Ulu but Atas Cafes
- westthefoodwsmm
- Apr 23, 2017
- 6 min read
My Little Ice Cream Shop
Opened just late 2016, My Little Ice Cream Shop is an ice cream parlour opened under the big company, Pandan Gardens Fishball Noodles (PGFN). It offers a wide range of ice cream flavours, from classics such as mint, vanilla, cookies and cream, and dark chocolate, to lesser-seen options such as taro yam, red velvet, earl grey, and new york cheesecake. It even has a flavour to cater to you “local” tastebuds, Mao Shan Wang! They offered many different sides, from simple light sides such as ice cream on a cone, to heavy ones like brownies, waffles and even lava cakes. If you do like the ice cream flavours, they do sell them in tubs for takeaway!
Their new addition, is their Red Velvet ice cream, and their bestsellers, are salted caramel, hazelnut, and new york cheesecake. If these flavours of ice cream are some of your favourites, you definitely would not want to miss this. In addition, they have self-service water dispensers, complete with colourful cups, in case the sweetness of the ice cream and your brownie, gets way too much. Students eat 5% off, so it’s definitely suitable for an occasional after school catch up with friends, or a quiet study session alone (because frequent visits may burn a hole in your pocket).
Tucked away in a corner of Pandan Gardens, My Little Ice Cream Shop has a comfortable ambience, with gentle music playing in the background, moulding the small cafe to give customers a certain sense of comfort and relaxation.With a glass panel along the exterior of the shop, natural sunlight (in the day of course) filters in, lighting up the cafe with a warm glow. In addition, installed lights within the shop lights up the shop. With all the natural lighting plus additional lighting, all your #foodporn photos taken, is guaranteed to look #instagramworthy. It is a relatively quiet and tranquil place for a short catchup with a small group of friends. The shop is air-conditioned as well which will cool you down from the sweltering heat in Singapore together with your ice cream.
Accessibility: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The shop is located in Ayer Raja Community centre and it is relatively easy to find. You can get there either by car, or if you’re not yet driving, you can take bus 79, from Boon Lay bus interchange, to the bus stop outside German Centre. Once you get there, cross the overhead bridge to the other side, and take bus 51, all the way until the bus stop outside Ayer Raja Community Centre. Though google maps tells you that it is about 20 or so stops away from Boon Lay bus interchange, the journey is actually rather short. :-)
My Little Ice Cream Shop, though slightly ulu, proves to be a good place for some quiet and relaxation time, as there are not that many people. However, we understood from the staff there that there are usually many students there during the after-school timings, as Commonwealth Secondary School is right next door. So, this small ice cream shop is perfect for you, or with your friends for some delicious dessert after school.
Food: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Based on the recommendation of the staff, we ordered the New York Cheesecake Ice Cream with waffles, maple syrup, and mini marshmallows. It came with one free sauce and topping. Her recommendations did not fail us. The ice cream was delicious, and unlike most, it had the chewy cheesecake base, mixed into the ice cream, giving it a whole new texture and added flavour. We were pleasantly surprised when they served us two generously sized waffles. The combination of the warm waffles, and the cold desert was a nice one. The waffles were not too sweet, which was a plus, as it perfectly balanced the sweetness of the ice cream. For some weird reason, the maple syrup added, actually complemented both the ice cream as well as the waffles, which was a nice touch.
Furthermore, their plating was done extremely neatly, and in a way that was aesthetically pleasing (for you food-instagrammers out there!) There was a clear flair for plating, and visibly, a lot of effort was put into it. The marshmallows were those cute, small, pink, yellow and white ones, and their colour just so happened to make everything come together so much better. We spent approximately $7 on everything in total, but the prices may vary depending on what you purchase. Though it was a little expensive, it was worth the price, and you will definitely enjoy it!
If you’re looking for a place with an environment that can change between lively and comfortably quiet, one that serves mouth-watering desserts, or one that #instagramworthy, My Little Ice Cream Shop is the perfect place for you!
2. Bucktile st. Cafe
Bucktile St. Cafe at Clementi, Faber Drive, is an ‘ulu’ cafe and we just had to go check it out.
Integrating modern aspects into the old-school style cafe, cafe designers had successfully created a cozy and warm vibe. With very little cafes having similarly styled exteriors, the exterior decoration of the cafe is truly unique, and makes a really #instagramworthy background, great for taking your ootds.
Ambience: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The interior of the cafe is fully decorated with ornaments, hanging light bulbs as well as clocks on the walls. It give a very cozy feeling, and is perfect for a cup of coffee and dessert with a couple of friends.
There is also a corner for you to write down your bucket list, and I guess I can tick this place off my bucket list :)
After school hours on a weekday, the place is not very packed as it is located in the middle of many housing estates. It is also a nice place for students who wish to find a relatively quiet spot to mug for your tests. If you’d prefer a less stressful time, this place is perfect if you want a nice catch-up session with your close friends. If you’re a tech savvy person that can’t go a minute without using your phone (like me), there is free wifi available for your use. Feel free to connect with others more and have fun with the board games that the cafe has laid out for it’s customers. Laugh with your friends over several games of life, or play a game with fellow cafe-goers, and make some new friends along the way. Even if you want some quiet time to yourself, you’ll be able to tuck yourself away into a corner where you can enjoy some quality me-time.
Food: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
We decided to order the (mystery cake) and a cup of latte (under the recommendation of the staff) to go with it. We were pleasantly surprised with a blue velvet cake. The cake is moist and creamy with sprinkles on the top! It is also not too sweet.
The cup of latte made as a nice balance to the taste of the cake, with a slight savoury taste. We found out that they added buttercookie syrup into the latte, making it taste slightly caramelized. The latte was also very smooth and aromatic. It is sweet, and the coffee taste is not that strong. Therefore, people like us, who don’t really enjoy the strong, bitter taste of the coffee, can enjoy this latte as well. If you prefer something stronger, there are definitely other options for you too! We purchased the latte at $6, it is pricey, but there is currently a 1-for-1 deal with the drinks going on. Its expensive, but we feel that it is worth it.
The plating was done prettily, with artistic flair, and it is very well done. Aesthetically pleasing, you wouldn’t be able to bear eating it, but at the same time, you wouldn’t be able to resist eating it.
After school hours on a weekday, the place is not very packed as it is located in the middle of many housing estates. It is also a nice place for students who wish to find a relatively quiet spot to mug for your tests. If you’d prefer a less stressful time, this place is perfect if you want a nice catch-up session with your close friends. If you’re a tech savvy person that can’t go a minute without using your phone (it’s not necessarily a bad thing), there is free wifi available for your use. If you’re more old-school and prefer to connect with your surroundings and the people around you, feel free to have fun with the board games that the cafe has laid out for it’s customers. Laugh with your friends over several games of life, or play a game with fellow cafe-goers, and make some new friends along the way. Even if you want some quiet time to yourself, you’ll be able to tuck yourself away into a corner where you can enjoy some quality me-time.
Accessibility: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Though the place can be ulu and seem hard to find, don’t worry! It's a less than 5min drive by car, or about 10-15min via public transport.
Here are some short and simple instruction to head over there to have some delicacy and a quiet and peaceful place with soothing music for you to study!
simply head over to Clementi MRT
take bus 154 to opposite the Infiniti
cross the overhead bridge
turn into a small pathway on your left
turn left again, passing by a few terraces towards Faber Drive and yay, you have reached your destination!
Look out for the pretty red doors to your left
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