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Hailing from Japan, popular soft serve and speciality tea shop Emma has opened its very first overseas outlet right here in Singapore.
Located at the basement of Plaza Singapura, the brand is named after 絵馬 ema. These are small wooden plaques that Japanese worshippers write their well-wishes on, which they then leave at the shrines.
Emma is famous for its rich and thick soft serve that’s made with premium Japanese milk and high-quality, authentic Japanese ingredients. The soft serve is so dense, you can hold it upside down without falling off!
Of course, we had to start with the signature Emma Soft Milk (S$4.80). Perfectly swirled, the rich and milky soft serve rests on a black charcoal cone that’s imported from Japan.
It was time to put it to the test: was it really gravity-defying? My heart was racing a little as I slowly flipped it upside down.
And it worked! I’m sure you’ll be seeing GIFs of this on your Instagram feed soon enough. A word of caution: since our weather is a little warmer than Japan, the soft serve may not always hold together well enough to take the iconic gravity-defying shot. Flip it at your own risk!
You can also get the soft serve with a dip. For S$5.30, you can get your milky soft serve coated with Caramel, Matcha, Strawberry and Chocolate.
I opted for a matcha dip on my soft serve. More accurately, the dip tasted like matcha-flavoured chocolate. It reminded me a bit of the familiar McDonald’s Chococone, though with much creamier soft serve and a slightly bittersweet dip.
I’ve heard that the strawberry dip tastes like strawberry Pocky, so give it a try if you prefer something a little fruitier.
The signature soft serve is also available as Charcoal Cheese flavour, which is a Singapore exclusive, or a mix of charcoal cheese and original. With slightly savoury cheesy notes, this black-on-black dessert (it’s charcoal cheese soft serve on a charcoal cone) will definitely make its way onto your Instagram.
Boba lovers can get the best of both worlds with ice cream AND brown sugar pearls. The Brown Sugar Kinako Bubble Soft (S$5.80) comes with the signature milky soft serve and brown sugar pearls and is served in a cup. They also sprinkle kinako powder over the dessert, and the roasted soybean powder added a slightly sweet and nutty flavour.
Along with their first ever overseas outlet, Emma is also launching the first-ever Wafer Bubble Soft Serve (S$6.80). Served in a “taco” hard shell made from a wafer, this dessert comes with soft serve and brown sugar pearls and topped with a generous amount of crushed nuts.
You can choose either the original milk soft serve or a mix of charcoal cheese and the original flavour. I preferred the mix which had a better contrast of flavours.
The crushed nuts added a good amount of crunch to the otherwise soft dessert. Be sure to eat it fast though, as the soft serve melts pretty quickly when served together with the brown sugar pearls.
The brown sugar pearls at Emma are a little softer than the usual kind, but the gooey, chewy texture goes well with the smooth and milky soft serve. Unlike conventional boba which just uses brown sugar, the brown sugar pearls from Emma are made with Okinawa brown sugar and kuromitsu (Japanese black sugar syrup).
Emma is one of those Instagrammable dessert brands that looks good and tastes good, so you know it’s worth queuing for.
Get ready to take shots of gravity-defying soft serve, because you just know it’s going to be all the hype. And if you’re into gravity-defying desserts, The Benjamins offers an intriguing gravity-defying bubble tea.
Expected Damage: S$4.80 – S$6.80 per item
