Ever felt left out when your group of friends decide to pick the latest and hippest ice-cream café as their new favourite hangout spot? Whether you are watching your diet, or are lactose-intolerant, the temptation can be unbearable when you see your friends happily savouring their mounds of colourful ice-creams.
With many Singaporeans actively swapping their diets and lifestyles to a healthier one, it can be difficult to justify pampering yourself with a scoop. Thankfully, not all ice-creams are made equal: whether you are looking for a lower calorie option, or need to adhere to dietary restrictions, there is no longer a need to abstain from ice-creams this festive season.
To all my fellow sufferers out there, here are 8 cafés where you too can spoil yourself with healthier vegan ice-cream options this festive season!
BEN & JERRY’S
What makes Ben & Jerry’s ice-creams so beloved is the how dense and creamy all their scoops tend to be. By focusing mostly on non-fruit flavours, the ice-cream maintains a smoother and denser texture for a more luxurious finish. With the addition of sizeable pieces of dry sweets for texture, the result is an incredibly decadent treat that is unfortunately not the most forgiving on waist-lines.
Thankfully, there is no longer a need to forgo the chain’s iconic creations. Made with almond milk, the new vegan line of flavours (S$6.00++/scoop) – sans the most luscious of the lot, Coconut Seven Layer Bar – contains on average less calories and sugars than their dairy counterparts. All that without losing that special Ben & Jerry’s finish: the velvety texture, the mesmerising swirls, the rich flavours, and the super-satisfying crunch.
313 Orchard Road
313@Somerset #01-25/25A
Singapore 238895
Tel: +65 6509 6470
Mon to Thu: 11am – 10pm
Fri to Sun: 11am – 10.30pm
Nearest Station: Somerset
** Multiple outlets islandwide.
IKEA BISTRO
Over the past year, IKEA has been integrating more sustainable practices into not just their furniture line, and has started including environmentally friendly adjustments to their food as well. While most of the vegan-friendly food options have not yet reached our shores, the one that has is to the delight of all fellow sweet tooths out there: soya ice-cream.
Costing a very affordable S$0.50, the company strove to recreate a healthier alternative to its original soft serve. The current iteration is every bit as delightful as the original, retaining the signature soft airiness at a lower calorie point. After a long day of browsing the brand’s furniture selection, now you too can grab a guilt-free cone (or three) to unwind!
317 Alexandra Road
IKEA Alexandra
Singapore 159965
Tel: +65 6786 6868
Sun to Thu: 10am – 10pm
Fri & Sat: 10am – 11pm
Nearest Station: Queenstown
** Multiple outlets islandwide.
Located in the middle of town, this cosy café may look unassuming to the passing shopper. However, for those of us with dietary restrictions, this place is heaven-sent. Not only do their ice-creams not have dairy, they are free of refined sugars, preservatives, and additives. Specific gluten and soy-free options are available as well.
Staying true to its motto of “taste the pleasure, not the guilt”, Kind Kones uses a mix of non-dairy milk substitutes and fresh all-natural ingredients to ensure their scoops maintain the necessary flavour at lower calorie, fat, and sugar values.
If you do visit, some must-try options (S$4.90++/scoop) include the matcha-based Blue Planet with a blue pea twist, and the delightful Black Forest mix with hidden bits of brownies between swirls of cherry compote. Unless you are the minuscule part of the population who somehow dislikes ice-cream, Kind Kones is the place to be if you want to hold an all-inclusive dessert gathering at!
583 Orchard Road
Forum The Shopping Mall #B1-27
Singapore 238884
Tel: +65 9010 8557
Mon to Thu & Sun:
Daily: 10am – 10pm
Nearest Station: Orchard
Hidden in the new King Albert Park Mall, it is not by chance the café is perfectly perched to overlook the area’s busy student crowd. The brightly lit space was designed with the neighbourhood’s schooling population in mind: to provide students with a welcoming space to work or play at after class while serving affordable handcrafted food.
Starting at S$3.80 per generous scoop, customers can find everything from classic staples like strawberry, to more unique inventions like wasabi and cereal milk. While most creations do contain dairy, Kindred Folk tries to ensure it keeps at least a couple of its healthy vegan choices available daily.
For a creamier, albeit more indulgent, option, the vegan Sea-Salt Gula Coconut is an intricately flavoured scoop that is indistinguishable from dairy variants. On a sweltering hot day, opt instead for the lighter and more refreshing option of Watermelon Calamansi Sorbet for the ultimate thirst quencher and palate cleanser.
