Japanese soft serve and froyo places may be proliferating, but the big ice cream winners are clearly homegrown brands. They’ve managed to capture the heart and soul of locally-inspired flavours from durian and pineapple tart, to muah chee and kaya, without sacrificing on quality and taste. That’s not to say they’ve overlooked the classics too. Here, we list down all the cool ice cream places that have satiated our sweet tooth on this sunny island.
Apiary
With a name like that, you know you’re gonna have a sweet time here. Expect more straightforward flavours at this centrally-located haunt, like Milk Chocolate & Cookies, Black Sesame and Salted Caramel done supremely well, as well as unique yet elegant creations like Black Summer Truffle and Speculoos Cheesecake. Alcoholics, go for the chewy Baileyes & Brownie, or the punchy I Am Not Drunk, made using whisky and homemade cereal cumble.
Birds of Paradise
Singapore’s very own gelato maker has won hearts with delicate, unusual flavors like the white chrysanthemum with cacao nibs, spiced pear and strawberry basil. While their Jewel Changi Airport outlet is modern and clean, their environmentally-conscious, brick-and-mortar cafe in Katong is equally great—painted in pastel colors and plastered with floral and birds motifs.
Creamier
The Gillman Barracks outlet of this homegrown ice cream brand is packed on the weekends, thanks to its rotating selection of 18 handcrafted ice-cream flavors that are made from scratch daily. Try premium flavors like the roasted pistachio or local flavors like the sea salt gula melaka. There are waffles, too, if you’re so inclined.
The Daily Scoop
This Clementi veteran egg-free ice cream chain offers made-fresh-daily, all-natural ice creams. Fans of local flavors will appreciate their seasonal Mao Shan Wang flavor and the OkayLah, with kaya flavours. Don’t miss their boozy offerings either, like the lychee martini and the cherry brandy.
Dopa Dopa Creamery
At Dopa Dopa, give the ice cream cone a miss and instead choose to sandwich some incredibly thick and gooey artisanal gelato in a flaky and buttery croissant. Flavours here are constantly on rotate, but you can typically get offerings like Green Tea Toasted Rice and Home Roasted Hazelnuts, which have had locals turning heads.
Fat Cat Ice Cream Bar
This hipster ice cream bar located in the heart of Bedok central manages to draw crowds with their unique ice cream flavours sold at affordable prices. Made in-house from scratch, pair ice cream such as butterbeer, hay & honey and all-time favourite earl grey lavender with their raved charcoal waffle and salted egg yolk sauce. Don’t forget their gourmet plated desserts as well, which you can choose to pair with dessert wines.
Holy Cow Creamery
Heartland favourite Holy Cow has been satisfying Yishun residents for years now, offering both crowd-pleasing ice cream and classic flavours like Root Beer Float (all in one scoop without the drink), Muah Chee (the taste, not the texture), and Chocolate OD (where the power of four Valhorna chocolates combine). Have it with waffles too, if you want. Who knows what they’ll come up with next.
Island Creamery
After moving out of its iconic location in Bukit Timah’s Serene Centre, this well-loved creamery is now in Holland Village. They’ve still got local palates in mind with flavors including pineapple tart, kopi, teh tarik and pulut hitam. Be sure to shake on heaps of Horlicks and Milo powder for an extra sugar hit. For boozehounds, there’s even Tiger beer sorbet and Kahlua latte.
Kind Kones
Ice cream is no longer a distant dream for lactose intolerant folks at ice cream joint Kind Kones. ‘Cause besides serving all-natural vegan ice cream and desserts, the Forum shopping mall stalwart also ensures that their offerings are refined sugar-free, egg-free and additive-free. Need gluten-free options? Kind Kones have got you covered too. With absolutely no compromise on flavour, check out the Durian, Oat Milk & Cookies, Pistachio Kulfi and even Salted Caramel Macadamia ice cream scoops.
Kooks Creamery
Dig into unique ice cream flavours like Blue Chai Hokkaido Milk and Watermelon Rose with Cacao Nibs atop matcha and chocolate lava cookies oozing ganache at Kooks Creamery’s two outlets. And if you can’t get enough of their delectable treats, take both ice cream pints and ready-to-bake cookies home to pair them yourself. We promise their desserts are worth every bite and calorie.
Lickers
There are plenty of reasons to love Lickers. For starters, the neon-lit Hougang neighbourhood ice cream parlour opens till 2am from Tue-Sun, making it the perfect late-night dessert/supper spot. Plus, they constantly dish out new and exciting flavours like Oolong Lavender, Macadamia Popcorn and Yakult Oreo. And most recently, they’ve opened a spanking new spot at Telok Blangah, so there’s one more place for you to receive your ice cream fix.
Little Damage
This Los Angeles export offers its signature soft serve at two outlets across Singapore—one on Haji Lane and the other at Orchard. Taking heed from its parent store, the outpost here is decked out in monochromatic gingham that not only serves as a precursor to its menu, but doubles as the perfect Instagram backdrop. Get giant cones of signatures like the eye-catching Unicorn Tears, or the rich and comforting Coffee Caramel.
Merely Ice Cream
This cozy shop situated conveniently at Sunshine Plaza is a hit with their handcrafted ice cream made from only the best quality ingredients together with painstaking effort taken to mix-in and swirl their ice cream. The result is an ultra smooth texture across their original flavours such as Grape Yakult, Ondeh Ondeh and Horlicks Panda. Look out for crazy limited edition flavours they regularly put out such as Seaweed Shoyu Caramel, Pineapple Tart and Popcorn and Potato Chips.
Sunday Folks
Chip Bee Gardens’ beloved ice cream shop is still one of the best. Expect homemade premium ice cream flavours such as the ever-amazing roasted pistachio. They do everything from waffle cones, cheesecakes, delicate sundaes as well as chocolates and chocolate truffles too. Come here for a real treat.
Tom’s Palette
New to Middle Road, Tom’s Palette was previously located at Shaw Tower and has been making fresh ice cream daily since 2005. It still flaunts some of the most interesting flavours around; think lychee and white wine, salted caramel cheesecake, parmesan cheese and cream crackers, salted egg yolk, plus dozens more. And do keep an eye out for their crazy good seasonal specials.
Udders
With five branches around the city, including Siglap and Upper Thomson, this homegrown ice cream parlor is all about all-natural ingredients, ice cream batches and a focus on locally inspired and boozy flavours. Try the gula melaka option with nuggets of chewy attap chee, the spiked orange chocolate bitters and the Baileys and bourbon.
