food

Chill out with the coolest ice creams in Penang

BY HUNGRYGOWHERE
November 16, 2015

What The Duck’s sizzling brownies with special ice cream is a sizzling success. – HungryGoWhere pic, November 16, 2015.When in Penang, satisfy your sweet tooth and experience ice cream flavours that extend beyond traditional vanilla, chocolate, or strawberry. Wander around HungryGoWhere’s choices for the best spots in Penang with original ice cream flavours boasting a local touch like gula Melaka, jackfruit, and coconut.

What The Duck

What The Duck is an Asian-Western fusion restaurant that distinctively features duck meat for its mains, appetisers, and desserts. In this case, the restaurant scores huge points for its outstandingly innovative salted duck egg ice cream. “Salted duck egg? Really?” you ask. We get that quizzical look from people every time we bring it up. But then again, people in KL keep mentioning this salmon gelato to us – somewhere called Whimsical?

What The Duck’s sizzling brownies with special ice cream (RM15 nett) is to die for. First of all, the ice cream does not taste like salted duck egg – it’s similar to vanilla but mildly saltier, and you can see tiny bits of bright orange salted eggs all over the ice cream. What makes it beyond amazing is when you eat the cold salted duck egg ice cream with the sizzling hot chocolate brownies with cashews and caramelised banana. A bite of this dessert is an otherworldly experience with its distinct contrast of hot brownies, smooth and frosty ice cream, nutty cashew nuts, and sweet bananas.

Kanemochi

What a sweet combination! – HungryGoWhere pic, November 16, 2015.Based in Thailand, Kanemochi opened its first kiosk in Penang at Lang Hoose Residences. Their claim to fame? Ice cream mochi – ice cream covered in chewy, glutinous Japanese rice cake. During my recent visit, they offered 15 mochi flavours, ranging from green tea, melon, milk, milky tea, to yogurt, as well as eight premium ice creams such as cookies and cream, green tea, and mango. Their mochi are gelatine-free and certified halal in Thailand and recognised by Jakim.

We highly recommend their Kane Combo Set 1 (RM7.90 nett), where you choose one mochi, a scoop of ice cream, and a topping. We’re addicted to their mango ice cream and tropical lime mochi; the mango ice cream tastes almost like real mango, and was consistently velvety and rich during my two visits there. The tropical lime mochi was tangy and the best-tasting flavour among all of them.

Chewy, and pretty in pastels. – HungryGoWhere pic, November 16, 2015.You can also try Kanemochi Set A (RM14.90 nett), where you pick a scoop of ice cream to go with two mochi ice creams. Pair it with their apple berry sparkling soda – a yummy, mild Zappel-like soda with a refreshing hint of ginger.

The Safe Room

It drives us nuts. – HungryGoWhere pic, November 16, 2015.The Safe Room is the first café in Penang to feature liquid nitrogen ice creams. Ice cream is created instantly using liquid nitrogen, skipping the unnecessary use of eggs and additional fat, hence making it a smoother, creamier, and healthier choice.

Try their specialty Coconut Nitro Ice Cream (RM15.90 excluding GST), made of fresh coconut and vanilla ice cream. While it’s not as creamy as other ice creams in the list, this is a delectable choice for those who want a lighter and healthier frozen dessert. Plus, just adding the word Nitro to stuff like coffee makes it so much cooler!

We haven’t the foggiest idea why this isn’t everywhere yet. – HungryGoWhere pic, November 16, 2015.Kochabi

Kochabi serves authentic traditional Malaysian ice creams and gelati unlike any other. Using natural locally-sourced products, their selection features tropical treats such as nutmeg, durian, jackfruit, passion fruit, and mango. Their factory may be based in Simpang Ampat, but their business is unique in that they sell almost exclusively online; the one exception proving to be their presence at Queensbay Mall's food court, Queens Hall.

These are luscious, bar none. – HungryGoWhere pic, November 16, 2015.We weren’t sure where to begin our marathon ice cream fest, so we ended up buying all of their fruit and gelato bars (RM3.80 excluding GST). We happily voted the jackfruit gelato bar the best. It had a distinctive jackfruit flavour and bits of real jackfruit slices in it.

Now that’s some cool web design. – HungryGoWhere pic, November 16, 2015.Stay cool with more of the 8 Coolest Ice Creams in Penang! We even have ChinaHouse’s ice cream on the list, even though they’re traditionally known for their cakes. – November 16, 2015.

Have a n-ice snack when you download our new HungryGoWhere app which shows you what places are around your current location up to a radius of 5km! Or you can just look up any location, and see what's popular among fellow foodies. Share your suggestions too! Now available on iTunes and Google Play.