Sweet Escape: Teleport To Singapore For Cake, Ice Cream & Tea

We constantly crave dessert at odd hours of the night, so when we stumbled upon this somewhat hidden gem in Holland Village, our excitement knew no bounds. As we trotted up the stairs, the feeling only grew. A seating area, mutely lit, gives way to a swanky bar at one end, “guarded” by a swankier looking British gentleman.

We soon realised the menu was a classy affair of sweet masterpieces, none of which would be out of place on MasterChef Australia. Our absolute favourite part of the place? They’ve done cocktail pairings with each dessert. And our absolute favourite dessert? The Cacao Forest; a concoction which involved a sinful chocolate mousse with fruits, crème de cacao liquer and vanilla ice cream trapped inside a cotton candy wall, disintegrating into nothingness as alcohol is poured all over it. We loved alternating bites of this with sips of the accompanying cocktail {sherry, Earl Grey and whisky}.

They also have a small selection of savoury comfort food, like the pork belly burger and fried potato, in case all the sugar gets to you.

What To Order: Tsujirihei Green Tea Tart, Cacao Forest with Monkey Shoulder whisky

Where: 21A Lorong Liput, Holland Village

Contact: +65 62919727

Dempsey’s one of the posher and popular areas in Singapore, and a visit to PS Café will tell you why {it did, us}. Despite it being a weekday, the pretty-as-a-picture restaurant was still mostly full. We decided to check out their dessert menu and were recommended the Sticky Date Pudding and the Chocolate Blackout Cake. The former still remains one of our biggest reasons to visit the island. The funnel-shaped steamed pudding literally melts in the mouth and the pool of toffee sauce it comes in is heaven.

The desserts at first glance did seem a little expensive to us, but once we saw the portions {and more importantly, tasted them}, we realised the prices were more than justified. We ended with a pot of the digestive tea for good measure. On another occasion, we stepped in here for a quick dinner and still remember the sea bass fondly. The Sticky Date Pudding, however, trumps all!

What To Order: Sticky Date Pudding, Double Chocolate Blackout Cake

Where: Block 10, Dempsey Road

Contact: +65 92246611

As we walked around Mandarin Gallery, we stumbled upon one of our best finds in the city. Arteastiq is a tea cafe where you can try an umpteen number of teas, as well as paint on the side. Needless to say, we picked up a few tubes of paint, our brushes and got to work. What resulted was nothing short of a masterpiece, {ok, we’re exaggerating} and we loved that the peeps at Arteastiq offer a bunch of ways to take our art home; our favourite being attaching it on a tote bag and carrying it all over town.

We paired our painting with a pot of Honey Lavender Tea, but if you happen to walk in during evening hours, it might make sense to opt for the high tea menu—feast on vol-u-vents, paninis, smoked salmon and an array of cakes and macarons. For something more substantial {painting can be hungry business, OK!}, the Prince of Gascony Duck Confit was our proud pick.

PS: If you want to paint, enquire in advance as they have fixed time slots.

What To Order: Lavender Honey Tea, The Prince of Gascony Duck Confit

Where: Mandarin Gallery, Orchard Road

Contact: +65 6235 8370

We came across Island Creamery while we were checking out the Peranakan shops at Joo Chiat. And well, once we noticed that they’d turned the famous Tiger Beer into dessert, we absolutely had to dig our spoons in. The sorbet was refreshing, tangy and didn’t lack the prominent aftertaste of beer; we highly recommend grabbing a pint {err…cup}.

As we explored around, we also discovered the teh tarik flavour, reminiscent of the desi masala chai but stronger. The Black Sesame Oreo and Horlicks {which tasted like childhood} were our next picks.

PS- They have tubs for you to take back home {or your hotel}.

What To Order: Tiger Beer Sorbet, Teh Tarik Ice Cream

Where: 456 Joo Chiat Road

Contact: +65 62477760

We randomly stepped into Tiong Bahru Club for a hit of caffeine in the morning, and weren’t one bit disappointed. The bittersweet brew over the ice cubes didn’t just succeed in waking us up, but gave us enough energy to go Dora-the-Explorer all over the neighbourhood full of designer stores.

We also paired our drink with a chocolate-hazelnut ice cream cookie, though a more thorough sweep of the place had us realise that it was more of a tea place. The Fragrant Rose Tea and the Hot Chocolate-T are next on our must-try list.

P.S. What we loved most about this joint was that it moonlights as a bar. The minute the sun goes down, out come the wine bottles. And they have some pretty sweet deals on beer buckets., too. Party time, we say!

What To Order: Iced Cappuccino, Fragrant Rose Tea

Where: Block 57, Eng Hoon Street, Tiong Bahru

Contact: +65 64384380

We love ourselves a full English high tea, and after extensive research {read Googling}, we landed up at Landing Point at the Fullerton Bay. This place does justice to the romanticised Enid Blyton stories we grew up on. We took our thrones on the wooden deck overlooking the bay {with the Marina Bay Sands standing tall in the distance} and ordered the fixed high tea set. What we got was a pot of tea {we chose the Fullerton Express, but the Silver Moon sounded pretty great, too} and a three-tiered rack bearing a mix of savoury and sweet snacks.

As we munched through the ferris-wheel looking rack, we soon developed favourites: The Salted Caramel Dark Chocolate Tart, Smoked Salmon Quiche, Lemon Tart and Brie On Cracker. Needless to say, we had a crackin’ time.

What To Order: High Tea Set

Where: 80 Collyer Quay

Contact: +65 63338388

Butter Studio had us with their little panda cupcakes in the display window. A glimpse inside revealed a cutesy café, complete with chequered tablecloths and pastel walls adorned with one-liners. After spending a short while here, nibbling through their creations, we’re going to say that their frosted cakes are their strongest items. We especially loved the Salted Caramel Red Velvet Cake and the Speculoos Ondeh Cake {this cake’s made out of pandan leaves and coconut meringue}. Their freshly-brewed iced teas are quite the bee’s knees, too; perfect for the Singapore heat.

What To Order: Salted Caramel Red Velvet Cake, Strawberry Iced Tea

Where: 147 Jalan Besar

Contact: +65 62947115