NE 5 - Clarke Quay MRT Station

Hi my dear faithful readers! Sorry about the slight hiatus previously, have been busy working. And guess what? I'm currently fulfilling my love for ice cream, so much so that I'm scooping ice cream at work too! Decided to get a little money saved for my overseas trip planned in December. But fret not, I will still be working doubly hard to find ice cream parlors and present them to you cause I've still got several MRT stations to cover! (Including the upcoming Downtown Line Stations too)

So for now why don't we save more time and move on to your much awaited post for the day? (:

Today, we're covering Clarke Quay MRT Station. And this area is renowned for all their good food outlets, mostly Japanese and Korean cuisines. (And god I love The Central Mall, partly because I used to work here, and also because they have all the tasty snacks at great deals!) Alright I shall stop being the pig that I am and start getting on with business instead of ranting on and on about great tasty food.

So nearest to Clarke Quay station would be The Central, a fairly new mall, and somewhat pretty desolated in the day. Our first stop, was my much anticipated ice cream parlor cause the outlet located here is a unique cafe version, and also because I used to eat their ice cream daily back when I worked here and also at River Valley Road. (Stop cursing me please, I know it's a sin to gloat about food when you hardly get fat like me, but then again, it's disgusting to be a bag of bones like me. (; )

So my model of the day would be, S! And our first stop for the day would be, Haato & Co!

Haato & Co - The Central
6 Eu Tong Sen Street
Unit 01-74
Singapore 059817
Tel: 6225 6956
Sundays to Thursdays: 11am - 11pm
Fridays and Saturdays: 11am - 1am

Isn't it awesome that they close pretty late on Fridays and Saturdays? Ideal midnight snacks area, and because it has a cafe concept, they have tables and chairs for you to chill with your friends, and it would be pretty accessible to go home from Clarke Quay as they have most of the nightrider buses in service just across the river! Perrrrfect for nocturnal creatures like me. (;

Haato in Singapore has had a long history of 16years, starting out in Liang Court (back in those days they were called Gelato di Crema).


So on this hot wonderful day, we got out double scoop of Chocolate Banana and my usual favorite, Rockmelon. One thing about Haato you'd note is that they serve gelato, which is healthier as mention in previous posts. They also make use of traditional recipes from Japan, being one of the first gelato counters in Singapore to serve ice cream entirely free from preservatives and artificial colorings! (Talk about health criticality, this is one ice cream you would eat to your haat's content and not feel any sense of guilty for taking an additional scoop's worth of bite.)


Speaking of their unique recipe, I dare say Haato has one of the better ice creams in Singapore. The Chocolate Banana flavor is not just rich, but so evenly balanced out that with every scoop you can taste both the chocolate and the banana, it's almost making your brain scream out in overwhelming sensations signaled from the taste buds cause it's forcing the brains to make a decision on whether if it tastes more chocolatey or banana-ish. Totally awesomeeee.

The rockmelon flavor, never fails to disappoint me. Not to creamy to overtake the melon taste, but creamy enough to make the fruitty flavor much more rich in taste, with real bits of juicy rockmelon, this is one gelato you can never learn to hate.


Because the cafe is opened along the river located outside of the shopping mall, they also cater to the late night crowds and serve beer. Otherwise, simply settle for their awesome gelato!

Some interesting flavors you might want to try would be:

Sweet potato with honey & chestnut

Milk Tea

Royal Chocolate

Wildberry

Yuzu (Japanese Citrus Sorbet)

And most importantly, unlike most of the local ice cream parlors set up in Singapore, Haato comes without the usual creative artsy fartsy names that get customers more lost at trying to understand what's the flavor, than simply being spoiled for choice. (Talk about being user-friendly.)


Before we headed off to our next stop, we couldn't help but ogle and drool over their pastry counter! And the Japanese are renowned for their pastries! I'll definitely be back to try them out. Especially due to the fact that we could simply sit by the river and enjoy such sweet treats in serenity.

For more information on Haato & Co, go on to:

Haato - Follow Your heart

Next stop, Azabu Sabo Hokkaido Ice Cream! おいしいね~

Azabu Sabo Hokkaido Ice Cream
The Central #01-56
6 Eu Tong Sen Street
Singapore 059817
Tel: 6534 7178

Originated from Japan as a dessert shop and teahouse, Azabu Sabo was founded by Mr. Gyo Kimura-san, with it's very first outlet in Singapore located in Marina Square. Due to the Japanese strong values of being serious and committed to their careers, Azabu Sabo took a step further and brought in their very own Japanese Ice Cream Specialist to introduce their unique style of ice cream making.

