something i cannot remember" brownie with ice cream. dun really like the texture of this brownie, it felt that it's too thick and sweet.. i have tried their double chocolate cake and felt that it's a better choice as compared to this.
Here's something interesting, they serve their sugar cubes in a small glass and they throw pieces of cinnamon into the cup. i think they left it like that for a while, cos you can actually smell the cinnamon when you pick up the cubes.. i think the sugar cubes itself with the thin taste of cinnamon makes a good candy..

The first visit gave me a good impression, ambience and environment is good, service was good, drinks and dessert are not bad too.. but the second time, we encountered a little rudeness in the service. hopefully it's a rare case.. will definitely go back there though. i think a good time to be there is during dusk, try sitting there and feel the environment change from day to night.

address: 28b Harding Rd
contact: 9070 8782 / 6479 3343
ambience: 9
taste: 6
service: 6
value for money: 7
overall rating: nice and quiet place to chill out. wonderful environment

Bakerzinn

Been here a few times, but whenever i go there, the same dessert is always ordered. bakerzinn have this fantastic chocolate cake with thick chocolate sauce oozing out from the cake, it's called the warm chocolate cake. this is a must have if you happen to be there.I ordered the iced lychee tea, i usually dun drink coffee, so usually left with tea, the lychee tea was really refreshing, and i was glad they have this on top of the usual lemon and peach tea. althought the photo in the menu looks like there's 5 lychees in the glass, i was only served with 2.This black forest cake wasn't anything special, just a normal black forest cake..

address: Check out their website
contact: Click on the site above
ambience: 7
taste: 8
service: 7
value for money: 7
overall rating: nice deserts,

Cafe Cartel

You get to see cafe cartel all over singapore. one of the things i like about it is the free flow of bread, i love to eat bread with frozen butter.. and here it's free!! you can take some of the grated cheese as toppings too, i missed the times in the past where their cheese contain herbs. if i was not wrong, the first branch that i've been to was the one at siglap..

I heard and seen many bad reviews about this place that their food is not good etc etc.. but one thing i feel that they are a cut above the rest is their death by chocolate milkshake, i wonder which brand of ice cream the use for this milkshake, cos it just has this special taste that i can't find in any other milkshakes. i could just walk in and order a glass of this milkshake, and sit there for a chat with a friend.

Anyway, i didn't order food this time round, these are the items my friends ordered
Some burger .. didn't get to taste it
St. louis ribs. i tried this before and i felt that it was not bad, the meat wan tender and sauce was sweet and nice.
Carbonara pasta. somewhat special with an uncooked egg yolk in the middle. taste wise, so so only.

Not recommending the food here, but if you heppen to be there some how, please order the milkshake, the chocolate one, i'm not too sure about the other flavours.

Updates (12 May 2007)
Went cartel for breakfast and realised that it's quite good, feels like those american continental buffet breakfast you get at nice hotels.
Bacon and sausage set

Ultimate set

French toast set

scrambled egg was good, sausage is nice and juicy, bacon is normal, french toast not bad, but the muffin sucks

address: see official website
contact: see link above
ambience: 6
taste: 5 (8 for chocolate milkshake)(6 for breakfast)
service: 6
value for money: 5 (8 for chocolate milkshake)
overall rating: 5

Lana Cake Shop

Many would have heard about lana's famous chocolate cake. there was once i stumbled upon this cake shop to get a cake, not knowing that it's the famous lana cake shop and i asked for thier selection of cakes. they told me to get the chocolate cake, but i told them no, not chocolate, then everyone who's queueing up for payment turned and glared at me.. Anyway, this is one of my favourite chocolate cake, the other is awfully chocolate, one day i gotta buy both and try them one after the other to really know which one i prefer more.I got a cake for a friend's birthday, wordings are nicely written and the cake is always wrapped in this violet ribbon and violet plastic bag, probably cos the boss is mrs violet kwan. if you want to see how the cake itself look like, you can check it out here... or here.. for this, you must go get a cake for yourself and try it, they only sell whole cakes, smallest is 3/4 kg @ $26. try to place an order before hand to avoid disappointment. oh and it's cash only.

