‘Chilli Crab Gelato’? What? How on earth does a savoury and delicious local seafood delicacy ever get turned into an ice-cream flavour? That’s what we first thought when we heard of this dessert.
Being the brave souls we are, we decided to head down to My Cottage Cafe at The Midtown in Hougang to give it a try. Fingers crossed!
The cafe is a small and cozy one, a stone’s throw from Hougang MRT Station. For those more familiar with the place, the Midtown used to be the site of the old Hougang Plaza. It is now a condominium with commercial stores on the first floor.
More than 15 ice-cream and gelato flavours are available in this seemingly unassuming shop. According to the waiter, all of the ice-cream are handmade!
Interesting flavours we noted were Earl Grey with Figs and Taro Yam & Coconut Cream. (And of course, the Chilli Crab Gelato.)
There are about 20 seats available upstairs, with wooden and brick-themed decorations and furniture to fill the interior. This would be a good place for old friends to have a long chit-chat, or for young jaded students to cram their examinations.
We started off with the Cottage Wizard ($15), a three-tiered ice-cream tower layered between thin home-made wafers. Customers can choose eight different flavours for the ice-cream, topped off with grapes, blueberries, some biscuits, chocolate sauce and rainbow sprinkles.
The ice-cream flavours we chose were Blueberry Yoghurt, Creme Brulee with Figs, Double Dark Chocolate, Mango Sorbet, Mao Shan Wang Durian, Mint Paradise, Sea Salted Caramel with Almonds, and Thai Milk Tea.
The Creme Brulee with Figs was an interesting flavour that you have to try, and the Thai Milk Tea felt as if I was drinking a frozen cha yen.
This dish is good to share between two to five people — or you could finish all by yourself, we wouldn’t judge!
You can even make your own mini ice-cream cone with the wafer. The cafe also has two different variations of similar desserts named Cottage Magical and Cottage Sundae, which offer smaller portions.
Finally, time for what we’ve all been waiting for — the Chilli Crab Gelato with Charcoal Waffle (S$8.80). Other flavours of waffles available were buttermilk, red velvet and green tea.
The taste of the chilli crab gelato is one that you’d definitely remember, and the spicy and sweet tanginess of the ice-cream hits you both at once. The flavour needs some time getting used to, and we daresay you’d either love or hate it.
The waffle was also crisp and fluffy, while the sliced bananas and chocolate sauce added a different taste profile to the dessert. We also loved that they used wooden logs for their plating.
The Latte ($4.50) was average and nothing much to shout about. Even the latte art seemed pretty lacklustre.
We also tried the Cottage Beerita ($12.80), a New Zealand craft beer mixed with fruit syrup of your choice. The mango drink tasted absolutely refreshing, and we can imagine this zesty, cloudy goodness to be perfect for a sunny day out.
If you ever find yourself in Hougang, do pay My Cottage Cafe a visit and try out their creative ice-cream flavours and desserts!
Expected Damage: $10 – $20 per pax
