KoKoPanda – A Korean Superfood Dessert and Beverage Parlour

Officially opened on 16th December 2016, Kokopanda is a new Korean soft serve and beverage concept focusing on “superfood” toppings to cater to the health-conscious. Yes, you can indulge without feeling guilty!

They offer three unique soft serves, which include White Cremo (a rich smooth and creamy Korean soft serve ice-cream made from premium Korean milk), Black Yogo (a black frozen yogurt made from roasted coconut husk that contains edible activated charcoal, which helps to cleanse the body of toxins) and for the undecided who want to try both – KoKo Twisto (a combination of both Black Yogo and White Cremo).

White Cremo

Black Yogo

Koko Twisto

Quality ingredients sourced directly from Korea are used, including Korean Milk and a selection of superfood toppings like KoKoCrunch granola (a blend of dried fruits and rice puffs) and dried fruits that are rich in vitamins and fibre. The best part is that the fruits are not artificially sweetened and if you are familiar with Korean strawberries and tangerines, they are naturally sweet! The Korean Milk used here is preservative free and thus has a shorter shelf life, so this is regularly flown in fresh from Korea.

A variety of dried fruit is available and this includes Jeju tangerine, Korean strawberries, pear, apple, persimmon, orange and lemon! My favourites are the pear, tangerine and strawberries.

Interestingly, when you eat the dried fruit on its own, their texture is what you’d expect dried fruit to be like, but when you put them into the soft serve, some of them turn a little crispy! I tried this with both the tangerines and strawberries and there was an added crunch to them!

Fruit Bombs (made from real fruit juice) and Jelly Pearls (made from seaweed) are some of the other toppings that are available. If you like nuts, you can try the Honey Butter Almonds, which I absolutely loved!

In addition, there are also Jellies and Chia Seeds that you can choose to add to your dessert or beverage.

A variety of different drinks can be found on their beverage menu, which include Seoulistic Iced Tea Lattes, Korean Fruit Vinegar Ciders and Fruit Enzyme drinks, Exotic Gangnam Iced Teas and ChiaChaCha, which is a refreshing combination of 100% coconut water with Chia Seeds.

One of their signature drinks is the Jeju Green Tea Latte and you can have this with black KoKoPearls, i.e. if you are the type who’s into bubble teas. I usually like my drinks with 0% sugar and I found the green tea latte with black pearls to be just right for me as it wasn’t too sweet and I think those who don’t like the slightly bitter taste of Japanese matcha may like this as this Korean green tea doesn’t have that same bitter taste. Premium grade Jeju green tea is used and it contains natural polyphenols and antioxidants.

Those who can’t do without sugar haven’t been forgotten and similar to other beverage outlets in the market, you can customize your sugar levels, but of course to be healthier, try to slowly reduce your sugar intake and go for 0%! ^_^

Although I’m not a hugh fan of coconut water and healthy drinks, I did try the ChiaChaCha with added Mango Fruit Bombs and I have to say that those fruit caviars burst easily in your mouth and made each sip of the drink very flavourful! Hmm…possibly something I can consider drinking more of in the future, with health benefits!

Weight conscious individuals can opt for the Green Grapes or Green Apple Cider with Chia Seeds, as these are made from pure fruit vinegar ciders known for extra health benefits such as weight loss and maintaining blood sugar levels.

If you haven’t already noticed by now, the shop’s logo has a cute panda in it and you can find this mascot on both the drink and dessert cups, on the staff’s t-shirts, as well as at the shopfront.

On what sets KoKoPanda apart from other dessert and beverage outlets, Katie Kang, Managing Director for KoKoPanda states: “We are all about superfood desserts and beverages. We noticed that many of the drinks and desserts available today are mostly made from sugar and syrups with little goodness included. We are here to spread our concept of guilt-free indulgence by adding the benefits of superfoods into delicious desserts and beverages that people already enjoy.”

