Swensen's - Super Nasi Lemak Sundae

Yeah I know some of you have been waiting to see this one come up.
Ever since we posted the discovery of a Nasi Lemak Sundae at Swensen's about a month ago, we've heard some pretty mixed reviews about the whole thing.

Quite a few of you must be having second (or maybe even third) thoughts about ordering this at Swensen's when you just as well order something you know you'll enjoy like a Sticky Chewy Chocolate for example.

So, as always, The Halal Food Blog is ready and willing to test it first.
LOL like mana punya hero ajer...

Super Nasi Lemak Sundae ($10.90)

Lo and behold! THE SUPER NASI LEMAK SUNDAE!!

Yeah I know. Doesn't tickle your fancy right away does it? Maybe it'll taste super nice who knows.

Let us dissect what this unique local sundae is made up of.

The main part of this sundae has of course got to be the ice-cream right?
It's a Spicy Coconut ice-cream which really does taste like coconut for the most part of it. Quite a rich and creamy flavour which is actually not bad on its own.

A reader commented on our Instagram about a "tajam2" feeling in the throat after awhile.
Well, I know what you mean now!! I think it's the 'spicy' aspect of the ice-cream! Swensen's has cleverly incorporated some chilli or something into the ice-cream. And I say clever because it's very very subtle and only hits you later. It's not like 'my mouth is on fire' kinda spicy but just a hint.

The toppings is what makes this sundae really... errrr... special.

You've got some peanuts which I guess is not that bad. After all, we do have peanuts on sundaes right? But the Ikan Bilis is definitely the kicker here.

Yeah I love Ikan Bilis especially crispy fried Ikan Bilis.
But I don't think they have any place in a dessert.

I know nowadays the line is very thin and we have savoury desserts and salty this and sweet that.
But this somehow doesn't quite go together very well...

And in case you were wondering, that's a Keropol Belinjau stuck in some whipped cream on top.

Adam's Verdict:
Super Nasi Lemak Sundae 1.5/5

I can really appreciate that Swensen's is trying to come up with new and exciting local flavours.
And I have no doubt that their other Local Infusions like Salted Gula Melaka Heaven, Chendol Delight and Durian Supreme are pretty okay since they are flavours we would be able to associate with desserts and sundaes.

But the Nasi Lemak Sundae idea.... well.... full marks for thinking out of the box that's for sure.

Swensen's (ION Orchard)

ION Orchard
B1-31

www.swensens.com.sg
Tel: 68845967

Operating Hours:
10.30am til 10.30pm Mondays to Fridays
8.30am til 10.30pm Weekends and PHs

Geláre

Here's one that I know many of you have been looking forward to!
Not just this post, but for Geláre to be certified Halal! And finally, the time has come!

I'm not sure about you guys but when I was in school (many many many years ago), the only place we could get waffles and ice-cream was A&W. And since they went out of business in SG (many many many years ago) it has been pretty difficult to get your waffles and ice-cream fix unless you crossed the Causeway.

And then Geláre comes along (many many many years ago) but unfortunately it was not Halal. And since then, so many ice-cream joints have opened up but also none Halal. So many 'Waffle Tuesdays' have gone past :(

Well, no more of that! Now we can all enjoy Waffle Tuesday (or waffle ANYDAY) too! LOL

But then some of you might be thinking... "So nice meh Geláre waffle?"

Super Tutti Frutti Treat ($15.60)

The one thing we noticed is the variety of Waffles you can choose from.
Firstly - you can have half a waffle or a whole waffle. And then you gotta decide which type you'd like. Classic? Chocolate Chip Treat? Tutti Frutti? Churro? Rocky Road? And then you gotta choose how many scoops of ice-cream and which ice-cream flavours.

Sounds like a lot of work? Don't worry because it all pays off in the end!

We went with the Tutti Frutti Treat with 2 scoops of ice-cream. It comes topped off with some peaches, strawberries and fresh cream. We opted for the maple syrup instead of the chocolate sauce but somehow it was left out :\

The waffle itself was really good! Nice and fluffy and tasty too! But we think the pairing of the ice-cream is what makes it all worthwhile.

