Marvelous Cream hails from Japan, and Singapore is one of the brand’s newest franchisees. They opened their doors on 3 July at CityLink Mall, offering 20% off their sweets. I stumbled upon this place through sheer luck on the way to dinner with B & Y at Franky’s Kaffe Kitchen. Just imagine how fast we finished dinner that night, and how much compartmentalisation was going on in our tummies. After all, the cardinal rule for those with the sweet tooth is: always leave room for dessert.
By the time we got there, the queue was starting to snake around a little as the opening was attracting more and more attention. Marvelous Cream’s french parfait selection looked incredibly enticing. It took all my willpower not to over-order. Before I proceed, parfait [pahr-FAY] is served differently in different countries:
1. In the US, this dessert consists of ice cream layered with flavored syrup or fruit and whipped cream. It’s often topped with whipped cream, nuts and sometimes a maraschino cherry.
2. A French parfait is a frozen custard dessert made with egg yolks, sugar, whipped cream and a flavoring such as fruit puree. In French, parfait means “perfect,” which is how many view this dessert.
You’ll be glad to know that Marvelous Cream serves both types of parfait. They’ve got 9 ice-cream flavours to choose from – White Milk Cream, European Cream Cheese, Belgium Chocolate, Fruity Mango, Hazelnuts Praline, Golden Vanilla, Natural Yoghurt, Strawberry Cream, and Marsala Espresso (less than 0.1% alc.). B decided to have the Rum Raisin Custard Pie [***] consisting of Golden Vanilla, Rum Raisin, Millefeuille and fresh cream, while Y had her tummy set on Noisette Chocolat Classic [***.] (Hazelnut Praline, brownie, fresh cream, Koo Belcher Choc).
Eagerly waiting in line, I changed my mind several times before I decided on Mix Berry Cream Cheesecake [***](European Cream Cheese, Strawberry, Blueberry, Raspberry).
After ordering, you’ll get to watch them mix your ice-cream on a -16°C marble top ala Cold Rock or Ice Cream Chefs.
I must say that of the 3 we shared, the Noisette Chocolat Classic was the best. While the brownie topping wasn’t fantastic, the combination of it and the other toppings made it a nice mix. It wasn’t too heavy, and the ice-cream was good. The Mix Berry one I had was pretty good too, but my main qualm with it is the frozen fruits. I prefer Cold Rock’s fresh berry toppings instead…frozen doesn’t work for me unless it’s in Yammi Yoghurt.
On your left we have their French parfait selection…I’ll definitely try these the next time I pop by on an emptier stomach. You can make your own selection of toppings and ice-creams, or go with 1 of their 28 selections for the American parfait. Choose from:
Junior (80ml) – $4.90
Regular (100ml) – $6.20
Large (180ml) – $8.80
Paper cup, waffle bowl/cone (+$1), chocolate waffle bowl/cone (+$1.50)
Shops in Japan: Tokyo | Yokohama | Osaka | Kobe | Nagoya | Hiroshima | Gifu | Ibaraki | Okinawa
++ definition of parfait taken from Epicurious.com Copyright Barron’s Educational Services, Inc. 1995 based on THE FOOD LOVER’S COMPANION, 2nd edition, by Sharon Tyler Herbst.
/ Update: I’ve tried one of their french parfaits, Exotic Patissier ($5.90) [****] and I found it really delish. Topped with raspberry bits, this parfait has a layer of chiffon cake, frozen mango custard, and berry fillings. I absolutely loved it.
The I-wanna-know[s]:
Taste – 7/10
Price – $
Service – 7/10
Ambience – 8/10
Accessibility – 8/10
Legend:
[$]-cheap like peanuts: ($10 & below/person)
[$$]-average Jane ($15-$25/person)
[$$$]-you might wanna tke tht card out..($30-$60/person)
[$$$$]-extremely exorbitant ($70 & above/person)
[* to *****] – rating(s) for individual dishes
Tel: +65 6238 1683
Address:
#B1-04, CityLink Mall, One Raffles Link, Singapore 039393
Website: http://www.marvelouscream.com
Email: marvelous_asia@singnet.com.sg
Nearest MRT: City Hall