I’ve always thought of health foods as being bland and taste-wise not to my liking, but this has somewhat altered my perception. Healthy desserts and beverages that taste good too! Do come and give it a try!

As part of their Opening promotions, Kokopanda will be having a special Buy-1-Get-1-Free promotion on all items on their menu during their launch weekend from 16–18 December 2016.

Thanks to KoKoPanda for the dessert and beverage tasting!

Address:
KoKoPanda
#B2-60, Plaza Singapura,
68 Orchard Road, Singapore 238839.

Opening Hours: 10am – 10pm Daily

Chocolate Origin – the place for chocolate desserts and now a new Dark Chocolate Gelato!

Chocolate Origin, the dessert cafe which is known for their rich luscious chocolate ganache cakes and artisanal coffees, has launched its first ever Dark Chocolate Gelato, a project which took five years to finally create that perfect recipe!

This new dessert will be available first at their Bugis Junction outlet on 18 June 2016, followed by their other six outlets islandwide from 19 June onwards.

I was delighted to have been invited to be one of the first to try out this new frozen creation (made with premium fresh milk and rich Belgian Chocolate!) and found it to be a deliciously rich, smooth and creamy gelato, which tasted just like their signature chocolate truffle cake! One taste and you will know what it means to be in chocoholic heaven!!

This Dark Chocolate Gelato will be priced at $4.50 per scoop, $6.50 for double scoop and $12.50 for a pint (takeaway only).

“The inspiration behind Chocolate Origin’s Dark Chocolate Gelato was for our customers to enjoy our chocolate ganache cakes in the form of a gelato especially with the hot weather we’ve been experiencing recently,” said Kian Yong, General Manager of Chocolate Origin. “We spent hours in the R&D room perfecting an Italian gelato recipe in order to tweak it to suit Singapore’s palate and we are very happy with the final product.”

Chocolate Origin will be giving out FREE GELATO on Saturday, 18 June 2016 from 10:30am to 9pm, to the first 1000 customers at their Bugis Junction outlet!

Left: Goh Kian Yong, General Manager of Chocolate Origin

The first 50 customers for the day or registered fans at gelato.chocolate-origin.com will also walk away with an exclusive set of Chocolate Origin’s commemorative button pins.

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For the uninitiated, let me tell you that Chocolate Origin is a place where chocoholics congregate to satisfy their chocolate cravings. ^_^

Besides chocolate drinks, you can also order their Signature Chocolate Truffle Cake and Cuppa Lava Cake.

The Chocolate Truffle Cake reminds me of a thick slab of chocolate but it actually comprises of two generous layers of chocolate truffles enveloped between two thin and light layers of chocolate sponge cake, which are coated by a smooth, luxurious chocolate ganache. This delicious creation is made using premium imported Belgian chocolate.

As for the Cuppa Lava Cake, both chocolate and vanilla are combined to make this hot and cold dessert, with both cake and ice cream contained within a single cup. The warm cake is fluffy and the chocolate lava oozes out perfectly when you cut into it! Yummy!

Latte Art
My coffee-loving friends will usually say that desserts are best washed down with a good cup of coffee! Well, the cafe also serves freshly brewed artisan lattes, which are made from the finest Arabica coffee beans from South America and you can pair this with your desserts.

The baristas at Chocolate Origin go the extra mile to surprise and delight their patrons with their coffee or chocolate drinks. A visit here is certainly memorable when you are presented with unique and creative latte art!

The picture below was taken during one of my previous cafe-hopping visits here (at my own expense) and on the left was my Iced Chocolate with 3D latte art and on the right, Cappuccino Delight.

This time around as part of the media event, the barista gave us a latte art demonstration and this was her creation:

I was so intrigued by the process that I decided to video it. Wow…she made it look so simple!

When she was done, it was our turn to have a go at the latte art! I was passed this cup of coffee with a big blob of foam in the middle (plus some edible food colouring and toothpicks) and told to get creative. Gosh…I was scratching my head for a long while as I had no idea where to begin!!…

Voila!…This was my very first attempt at latte art! What do you think?

