Tom's Palette is the kind of place which everyone will leave beaming and will visit again (many times!) if given the chance. This ice-cream parlor is definitely a hidden gem, located in a corner of Shaw Leisure Gallery. Lol I had to ask the security guard for directions- it's on the right side of the building, opposite Ah Loy Thai.
Here you'll be greeted by a range of innovative flavors, some of which I'll never have imagined seeing in Singapore. Balsamic vanilla? Oolong tea? Rosemary and apple? And even... Pineapple Tart?
Flavors rotate, but their ice-creams are so delicious, I'm sure everyone will find a flavor they like (a lot) everyday. Tom's Palette also accepts customer flavor requests. The flavor calender is available here.
The friendly scoopers here encourage you to sample different flavors so that you'll like what you order and be happy with your purchase. What a rare, kind gesture! Looking at how much I fancied every single flavor I tried, I think this gesture is, rather, meant for one to find the flavors that one likes the most (:
Prices here are reasonable too. A small, medium and large cup go for $2.80, $3.70 and $4.70 respectively, and one can choose to have up to two flavors. The scoopers pack in the ice-cream very tightly too! Look at the pictures below and you'll get what I mean. It's like they're trying to give you as much ice-cream as they can fit into the cup!
The small cup here outsizes serving sizes at many ice-cream joints, and considering the price a single scoop is going at at those places, you'll paying only half the price for your ice-cream at Tom's Palette. (And the ice-creams here beat them in the taste department too.)
I can easily foresee myself paying much fewer visits to those places.
On my first visit to Tom's Palette, I had Lychee Rose and Chocolate. Honestly I'm not a fan of most plain chocolate ice-creams (i.e. that come without mix-ins), but the version here was the best I've ever tried. It was deep and dark, with just the right amount of air mixed in for the perfect thickness and density (unlike this one, meh).
Lychee Rose was a light and refreshing break to the rich chocolate. Really reminds me of lychee tea, except that this has faint but invigorating floral hints. The perfect cool-down for the blazing hot weather!
I have been on the search for a good Pulut Hitam, but I have yet to find one that really hits the spot. Not having tried The Black Swirl- inspired by Pulut Hitam- which was flavor of the month of May, I knew that I had to head back to give it a try before before the month ended. However, I spotted this at the shop yesterday so I guess it might still be available randomly.And yup, it was like Pulut Hitam- only in reverse! Featuring black glutinous rice bits in coconut-based ice-cream, The Black Swirl is much lighter than the thick and filling dessert it was inspired by. An interesting twist on tradition! Try this if you like coconut.
At Tom's Palette, cheesecake ice-cream is given a twist by the addition of the ever-popular combination, salt and caramel. There's also blueberry cheesecake ice-cream! This is obviously a very well-liked flavor, for it was the tub that was most empty. Plain cheesecake ice-cream can get boring after a while, but the dreamy salt and caramel blend really livened up the creamy base.
A second post on Tom's Palette is coming up soon!
100 Beach Road
01-25 Shaw Leisure Gallery
Mon-Thu: 12pm-9.30pm
Fri & Sat: 12pm-10pm
Closed Sun & PH