We chose a 2 scoop option and decided on the classic flavours - Chocolate and Strawberry.

Strawberry Ice-Cream is one of my favourite flavours and how I determine the quality and type of ice-cream being served because it's easily decided. There are 2 types of Strawberry ice-cream - 1 tastes like strawberry milk and the other tastes like strawberries.
The one at Geláre tastes like strawberries which means natural flavours!

Geláre prides itself on serving "Au naturale premium ice-cream" and we can really taste it too.
Fresh flavours that taste great and a pretty wide variety too. (Sorry we didn't list down all the flavours because we were too busy whacking the waffle!) And if 1 or 2 scoops is not enough,,, have 3!!

And in case you were wondering, Geláre serves more than just Waffles and Ice-Cream!

Mushroom Soup

We were a little peckish so we had the Lasagna Meal ($15.90) which comes with soup and a drink.
You could also have a Pasta, Salad, Sandwich or Pie meal too!

The Mushroom Soup was a bit bland though. Add a little salt and pepper to help it along but we'd classify this under the "don't have also never mind' category.

Lasagna

I have to say 2 things.
Number 1 - The Lasagna was surprisingly good. Number 2 - that's a damn good photo! LOL

We didn't expect much from the Lasagna but somehow it was actually really good! The tomato sauce was not too sour and there was quite a fair amount of meat in between the lasagna sheets. Overall it made for a pretty satisfying bite.

If the Lasagna is not bad, wouldn't mind giving the Pasta dishes a go too actually!

Adam's Verdict:
Super Tutti Frutti Treat 4/5 -- Lasagna 3.5/5 -- Mushroom Soup 1.5/5

Maryah's Verdict:
Super Tutti Frutti Treat 4.5/5 -- Lasagna 3/5 -- Mushroom Soup 1/5

They have all sorts of waffles at Geláre. They even have pancakes for breakfast and a whole range of foods like Sandwiches, Pasta, Pies and even Salads. But I think that in the end, we will all be heading down mainly for the Waffles and Ice-Cream am I right?

They have Geláre outlets all over the island namely AMK Hub, Causeway Point, The Star Vista, SAFRA Jurong, NUH Medical Centre, Suntec City, IMM and Tampines 1.

And don't forget TUESDAY IS WAFFLE DAY!! 50% OFF WAFFLES!!

Geláre

10, Tampines Central 1
#04-K2/K3, Tampines 1

Tel: 6789 0603
www.gelare.com.sg

Operating Hours:
10:00am to 10:00pm daily

Koolwerkz Frozen Dessert

Hey everyone! How's your Raya going? Busy I know but surely enjoyable!
Well, here's some light reading for you while in transit and some useful information about something The Halal Food Blog is very happy to support!

Koolwerkz has been around since 2005 and it's a wonder we'd never heard of it sooner.
So what is it exactly they do? Well, they make forzen desserts namely - Ice Cream!!
And what's special about Koolwerks anyways?

For starters, Koolwerkz is actually set-up and run by Temasek Polytechnic!
That's right! This is actually an off-campus manufacturing plant (the first of its kind in Singapore) that gives students a chance to have a hands-on experience! And it's not limited to just TP students either.

And since it's run by the students, this means that pretty much everything comes from their own minds and hard work. The designing of the packaging, the labour in making the ice cream, the packing and the storing - all done by the students!

Students hard at work

By putting the students in charge, this provides broad based entrepreneurship and food manufacturing training for students across various disciplines just like I mentioned earlier.

For now, they make 4 flavours - Dark Chocolate, French Vanilla, Strawberry and Mango!
Pretty fancy right! Not bad if I do say so myself!

I actually got to sample the Strawberry Ice Cream FRESH off the belt and it was the bomb!
Okay so I guess the fact that Strawberry is my favourite ice-cream flavour plays a big part but I also tried the Dark Chocolate and it was good too!

Just one catch though - you can't really buy these commercially for now.
But don't worry - there are other ways you can get your hands on these ice-creams! How?
Well, if you have an event or a school function, why not get these ice-creams for the event?

Sports Day? Open House? Charity Event? Wedding? Birthday Party? The list goes on!
Basically you can have some great ice-cream at your event while supporting this student-run project!
And it's not going to cost you a bomb!

And in case you were still wondering about the ice-cream itself, not only is it yummy, but it's also healthy too! Less fat, less sugar, lower calories, less cholesterol, no trans-fat. It's even got the Health Promotion Board's 'Healthier Choice' logo there! And of course - certified Halal by MUIS!

So why not show some support and have some great ice-cream at the same time.
If you have any enquiries or if you'd like to place an order, you can contact Ms Fatin Lyana via email at flyana@tp.edu.sg or call her at 67804005.

If you want to arrange for a site visit Koolwerks (it'd be a really cool excursion!!) then please contact Mr Wong Yoon Chron at wongyc@tp.edu.sg or 67806429.

Just be prepared to use a hair net! (Yes, I had to wear one!)

So remember to check Koolwerkz out and try them the next time for your event okay!
Support the students!!

Ramadhan Special 2014: Kala Thai Coconut Ice Cream

I remember seeing this super long queue about 1 or 2 years ago at the Geylang Serai Bazaar. I found out it was some Coconut Ice Cream that everyone was raving about but I was too lazy to queue up so I never got a chance to try it.

Well, this year we went back and finally got to see what all the fuss was about...
Was it worth the wait? What is it exactly anyways?

Coconut Ice Cream ($4.00)

This was actually pretty tasty! I can see why everyone was queuing up now.

A smooth and tasty Coconut Ice Cream which was not overly sweet and have a great Coconut-y taste to it topped off with some Gula Melaka and sprinkled with nuts and you might find an Atap Seed aka 'Kabong' in there too. And not forgetting - the slivers of coconut flesh!

The coconut was so soft and tasty you can even scrape it off the shell with a plastic spoon!

Mango Sticky Rice

In case Coconut Ice Cream is not your thing, you can try the Mango Sticky Rice!
We didn't try it but the mangoes look huge!

Adam's Verdict:
Thai Coconut Ice Cream 3.5/5

Maryah's Verdict:
Thai Coconut Ice Cream 4/5

Go early and try to avoid the crowd okay!
PS look out for imitations! This is the original!

Kala Thai Coconut Ice Cream

Geylang Serai Bazaar
Tentage near Paya Lebar MRT

Operating Hours: 4.00pm til 10.00pm

KL Sedap Part 5: Shimino Japanese Crepes

 

So at the top level of Pavilion shopping mall, there's a small section they call Tokyo Street.
You can find all kinds of Japanese-inspired shops there like fashion, accessories and even food.
There's even a shop that specializes in selling traditional Japanese tea including all the pots and utensils.

It's actually pretty nice to talk a walk around

One of those shops selling makan is this place called Shimino Japanese Crepes.
Japanese and Crepes are not 2 words I normally put together...
So how different is a Japanese Crepe from a Non-Japanese Crepe? Well let's find out...

And to help us find out we have our fellow guest reviewers;

Azim & Razali

 As you can tell, they've got smiles on their faces so the crepes must nice right?

Fresh Mango & Honey Crepe (RM8.90)

Fresh Strawberry & Chocolate Sauce Crepe (RM8.90)

So the first thing you notice is that the crepes are made into a cone shape which makes it easy to eat on the go. Try to think of it as like you're having an ice-cream or something.

The crepes itself are made to order which means you get it fresh. I guess they kinda have to make it fresh because the crepes would definitely be sucky if they we made then left to sit waiting for orders.

Whatever filling you choose, you can actually mix and match what else goes in the crepe.
Fro example, ours was actually a Fresh Strawberry and Honey crepe but we opted for the Chocolate Sauce instead and they top it off with toppings like almond flakes, peanuts, rainbow sprinkles etc.
But the one thing that you should leave alone is the fresh cream that is packed with the filling.

I actually thought it was going to be just whipped cream out of the can or something but it really was a nice surprise that it was FRESH cream! And they're not stingy with the filling as you can see. Packed full of sweet strawberries!