I thought it was good fun, but do note that if you are too slow in creating the art, your coffee will turn cold! LOL!…

As I’m not really a coffee drinker, my hubby drank up the cup of coffee and this was what’s left of my “masterpiece”:

DIY latte art is currently not available at the cafe outlets, but if you want to hold team building events or a private event at any of their cafes, you can enquire if they can arrange to have this activity for your group.

Locations of the Chocolate Origin outlets in Singapore:

For more information, please visit www.chocolate-origin.com or www.facebook.com/chocolateorigin.

Many thanks to Chocolate Origin and Goh Kian Yong for the invite to try their amazing gelato and desserts, as well as the DIY latte art! Chocolate ice cream will never be the same again for me!

Here’s one last look at their mouth-watering desserts…

O’ma Spoon at 313@Somerset

Following the launch of its first outlet at Marina Square in March 2015, O’ma Spoon (pronounced as “oh my spoon”), a Korean dessert cafe, has since opened a second outlet at 313@Somerset, with an eye-catching pink neon at the front and a white tree fixture as its centrepiece.

Its Korean owner, Chris Chun, hopes to transport the Korean bingsu boom to Singapore with this brand.

In recent months, I’ve noticed that more and more Korean bingsu cafes have opened in Singapore. Most of my friends have commented that these bingsus are more “atas” versions of our local ice kacang! ^_^ Regardless of the price, they seem to be rather popular with the younger crowd!

The snow-like bingsus found at O’ma Spoon are created purely from premium milk. Fresh milk is poured directly into a specially-designed machine and flash frozen at -25°C to form tiny shards of milk ice with a fluffy texture, keeping the icy dessert light without compromising on the creamy flavour of the milk.

Choices, choices, choices…what should we try??

My hubby and I had 3 bingsus in one night and received incredulous stares from the people seated at the surrounding tables!

Assembling a bingsu involves the stacking of various ingredients and this has to be done in an organised way to ensure that they won’t topple! You first start with a base of milk ice, which is then topped with a variety of ingredients like fruit, nuts, cakes and ice cream. The initial taste of this dessert cafe’s bingsu feels quite light on the tongue with only a hint of dairy contained within. As the ice starts to melt, a richer flavour of the milk comes through. For those who have a sweeter tooth, a small cup of sweetened milk is served with each bingsu, so you can add to your heart’s content.

Here are the main features of the bingsus that we tried…

Choco Brownie Bingsu – The milk ice base of the bingsu is first sprinkled with Oreo cookie crumble then lined with sliced bananas, before it is topped with whipped cream, brownie squares and a scoop of chocolate ice cream. As a final touch, chocolate sauce is drizzled on the bingsu alongside toasted almond flakes.

Mango Cheesecake Bingsu – Cubes of sweet ripe Thai mangoes sit atop the milk ice bingsu and this is topped with blueberries, a slice of New York style cheesecake, a scoop of vanilla ice cream and finally a sprinkling of toasted almond flakes.

Injeolmi Bingsu – This bingsu is dusted with toasted soya bean powder and dressed with cubes of chewy injeolmi rice cakes, cashews and toasted almond flakes.

These bingsus are generally designed for sharing with friends or family (but I’ve seen people having one all to themselves). There’s even an OMG Bingsu on the menu but we haven’t tried it yet!!

If you find the serving too huge and want something smaller, Petit Bingsus are available and these are served in cups. Available flavours are: Pat (red bean), Injeolmi, Mango and Oreo.

Is that anything else available apart from bingsu? Well, the cafe offers a selection of Oven-Baked Honey Bread, as well as Oven-Baked Toast.

Their Signature Oven-Baked Honey Bread is directly imported from Korea and this two-inch thick bread is covered with butter and Korean honey, which is a natural sweetener.