As we all know, in Japan, Hokkaido is renowned for two lines of production, their seafood products as well as their dairy products! Using the rich and fragrant Hokkaido milk, rich flavorful ice cream are produced in favor of the ice cream maniacs! Likewise to Haato, Azabu Sabo produces their own line of gelato, focusing on the company's policy of low-fat and low-sugar in their desserts.

Some of the flavors you might want to try would be:

Red Cherry

Sweet Potato

Tiramisu

S and I had our try at the Sea salt & Caramel ice cream, as well as the Black Sesame ice cream. Such are novelty flavors that you would be intrigued to try out, especially the sea salt flavor since it isn't very common.

I like how the saltiness of the ice cream goes very well with the sweetness of the caramel, and even brings back memories from when I had a trip to Taiwan, Tainan, and got to try their renowned local product, the sea salt popcicles. Very interesting flavors that taste interestingly great as a dessert. The black sesame is a little to strong for my liking, but nevertheless, it was the milkiness in the ice cream that made it very rich and flavorful in taste too.


For more information, go on to:

Azabu Sabo Singapore

Anyway, I'd like to mention that it was also at this point, S sneakily pretended to drop her ice cream scoop on the floor in hopes that she could stop eating ice cream. (Apparently she feels that she is very much overweight and too much ice cream will turn her into Godzilla.) Feeling very much cheated by her behavior, I dragged her to our final pit stop here in Clarke Quay.

It's been awhile since I've visited Central mall, and obviously certain things have changed. There used to be a Gobi Sweets and Cakes store (more famously known for their Chocolate and Chili flavored cake) just in front of the bus-stop, but to date, it has been replaced by Marble Slab Creamery (I suppose Marble Slab lovers probably staged a riot here and burned down the bakery. Just kidding.)

Marble Slab Creamery - The Central
6 Eu Tong Sen Street
#01-27
Singapore 059817
Tel: 6224 4278

MSC started back in 1983, in Houston, Texas. Due to their extremely high standards for ensuring gourmet quality ice cream, they had the goals of bringing fresh-made gourmet flavors to cater to the public. As such, they developed their "frozen-slab" technique, exhibited at all ice cream parlors to date.

"It isn’t just dessert. It’s the world’s freshest ice cream, made just the way you like it, just when you want it." - MSC


Similar to that of Ice Cream Chefs, MSC also provides a selection of mix-ins, along with their wide range of ice cream variety. However, unlike ICC, MSC has a much more colorful price tag that comes along with their ice cream, going for slightly more than $5 for a single scoop with one mix-in. For the local outlets, they only provide sundries, biscuits and chocolates for mix-ins, whereas for overseas outlet, they come with fresh blueberries, bananas, and even cherries!


The outlet has this very sweet ambiance to it, despite being a relatively small ice cream counter, with only seats enough for a handful of customers, it's still pretty much cosy to get to sit in during the non-peak periods and enjoy your own scoop of ice cream.


S and I had our try of a Green Apple with Cinnamon flavor, mixed with caramelized biscuit. If you are going for ice cream that you wouldn't mind paying a little extra due to the guaranteed benefits of great taste, MSC would be recommended for you. The Green Apple with Cinnamon flavor was very nice, neither to strong in the cinnamon flavor to get you sick of it, but with the slightly sour but sweet taste of the green apple, it was like eating the ice cream version of a really good apple pie. The caramelized biscuit bits added in an interesting zest to the overly flavors, honestly speaking, I highly doubt any flavor of ice cream combined with any type of mix-in at MSC would go wrong and burn your tongue instead of seducing it.


The location of the store was very appropriate, especially if you're waiting to catch a bus that wouldn't come so soon, or simply wanting a little warmth from the sun rays but yet wanting to stay within a cool environment with the comfort of not sweating.


I'm not sure if they're for sale, but they decorated the store with tiny vintage bottles of coke and root beer, adding a little something to the atmosphere. (:

For more information, go on to:

Marble Slab Creamery

I hoped you've found your happiness within this post for today. (: