The one-less-Black Widow meetup last Wednesday turned out to be rather fruitful when we tried out a 3-week-old baby ice cream shop on Jalan Dhoby.
The Ice-Cream Project (TIP), a business run by an ice-cream passionate is situated right smack in the middle of Jalan Dhoby, just opposite IT Roo Cafe. The shop lot doesn't have a huge signboard for you to notice it, just plainly-painted dark grey (colour hex #202020). Do not fret though! There is cute swing from our childhood days and a striking green carpet (fake grass) under it which aids in finding the shop :)
Parking would be more of a hassle during daylight as the roads are narrow and not many parking lots are available. Many people like to dine around that area, resulting in no parking. What Char likes to do is to park at the post office and walk from there. At night, there'd be a better chance of scoring yourself a parking lot on Jalan Dhoby.
The swing isn't just for nice, it's usable too ;)
Welcomed by the strong smell of milk as we stepped in, I set my mind to try out their ice-cream in Original flavour- none other than milk. Fyi, the milk smell was more sweet than stinky like milk factories haha I've been to one and will never forget the stench.
The ambience is cool and cozy, perfect for catch up sessions with friends and even studying or doing some work on the laptop. It is double-storey and I'm sure there is ample space for patrons to fill up because downstairs alone, with only 2 small cable wheel tables and 2 bigger tables isn't quite enough.
thumbs up for the creativity!
The tiny chairs/stools are rather uncomfortable cz the width of the metal bars are too close, making my butt hurt. It would be suitable for kids, but not grown ups.. Hopefully they get those replaced with other kinds of short stools. Noting the fact that they want the old school and vintagey look, I remember when I was a kid, my grandma had a wooden short stool that we would sit on outside the house. So that's one idea :) Orrrr...smaller cable wheels! Ah hah!
each cable wheel table can fit 2-3 people
Menu-wise, it consists of mostly light refreshments to sip on while chit-chatting with friends during tea time. No heavy meals available here, just a heads up. Upon arrival, I expected more flavours of the homemade ice-cream because the shop's name gave me the impression that it's all, if not mostly about ice-creams. Maybe they'll have more of a variety in the future, at least I hope so. TIP also serves Gryphon Tea in various types as shown below on the menu.
Let's talk ice-cream since that was what the shop is named after and also because our goal that day was to try out their ice-cream.
The ice-creams are made on the spot as you place your order. How is that possible? By using liquid nitrogen, of course! This method isn't a new discovery, in fact it has been used since the 18th century. It is however, still rather new in Malaysia...with only one other ice-cream maker I know of which uses this method too- Oh My Gas in Kuala Lumpur.
Basically, liquid nitrogen is super cold that when poured into the mixture, it freezes into ice cream in a tremendously short period of time. This method produces smooth and fine ice-creams as it is free from crystallization from the rapid freezing process.
the young boss who was donning a red Thai pants that day made Char feel like he's her friend haha (she loves Thai pants)
I've never had milk-flavoured ice cream ever, so I decided to give it a shot. He said this flavour is for those who love milk or else the taste would be strong for them, technically not for the faint-hearted haha I don't particularly love milk, but I do like it and drink it every morning so I wasn't intimidated by the remark made.
My verdict is....I really really liked it! It smells strongly of milk powder and tastes of it too. Although growing up, Sustagen's chocolate milk always won my side, I really enjoyed om nom noming my milk ice-cream :D I'd list this flavour on the must-try list if there was one cz it's not very often you find ice-cream in milk flavour AND taste this good. As a result of the no-crystallization, the ice-cream was seamlessly smooth and soft that I enjoyed scraping it into a flawless dome surface as I ate haha
so good, can't waste even a drop of melted ice-cream
Char had what's called Brownies & Cream, a nice twist given to the regular Cookies & Cream. She loved her ice-cream and said she would definitely pay them a visit again because of their ice-creams. The generous huge chunks of brownies blended into the ice-cream was delicious and played a big part in flavouring the ice-cream!
I had a spoonful of it, but couldn't really make up the taste because the milk ice-cream was overpowering. I took another small scoop once the milk flavour has toned down a little and found that the brownie chunks was yummy, rich and the best part- chewy :D
milk // brownies & cream (RM10)
Overall, the ice-creams were up to expectations and let's hope they come up with more unique flavours for the menu.
Upon leaving TIP, we noticed a notice (NOTICEPTION :O). A shout out to those looking for a job, here's one to consider! TIP is looking for people to join their team, requirements as stated on the notice (card)board. Note that the pay will be low, which is why I didn't consider it haha I'd say TIP would make a good place to gain experience in ice-cream making and basic F&B services besides smelling the sweet smell of milk for 12 hours a day XD Give it a try if you need something to fill your time with :)
The Ice-Cream Project
31, Jalan Dhoby
80000 Johor Bahru