Choco Strawberry Honey Butter Bread – This has a Nutella spread which is then topped with strawberries and vanilla ice cream, and served with whipped cream, chocolate sauce and a generous sprinkling of almond flakes.

Injeolmi Toast – From the Oven-Baked Toast selection, this dessert features chewy injeolmi rice cakes which are sandwiched between two slices of bread before they are lightly toasted.

Look at that gooey texture from the rice cakes!

My favourite out of everything that we had tried in this post was the Mango Cheesecake Bingsu. It was a heavenly combination! (did I forget to mention that I’m biased towards mangoes? :p)

This was a hosted food tasting event, thanks to O’ma Spoon!

O’ma Spoon
313@Somerset
313 Orchard Road #04-20/32
Singapore 238895.
Telephone: +65 6634 2998
Opening Hours:
11.30am – 10.00pm (Mon-Thurs & Sun)
11.30am – 12.00am (Fri & Sat)

Other Outlet:
Marina Square
6 Raffles Boulevard #04-102
Singapore 039594.
Telephone: +65 6333 0995
Opening Hours: Daily 11.30am – 10.00pm

Payment Modes: Cash, NETS and all major credit cards accepted.

Honey Creme – New Flavours for SG50 and Opening of 2nd Outlet!

I love ice cream and was thrilled to be able to preview two of Honey Creme’s yet-to-be-launched flavours!

Cereal Milk ($5.90) – This new flavour will be introduced at 313@Somerset from 1st June 2015 and will also be available at Honey Creme’s second outlet in Singapore at JEM, which is opening in mid-July 2015. The new outlet will be a takeaway kiosk, unlike its first store at 313@Somerset which has seating.

The soft serve ice cream tastes exactly like a bowl of breakfast cereal in milk, plus it’s topped with crispy cornflakes, which have been lightly salted and toasted for about 15-20min to give it that extra crunch. It’s a combination of salty, sweet and buttery flavours which some may say reminds them of their childhood. I felt like I was eating breakfast in dessert form! Cereal can also be found at the bottom of the cup and they still retained their crunchiness even if you take forever to finish this dessert! Kids will probably like this.

Pandan Gula Melaka ($6) – a pandan-flavoured soft serve specially concocted for SG50, this new flavour is really good!! It feels like you are eating a slice of pandan chiffon cake + a bowl of chendol at the same time! The ice cream is drizzled with gula melaka syrup and topped with crunchy sweet and salty preservative-free toasted coconut chips specially imported from Thailand (they are really addictive!). For those who like it sweeter, additional gula melaka syrup is provided in a pipette on the side, so you can add to your heart’s content!

“We are thrilled by the overwhelming reception that Honey Creme has enjoyed here,” says Ms. Sherry Lee, Co-Founder and Managing Director of New Majestic Investment, who brought in the franchise from Taiwan. “To thank our fans, we have created the Honey Creme Pandan Gula Melaka just for Singapore.”

The pandan-flavouring process is tedious and uses traditional methods, where fresh pandan leaves are first blended in-house and then squeezed to extract a pandan concentrate.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that this dessert is actually layered – there were pieces of attap chee in the middle (I’m not a fan of attap chee and initially I had thought it was jelly, so I was quite impressed with this!) and crunchy puffed rice can be found at the bottom of the cup. Overall, it was a very fragrant and localised flavour – LOVED IT!! (…and more coconut chips please!) ^_^

This Pandan Gula Melaka will only be available for a limited time:
313@Somerset: 1st June to 30th September 2015
JEM: Mid-July to 30th September 2015

Just for the National Day weekend (7th – 10th August 2015), Honey Creme will also add a Merlion-shaped biscuit to the top of the pandan parfait as a special SG50 treat.

I do hope they’ll consider adding this to their list of permanent flavours as it is a uniquely Singaporean flavour and I love it!!

