wild hibiscus

a new gourmet ice cream bar has popped up in town; named wild hibiscus, it is actually an outfit of polar puffs and cakes. i first came across it while wandering around the underground shopping street of raffles city mrt station a while ago (idiotically named raffles xchange - can someone please pay $400,000 to hire a hitman to off the marketing team responsible for that awful-awful name?). however, it was sevenish then, and the shop had closed. i recalled thinking that some of the flavours seemed interesting, though i don't think i remembered any of them then.

it was only during the last days of july when i formally acquainted myself with wild hibiscus. seeking ice cream after our meal at kaisan and seah street deli, and not in the mood for dulce de leche, the-one-formerly-known-as-j (until further notice) suggested trying out the ice cream at polar cafe at the end of citylink mall, claiming a divine chocolate and lemongrass concoction.



besides the staple vanilla, cookies-and-cream and fruit sorbets, and "usual unusual" flavours (think kurogoma), the two unique flavours that caught my eye were chocolate and lemongrass, and lavender and orange. worried that the lavender ice-cream might taste like soap, i cautiously requested for a tasting spoon. my fear was unfounded, though, for the addition of the subtle orange taste brilliantly complemented the lavender. the texture was also wonderful: creamy instead of icy, and not melting too fast. little bits of lavender and orange zest were also blended into the ice-cream, which i thought added to the character, though the-one-formerly-known-as-j thought that the lavender bits were too bitter and did not quite complement the ice cream. the chocolate and lemongrass ice cream, which the-one-formerly-known-as-j and hk had, also tasted wonderful, the lemongrass smell a welcome counterpoint to the chocolate taste (though i must say i still prefer the texture of the chocolate gelato at gelare when it comes to chocolate ice-creams).

i'm glad that another quality ice cream place has opened up, particularly since i'm not too enamored with bravissimo, which frankly i feel people lap up due to its style rather than substance (a conclusion reached based on a taste of their vanilla gelato, which is truly a pathetic excuse for the real deal, what with the taste of milk powder rather than vanilla bean, and a much too icy texture even for gelato; and another of their watermelon gelato, which was again too milky-in-a-milk-powder-way, jarring with the watermelon flavour). venezia is better; though sometimes one just can't satisfy one's craving for creamy ice cream with grainy gelato, no matter how low in fat content the latter is. and with wild hibiscus's price being almost half that of häagen-dazs's, it really boils down to a good promotional effort and scouting for choice locations for the former to gain a foothold in the market.