address: 36 Greenwood Avenue
contact: 64665315, 64668940
ambience: 3
taste: 9
service: 8
value for money: 8
overall rating: 8

Island Creamery

Heard about island creamery some time ago but never got the chance to try it until recently. It's at the junction of farrer road and bt timah road, in this building called serene centre, you can see this shop from the outside of the building. It has a nice ambience, make you feel like sitting there on a lazy afternoon just to nua.
I tried the chocolate with oreo cookies bits (i forgotten the name of the flavour) and the fresh banana. It was good, but wasn't fantastic. it's definitely better then the normal ice cream that we usually have, but there are a handful of ice cream cafe around that serves better ones. could i have tried the wrong flavours? anyone tried other flavours and felt that i should go try again with the other flavours?
You won't miss their wall, it's filled up with photos of their customers, they provide a photo printer where you can print your photos stored in your medis cards and then sign on it and put it up on their wall, but when we were there, they ran out of photo paper to print on. so .. we did not leave any photo on it.

address: 10 Jalan Serene, Serene Centre #01-05
contact: 64688859
ambience: 7
taste: 6
service: 5
overall rating: 6

Godiva

Heard about godiva chocolate ice blended from friends that say that if you try this, you will never want to drink any other chocolate ice blended... powerful statement, so since i was at vivo city, i must try it to see if the statement stands in my standard..Godiva actually call their ice blended chocolixir, what a henvenly name, really brings the expectation of it even higher. and at $8 a cup, i would definitely expect something more than just nice.
Here how the dark chocolate decadence looks like. i feel that it's worth the $8 but not that good that i will forgo all other chocolate drinks. when you drink it, you will feel many small pieces of chocolate in it, and after the blended ice melts in your mouth, you will want to chew on the chocolate pieces before swallowing them. sweetness is just right, unlike some very sweet chocolate drinks where you regret buying it after finishing up the whole cup..

I would recommend that you go try this.. not something that i will want to have everyday, but as an indulgence once in a while, i'm fine.. although i feel that their chocolate truffles are too expensive for me.. But for this branch at vivo, it's quite nice to sit in their shop premise to enjoy the drink and chat on a lazy day, it's very peaceful there and the place is very spacious unlike some cafes where seats are very near one another.

address: Vivo City, 1 Harbourfront Walk, #01-116
contact: 62731611
ambience: 8
taste: 8
service: 7
overall rating: 8

Ye Lai Xiang Cheng Tng

This stall is located at bedok corner food centre, it's opposite bedok camp, near tanah merah.
I like the cheng tng here because there are lots of ingredients, not like the normal ones you see at normal dessert stalls. but it's on the sweet side, so if you dun fancy sweet stuffs, you might not like it, i have not tried ordering it with less sugar. you might want to try that if you are afraid of it being too sweet for you

address:1 Bedok Road, Bedok Corner Food Centre (Stall 31)
ambience: 3
taste: 7
service: 6
overall rating: 7

The Daily Scoop

Have always liked the ice cream from the daily scoop, but to get there, you must have a car, it's very inaccessible by normal public transport. They have very interesting flavours anf they make the ice cream in the shop itself.It's always very crowded when i go there, this time round i went there on a sat night, took us some time to dins a table for ourselves, it's a small little cafe very cosy, but not suitable for long chats cos the tables are small and so are the seats.
Forgotten to take a photo of the ice cream when we first got it, only remembered about taking photo when we are halfway through eating the ice cream so i can only show you this. my favourite flavour is simply chocolate, very rich dark chocolate, oooouuu... very very good.. lychee martini is not bad too, you can actually feel that lychee chunks in the ice cream. i also like their durian flavour, it's rich in flavour but not very sweet.
Here's their name card, made in an interesting shape of an ice cream cone, on the other side, they listed all their ice cream flavours..
Do pop by this nice dessert place if you happen to be having dinner in clementi or bt timah area, you won't regret it.

address: 41 Sunset Way, #01-04 Clementi Arcade
contact: 64633365
ambience: 8
taste: 8
service: 7
overall rating: very good, go there if you have a car, must try the simply chocolate flavour