For those who have yet to discover Honey Creme, it is a popular Taiwanese ice cream store, known for their distinctive, Korean-inspired soft serve ice cream made from premium ingredients topped with organic honeycomb. They first opened in Taiwan in March 2014 and have since expanded to Hong Kong. Their outlets in Singapore are the first in Southeast Asia. Smooth and creamy ice creams are made in-house using fresh milk and cream and no stabilisers are added.

  

Some of their signature desserts include…

Honey Comb ($5.90) – This features their original flavour of ice cream, topped with a piece of fresh honeycomb, which was sweet and chewy and some bits will actually get stuck on your teeth (as is expected from chewing on honeycomb). Eating the honeycomb together with the ice cream results in the right balance of sweetness.

Organic Cotton Candy Affogato ($5.90) – Probably a coffee addict’s delight!! The combination of ice cream and expresso was very smooth and I loved the cotton candy topping!

Overall, delectable soft serve ice creams can be found here and I love the SG50 concoction! My only grouse is that Singapore’s hot and humid weather causes the ice cream to melt rather quickly, so I should eat them quicker instead of spending time photographing them! LOL… :p

Honey Creme

313@Somerset Outlet
Address: 313 Orchard Road, 313@Somerset #01-37, Singapore 238895.
Operating Hours: Daily 11am – 10pm

JEM Outlet – opening mid-July 2015
Address: 50 Jurong Gateway Road, #B1-06, Singapore 608549.
Operating Hours: Daily 11am – 10pm

Hee Kee Desserts (囍記)

Hee Kee Desserts (囍記) is one of the newest Hong Kong dessert shops to open in Singapore. This halal-certified eatery, whose name means “treasuring happiness”, serves all-time favourite Hong Kong desserts with some local twists. I love desserts and confess that I have a sweet tooth, thus I was thrilled when I was invited to a food tasting session (erm…I meant dessert tasting)! ^_^

Upon entering, the display of colourful tiffin carriers and the fridge caught my eye!

This dessert shop seats 40 people, in a vintage-inspired setting.

Menu – there are 80 desserts which you can choose from and all of them are hand-made by their in-house chefs.

Their Top 6 “Must-Try” desserts include the following: (clockwise from top left) Mango Cheong Fun, Whole Coconut with Coconut Ice Cream & Peanut Crush, Durian Pancake, D24 Durian Sauce with Sago, Homemade Beancurd with Gula Melaka, and finally the one in the middle is their Traditional Steamed Milk Pudding.

We had the privilege of tasting all of them in one sitting (my first time eating only desserts for lunch!) and they were served in the sequence from mildest flavoured to the strongest tasting ones (i.e. durian), which makes complete sense as those desserts with stronger flavours would subsequently cause your tastebuds not to be able to identify the more subtle flavours.

Traditional Steamed Milk Pudding ($3.50)
This dessert is made using fresh milk and the entire preparation process takes about 1-2hrs, out of which 20min is spent on steaming. The pudding was smooth and I loved its milky taste. Someone commented that it was as good as the one they had at a well-known dessert shop in Hong Kong!

  

Homemade Beancurd with Gula Melaka ($3.30)
The bowl of soya beancurd was unsweetened and gula melaka syrup is provided on the side, so add according to your sugar tolerance level. I first tasted the beancurd before adding the gula melaka syrup and decided that I couldn’t do without, thus I emptied almost half of the portion of syrup that was given. My hubby on the other hand said he could eat it plain and didn’t put much of the brown sugar solution in his!

  

This is how it looks after adding the syrup and I have to say that the beancurd was silky smooth and effortless to swallow.

Whole Coconut with Coconut Ice Cream & Peanut Crush ($8.80)
This was my favourite dessert out of everything that I had tried!! The coconut was very fresh and most of the flesh had already been scraped out in strips so that it is easier for customers to eat it. The coconut ice cream was very milky and delicious and the peanut bits complemented the dessert very well by giving it an extra crunch.

This dessert is also served with 1 cup of fresh coconut juice on the side. My hubby was experimenting and poured some of the juice into the dessert and said it was heavenly but I preferred to drink it on its own.

Mango Cheong Fun ($3.30 per piece)
When this was served to us, many people actually thought it was really cheong fun but the outer skin is actually a spongy sweet-coconut infused skin which had been steamed but it felt more like a coconut jelly to me.

When you cut into it, you will find a nice plump and juicy chunk of mango inside. It was sweet and yummy! (Probably my second favourite dessert here, after the coconut)

D24 Durian Sauce with Sago ($5.80)
This dessert is really potent and durian fans will love this! D24 durians are used and the smooth and creamy durian sauce is topped with fresh durian flesh and a generous helping of sago. The aroma and flavour just overwhelms your tastebuds! Usually I will opt for durian pancake over this dessert, but surprisingly I quite enjoyed this!

Durian Pancake (From $3.30)
This pancake is wrapped in a not too thick coconut infused skin, which is filled with whipped cream and bursting with D24 durian puree. I found that overall the flavour wasn’t as strong as the previous dessert, as perhaps the combination with the whipped cream had toned down the durian taste.

Here’s how it looks when you cut it in two. Doesn’t it simply make your mouth water?

Other items which we had tried were:

Mango Sago with Pomelo ($4.50)
The flavour of the mango wasn’t as strong as I would have liked it to be – I’m not sure if that was because I had this after 2 durian desserts. I didn’t really like their version of this dessert and will choose the Mango Cheong Fun over this hands-down.

“Liu Sha Tang Yuan” in Osmanthus Soup ($3.80)
This sounded interesting as I’ve only ever eaten liu sha bao (custard buns) but never had liu sha in tang yuan form, thus we simply had to try it to satisfy our curiosity! Typically each serving has about 4 tang yuan but since we were only sampling this dish, we were given 3. I must say that at first glance the glutinous rice balls resemble eggs or orangy coloured fishballs! LOL…

Custard starts to ooze out immediately after you bite into the tang yuan! It’s like eating mochi which is filled with a custard sauce that just can’t wait to break free!! In case you’re wondering, there is no salted egg yolk in this. My hubby absolutely loved this dessert but personally, I think I will stick to having liu sha in bao form.

Verdict:  My personal favourites were the Whole Coconut with Coconut Ice Cream & Peanut Crush, Mango Cheong Fun and D24 Durian Sauce with Sago.

CONTEST
Instagrammers, take note – there is a contest from now to 19 August 2014, where there’s up to S$100 worth of vouchers to be won! All you have to do is follow Hee Kee Desserts (@heekeedesserts) on Instagram, snap a picture and Instagram your dessert, comment on what’s so great about the dessert you’re having and hashtag #heekeedesserts. Winners will be picked at random.

DISCOUNT
Get a 10% discount when you quote the Promo Code JACINTA at Hee Kee Desserts from now to 19 August 2014.

Address:
JP2, #03-54/55 Jurong Point, 1 Jurong West Central 2, Singapore 648886.

Social Media:
Facebook URL: https://www.facebook.com/heekeedesserts
Instagram: http://instagram.com/heekeedesserts
Hashtags (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter): #heekeedesserts

Opening Hours:
Daily 11:00 – 22:00

Telephone: 6795 0765

Getting There by Public Transport:

MRT
Boon Lay (EW27)

Bus

SBS Transit (Boon Lay Interchange):
30, 79, 154, 157, 174, 174e, 179, 179A, 181, 182, 182M, 192, 193,
194, 198, 199, 240, 241, 242, 243W/G, 246, 249, 251, 252, 254, 255,
257, 405

SMRT (Boon Lay Interchange):
172 , 178 , 180 , 187

Mei Heong Yuen Dessert (味香园甜品)

Mei Heong Yuen has long been famous for the Farmer Brand groundnuts and Mei Heong Yuen Dessert (味香园甜品) is opened by Connie and Clara Lee, daughters of Mei Heong Yuen’s founder. It specializes in different varieties of pastes and steamed egg pudding.

There is a wide selection of desserts and too many to try in one visit. Anyway, these are what I have tried so far…

Peanut Paste (生磨花生糊) – This was a smooth paste, not too thick and it wasn’t watery. The smell and taste of the peanuts was very fragrant and it is undoubtedly why this has been their signature dessert over the years. Try it – it’s really good!

Walnut Paste (生磨核桃糊) – Similar to the peanut paste, this had a nice consistency and it wasn’t bitter like some other walnut pastes which I have tried elsewhere. I enjoyed it very much.

Mango and Strawberry Snow Ice (芒果草莓雪花冰) – This is Snow Ice from Taiwan, which is different from the typical shaved ice desserts that I’ve tried in Singapore. Its texture is almost as creamy as ice-cream but it still retains the light fluffiness of ice. There were several flavours to choose from and I couldn’t decide, so I went with this combination which is served with fresh mango and strawberries, as well as little pearls which burst when you bite into them, releasing a flavoured syrup.

Mango Roll (芒果卷) – Looking at the pictures on the menu and on the wall around the restaurant, I couldn’t quite make out what was the white stuff which was wrapped around the mango and it looked like chee cheong fun to me. Anyway, I ordered this to try and found it was a thin layer of coconut jelly. Combined with the fresh mango slices, it was a nice dessert!

Glutinous rice with Chicken (糯米鸡) – This was lovely and makes for a nice snack or a light meal. It contains smooth chicken pieces embedded in a fragrant glutinous rice – not too oily and it wasn’t dry. Mmm…delicious!

3-Colour Cakes (三色糕) – If you are wondering what this dish is, it is perfect for someone who wants to have a taste of everything – this comprises of Yam Cake (芋头糕), Carrot Cake (萝卜糕) and Pumpkin Cake (南瓜糕) – one piece each, hence the three colours. The pumpkin cake was a little unusual for me as it is not typically found at most eating places. I enjoyed the yam cake and the carrot cake more. All three had a good texture which was soft and you can taste the actual ingredients unlike some places which use more flour in theirs.

I noticed this place is extremely popular with tourists and it seems to be THE PLACE to go for desserts in Singapore. Definitely worth repeated visits.

Address:
Mei Heong Yuen Dessert (味香园甜品)
No. 63 – 67 Temple Street
63-67号 牛车水登婆街
Singapore 058611.

Phone: 6221 1156

Opening Hours: Daily 10:30am to 10pm

Getting There by MRT:
It’s 2-min walk from Chinatown station, exit A.

They also have 2 other outlets at ION Orchard and Chinatown Point.

Annie’s Peanut Ice Kachang

**UPDATE**  Annie’s Peanut Ice Kachang has since moved again and re-opened on 20th Oct 2014 at:
Taman Jurong Market and Food Centre, 3 Yung Sheng Road, #01-01, Singapore 618499.

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The Tanjong Pagar Plaza Market & Food Centre is currently undergoing renovation works, which won’t be completed until 1st Quarter 2014. Fans of Annie’s Peanut Ice Kachang who are wondering where to get their ice kachang fix, fret not as it has since moved to the Ghim Moh Market & Food Centre.

If you’re still wondering whether it really is THE stall, see if you can recognise this lady…

Mmm…wonderful on a hot humid day! I’ve always liked this shaved ice concoction with a twist as normal ice kachang doesn’t come with peanuts, plus overall it isn’t too sweet.

I asked if the stall will move back to Tanjong Pagar when the renovation works have completed and was told it would stay put here. So fans of this dessert stall, do take note of its new location!

Address:
Ghim Moh Market & Food Centre
Blk 20, Ghim Moh Road, #01-35,
Singapore 270020.

Opening Hours:
Mon – Thu: 07:30 – 19:30
Sat: 08:00 – 18:30
Sun: 08:00 – 17:00

Magnum Pink & Black (Limited Edition)

I noticed several bus-stops around Singapore were displaying the same large advert for both the Magnum Pink & Black and thought these new flavours looked interesting.

