Eat Drink KL: Waka Waka Gelato, Loewe & Sons, Monte Gelato & Churn Creamery

Thursday, March 3, 2016

Waka Waka Gelato, Loewe & Sons, Monte Gelato & Churn Creamery

Home-churned by final-year college student Marie Peh, Waka Waka Gelato reflects Marie's infatuation with Italian-style ice cream following a family vacation in Rome - Marie makes impressive gelato for a newcomer, focusing on lip-smacking flavours like Cookies & Caramel, Chai or Chocolate Brownie Chunks (satisfyingly dense & sticky) as well as put-a-smile-on-your-face varieties with relatively wholesome components like Lemon Poppy Seed or Acai Berry, boasting unimpeachably balanced nuances, clean & concentrated. For now, Waka Waka operates as a pop-up cart at campuses & food markets (bookings for private events are also possible); this month, find Marie, her sister & friends at Sunway University (near the cafeteria) on March 3 (that's today!), 29 & 30, & at Monash on March 9; they'll set up shop at 11am & may run out by 3pm. Not the most convenient location or hours for many of us, but if you're a gelato enthusiast, Waka Waka might well be worth swinging out for.

Waka Waka Gelato
Pop-up gelato bar at Sunway University, Monash University campus & other locations across the Klang Valley.

Despite its continental-sounding moniker, Loewe & Sons is a Malaysian F&B enterprise; its first outpost in Evolve Concept Mall serves ice cream & sorbets in flavours both foreign & domestic - in this case, the New York Cheesecake option might not trigger as much curiosity as locally inspired choices like durian, cempedak & jackfruit. Caveat: Not all flavours are constantly available, & the ones we sampled could have benefited from more natural nuances, instead of evoking the taste & texture of mass-manufactured commercialisation. Cost: RM9.90 for a 80-gram scoop, RM16.90 for a double, & RM22.90 for the triple.

Loewe & Sons Ice Cream
EV-LG-02, Lower Ground Floor, Evolve Concept Mall, Pacific Place, Jalan PJU 1A/4, Ara Damansara, Petaling Jaya.


Monte Gelato Cafe tempts 1 Utama's shoppers with a selection that looks dreamy & creamy in the display cabinet - the flavours seem determined to supply a refreshing uplift, with fruity possibilities galore, like Dragon Fruit, Watermelon, Apple Starfruit, Pineapple Orange, Mango, Lemon Lime & Passion Fruit. We picked the Baby Blue (described as a smooth milk flavour with a 'fruity touch,' though Monte's staff remain uninformed about which fruit exactly, & we couldn't tell from the taste - not a positive sign) & the Very Berry (a cream base marbled with blackberry paste). Both tasted pretty predictable in terms of shopping mall gelato; our lingering impression involved Monte's confusing pricing system - the gelato is sold by weight, with 60 grams clocking in at RM5.20. The team here initially signalled that a double scoop with two flavours would cost twice that, but when our cup was weighed, the final price neared RM20, since the staff had squeezed close to 200 grams into the container.

Monte Gelato Cafe
SK 107, Second Floor, 1 Utama, Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya, Selangor


Churn's forte rests in imaginatively playful gelato flavours like Ispahan (rose, raspberry & lychee), Apricot Osmanthus, Baileys Milo, Banana Nutella & Orange Gingerbread, alongside other fun treats like Speculoos, Marron & Thai Tea. Flavours are pronounced & textures are satisfyingly rich, making Churn a worthwhile stop if you're in Singapore's Tanjong Pagar enclave.

Churn Creamery
124 Tanjong Pagar Road, Singapore. Daily, 12pm-11pm

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