And they actually have wide varieties of crepes to choose from.
Classics like Banana Chocolate, Peaches, Kiwi and Pineapple and all ready for you to eat.
They also have more interesting flavours like Mandarin Orange and Coffee Jelly!

And in case you feel like having some savoury crepes instead, they have flavours like Roast Beef, Chicken Teriyaki, Roast Duck and Seafood Mayo.

Adam's Verdict:
Fresh Strawberry & Chocolate Sauce Crepe 4/5

Maryah's Verdict:
Fresh Strawberry & Chocolate Sauce Crepe 3.5/5

Razali's Verdict:
Fresh Mango & Honey Crepe 3.5/5

Azim's Verdict:
Fresh Mango & Honey Crepe 3.5/5

Well I'm not sure if it's different from any other crepe I've had but it's still a good dessert nonetheless.
Just try to maintain when you eat... Like Azim.

Shimino Japanese Crepes

Pavilion KL
168 Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tokyo Street (Level 6) P6.16.00

Operating Hours: 10.30am til 10.00pm Daily

Olivye - Gelato

You guys remember my previous post about HalalDeals.sg right?
Well one of the deals I purchased was for this place called Olivye.

I actually first spotted it when we went for supper at Mr Teh Tarik Cafe at Changi.
But of course, it was closed at that late hour of the night. Well it wasn't going to be closed this time because we're going for some Gelato!

So Olivye is this nice little cozy nook in the middle of Changi. In fact, it's just beside Mr Teh Tarik!
At first I thought it was just a gelato cafe but apparently they have a food menu too which apparently includes ribs! Something to try in the future!! And I've never come across a place that sells Halal Gelato so this was definitely something very unique.

But when it comes to the gelato, believe you me - they have a long list.
Check it out.

(image from website)

Okay so they won't have ALL the flavours at one go but they had at least 19 flavours on offer that night when we visited the cafe. So don't look at me because I had a hard enough time choosing just the few out of that long list okay.

Well the easiest way for me to classify the flavours is 1) fruity and 2) non-fruity.
We decided that were going to have two cups (with two flavours in each cup) so we had a good idea of what we might like.

We actually had the pleasure of meeting Mr Gregory when we visited.
He introduced himself as one of the siblings who proudly opened and operated Oliyve.
The Changi Village outlet was not the only one however. They also had smaller stalls at NIE and NTU which served mainly the food aspect of their menu.

Well on with the gelato!!!

There are a few choices for sizes...
Small ($3.00-$3.90), Medium ($4.50-$5.50) and  Large ($6.50-$7.50)
They also have take-away sizes by the way.

Strawberry & Salted Caramel

So for the non-fruity cup, we decided on Strawberry and Salted Caramel.
Yeah yeah I know you think it's boring but I like it okay.

The Strawberry was delicious I have to say. It was very smooth and not too sweet.
But for the Salted Caramel, I can't put my finger on it but I found that something was amiss.
Maybe I was basing my taste on my previous encounters with Salted Caramel so I didn't really like this one because it tasted different. Kind of like a burnt taste you know what I mean?

Chempedak & Melon

We were so busy with the other cup we neglected this one and it started melting!!
But this fruity cup was the bomb.

The Chempedak and the Melon gelato had such a natural fruit flavour.
It was not overpowering or anything but once you taste it you know that it's the real deal.

And we didn't select the flavour but Mr Gregory gave us a sampling of the Durian flavour...
And we immediately regretted not choosing the Durian... It tasted like the real thing!
Next time it's a must!

Adam's Verdict:
Strawberry 3/5 -- Salted Caramel 1.5/5 -- Melon 3.5/5 -- Chempedak 3/5

Maryah's Verdict:
Strawberry 3/5 -- Salted Caramel 2.5/5 -- Melon 4/5 -- Chempedak 4.5/5

So the next time you want some place to relax and have some gelato with some buddies after makan (or in fact you can even makan there) check out Olivye.

PS they also have an ice-cream buffet on weekends! Check it out!

Olivye

Blk 5 Changi Village Road #01-2009
Tel: 6543 9518
www.olivye.com

Operating Hours:
11.30am til 9.30pm Daily