Photo Source: Magnum Singapore’s Facebook page

My hubby was extremely keen to buy one of each to try, especially the black one! Thus, off we went to get some…

Magnum Black Expresso – Coated with dark cracking chocolate, the ice-cream inside is supposed to be “a ripple of intense black espresso coffee swirled in a smooth and creamy vanilla ice cream” but I took a bite and couldn’t really taste much coffee in it, although my hubby insisted it did have the aroma and taste of expresso! Anyway, I’m not a coffee person and I guess just one bite wasn’t enough to get the full flavour of it, plus I probably bit into the vanilla part! LOL…

Magnum Pink Marc De Champagne – Yummilicious!! You may call it indulgence but I especially love the pink ice-cream which was creamy and had a light refreshing taste of Marc de Champagne. I did feel that the pearlescent pink cracking chocolate coating slightly overpowered the flavour of the ice-cream but it did have a nice crunch. I’ll definitely buy this again!

We have always liked Magnum but it can be quite expensive if you eat it often so we only buy this brand on the occasional whim. I must say that we weren’t disappointed with the new limited edition flavours! 😀

McDonald’s Tropical Orange Flavour Burst

Saw an advertisement board featuring the Tropical Orange Flavour Burst when I walked past McDonald’s with my colleagues the other day and we decided to give it a try…

I guess since Chinese New Year is just around the corner, McDonald’s decided to sell this particular flavour in their Flavour Burst range of ice-creams.

It’s been a while since I last ate one of these Flavour Bursts and I must say this Tropical Orange one is good! The taste kind of makes me reminiscent of my childhood days when I used to eat those orange-flavoured ice lollies, some of which had a milk filling inside. Someone else thought otherwise and said the orange in this Flavour Burst tastes like the orange-flavoured Skittles candy.

Anyway, at $1 a cone, it’s an affordable treat for the family or perhaps a between-meal snack! ^_^

Antoinette at Penhas Road

Found this shop in the middle of an old housing estate and surrounded by old commercial buildings. The decor of the shop seems too posh when compared with its surroundings. I decided to give myself an after-dinner treat and stopped by this place…

Interior of the shop.

Menu

Couldn’t resist trying the colourful macarons which were displayed at the counter!

Selected 4 out of the 5 bestsellers in the shop…
Charlotte (pink) – vanilla cream with strawberry coulis
Chloe (orange) – citrus yoghurt and yuzu flavoured, the taste was quite interesting
Praline (brown) – this contained hazelnuts
Antoinette (speckled) – milk chocolate earl grey tea ganache with raspberry confiture

Antoinette – Earl Grey ice cream with raspberry jelly and milk chocolate shards
The flavour of the earl grey ice cream was too strong for my liking but the chocolate was nice.

L’amour – Rose petal ice cream with raspberry swirl, rose meringue and lychee pieces
The rose petal ice cream was nice and had a light fragrance which was pleasing to the palate. I was glad that it wasn’t overpowering and I loved the lychee bits which came with the ice cream. However, I felt that the rose meringue which was dusted with icing sugar was simply too sweet!! You’ll really need to have a super sweet tooth to enjoy it! LOL…

Verdict:
I found the desserts too sweet but if you are game for a sugar rush, you might enjoy them!
Love the macarons though!!

Address:
Antoinette
30 Penhas Road (off Lavender Street),
Singapore 208188.

Operating Hours:
Monday to Thursday – 11am to 10pm (Last order – 9.30pm, last seating – 9.45pm)
Friday and Eve of Public Holidays – 11am to 11pm (Last order – 10pm, last seating – 10.45pm)
Saturday – 10am to 11pm (Last order – 10pm, last seating – 10.45pm)
Sunday and Public Holidays – 10am to 10pm (Last order – 9.30pm, last seating – 9.45pm)

Nearest MRT: Lavender