Fresh interior decor of Cold Rock

WALKING into Cold Rock at Holland Village was a bit like entering Willy Wonka’s refrigerator. This ice cream parlor’s bright walls, futuristic furniture, colourful desserts, and blue floor tiles did an excellent job at uncovering my childlike fantasy of an ice cream heaven. As I stuck my face close to the counter in wide-eyed marvel at the multi-coloured ice creams and toppings, I proceeded to the toughest part — deciding on the best combination.

Cold Rock is an ice cream store proud of their premium range of ice cream, all imported from Australia. “You can’t find flavours like bubblegum and honeycomb elsewhere, and we definitely take pride in that because Australia is one of the best sources of dairy products,” Cold Rock manager Lynn Ong shares.

I decided to let the chocolate lover in me take over, and picked Ferrero and Dark Chocolate ice cream, with cookie dough (high recommendation from a colleague) mixed into it. My kid-sized cup cost $4.50, plus an extra $1 for my topping.

Mummy, I want all the mixes!

Like SUBWAY, my cup of ice cream traveled from station to station, each stop bringing me to new levels of anticipation for the final product. A friendly “Cold Rocker” first scooped the two flavours into the cup, and handed it over to the mixers.

The ice cream was then emptied onto an ice-coated steel tabletop. With a couple of steel spatulas, the scoops of ice cream were repeatedly spread out and folded like dough.

When both flavours were thoroughly mixed, the yummy cookie dough was placed in the middle, and the mixer started knocking and pounding on it to break it up further. The Teppanyaki mixing style repeated itself, until it was all set to go into the cup again.

I was then presented with a brown mesh of ice cream that resembled half-dried mud. It didn’t look too appetising, but I couldn’t wait to judge its greatness anyway. Cold Rock’s interiors were a little overwhelmingly bright after some time, so I took my dessert al fresco.

The first scoop wasn’t too impressive. The ice cream didn’t have the gelato-like texture, and tasted like any ordinary tub of ice cream bought at Cold Storage.

However, I could taste the distinct flavors of the Ferrero and Dark Chocolate, which is surprising because most double chocolate ice cream mixes simply blend into a flavour double its original sweetness. Upon the second mouthful, I chewed into the delightful cookie dough. It was gooey and soft, and an excellent addition to the otherwise mediocre dessert.

One of my friends had White Chocolate and Peanut ice cream, topped with cookie dough as well. She thought it was too milky and sweet, and that it wasn’t really worth the price.

The after-dinner crowd flooded into the ice cream café, starting cramped queues around 9pm, and the entire place was filled with chatty customers made up mainly of students in sportswear and young executives.

Although I would not place Cold Rock as the best ice cream shop on my list, it is the number one place to go when you get sick of all the other flavours around. With other product lines like milkshakes, smoothies, and waffles available, I will certainly return to try some of the other flavours. I also caught a glimpse of a collection of awfully cute cakes.