9 King Albert Park
KAP Residences #01-09
Singapore 598332
Tel: +65 6928 3043
Tue to Thu & Sun: 12pm – 10pm
Fri & Sat: 12pm – 11pm
(Closed on Mondays)
Nearest Station: King Albert Park
MR BEAN SINGAPORE
A brand that requires little introduction, Mr Bean is Singapore’s largest purveyor of soy-based F&B products, and is dedicated to providing locals with healthy and accessible soy-based items to satiate their cravings with. Given the relative scarcity of soy ice-creams, Mr Bean outlets are one of the easiest ways for Singaporeans to enjoy this low-calorie treat.
At S$1.90 per cone, and S$2.10 per cup, customers can partake in a full-size dollop of Mr Bean’s signature Soy Ice Cream for just over 100 calories – a significant margin below that of traditional dairy-based ice-creams.
For those looking for more exciting flavours, the brand released four exciting vegan and eggless flavours in a collaboration with Udders – Original Soy, Salted Gula Melaka, Oreo Cookie, and Durian (S$3.80/cup) – at selected outlets. As rich as the flavours may sound, fear not, because even the most caloric of the four contains a conservative 160 calories per serving.
930 Yishun Avenue 2
Northpoint City North Wing #01-05
Singapore 769098
Tel: +65 6481 9164
Mon to Sat: 6am – 10.30pm
Sun: 7.30am – 10.30pm
Nearest Station: Yishun
** Multiple outlets islandwide.
POPBAR
Originally from America, this NYC-based company specialises in gelato in its simplest form – no-frills, and mounted on a stick. What makes the brand stand out is its commitment to quality: their bars are made fresh daily using all-natural ingredients under stringent quality control.
Although their main line of popGelato (S$4.90++/stick) contains dairy, their popSorbettos (S$4.50++/stick) are a hit in the vegan and lactose-intolerant community. By using top quality concentrated fruit juice or puree, the resulting texture is an even smooth mix that is much denser than typical sorbets. Moreover, these bars are a good source of dietary fibre, and are fat and cholesterol-free as well.
With each popSorbetto causing just 70-80 calories worth of damage, feel free to go for a more extravagant twist by adding a generous dusting of poppings (toppings) – we recommend the fresh pistachios and coconut strips – to complete the experience.
11 Cavan Road #01-02
Cavan Suites
Singapore 209848
Mon to Fri: 10.30am – 6pm
(Closed on Saturdays & Sundays)
Nearest Station: Lavender
SMOOCHT
Fans of vegan ice-cream would probably have heard of Brownice – one of the longer-standing brands that serve 100% vegan ice-creams in Singapore. Rebranded as Smoocht, the team continues the legacy of its iconic r’ice-cream: substituting the higher fat-content of non-dairy milk options in favour of organic crystal brown rice to serve healthy full-fledged vegan ice-creams at a mere 80-160 calorie mark.
Featuring an extensive 18-flavour collection (S$3.50++/scoop), customers will be spoilt for choice. Whether you are looking for a rare vegan alternative to the rich and buttery PB n’ Choc, or prefer to stick to the zesty tang of Passion A Go Go, Smoocht has a flavour to satisfy all whimsies of cravings.
For those looking for a more substantial option, try the brand’s super crispy eggless waffles (S$8.00++) for an added texture crunch. Or if you are looking to be the life of the party, why not enquire about their luxurious selection of ice-cream cakes ($$60.00++)?
8 Sin Ming Road
Sin Ming Centre #01-03
Singapore 575628
Tel: +65 6456 6431
Sun to Thu: 12pm – 10pm
Fri & Sat: 12pm – 10.30pm
Nearest Station: Marymount
** Multiple outlets islandwide.
ZEBRA DREAM
Far from your typical vegan ice-cream brand, Zebra Dream prides itself in retaining the tantalisingly creamy texture of dairy-based ice-cream that tends to be diluted in vegan alternatives. By pairing coconut milk with quality and fair trade ingredients, the brand provides healthy sustainable indulgence without compromising on taste.
Zebra Dream currently offers seven flavours (S$5.98/tub) in its arsenal, most of which are reinventions of familiar classics: their best-selling Strawberry Baobob mixes a quintessential summer fruit with a hint of tangy from an Australian and African bush food. Regardless of which flavour you gravitate towards, you can be sure of a guilt-free cheat day!
While they do not have a standalone store locally, all flavours of Zebra Dream’s catalogue are available at Little Farm outlets. Thereafter, you can choose to either curl up leisurely with the tubs at home, or bring them to the café and café bar areas for immediate enjoyment.
491 River Valley Road
Valley Point Shopping Centre #01-20
Singapore 248371
Tel: +65 6262 0619
Daily: 7.30am – 8pm
Nearest Station: Tiong Bahru
** Multiple outlets islandwide.