Tom's Palette

I first knew of Tom's Palette from a small styrofoam box about a year ago. My mum had bought a box of home-made ice cream just opposite her office, and we got a treat of delicious ice cream. Unknown to me, the unpretentious looking styrofoam box was holding a gem!! Despite its simplicity and down-to-earth appearance, Tom's Palette proved to be a winner and was wiped out in a matter of hours in my home!

I know that many people have blogged about Tom's Palette and I know that my following pictures are not going to tempt much people into going there! (Yes I do realise that I have poor photography skills, though I did redeem myself by attempting to take better pictures the following day) but what I love about food is that they always have a story behind them. It's never so much about just their flavours or their colours, but rather, the stories that motivated their creation and birth.

My melting Ice cream
Which was still terribly yummy... I had rum & Raisin and the chocolate flavour.
I really liked the chocolate but I felt that I'm not really a Rum & Raisin girl.

A closeup shot of my delicious ice cream (Please scroll down for better looking pictures)

The following visit: I managed better shots! Justiamo and Chocolate
Why isn't this a better shot? I hope I spelt the new flavour right. It's actually a Baileys ice cream with brownie chunks in them. I like it terribly! In fact I love their chocolate flavour to death. It's a nice combination of bitter sweetness and the texture is so smooth, refreshing and delightful.

Another closeup of my Tom's Palette

Justiamo and Chocolate
I think that these 2 flavours are my favourite. I really like the chocolate. It's so good. Actually I think it's comparable to Awfully Chocolate's chocolate ice cream. The texture and taste is just as good (if not better)!

Ok, enough of pictures. (Btw the huge scoops of 2 flavours you guys see here is actually just one small scoop! The staff at Tom's Palette are really generous to let you have a combination of 2 flavours in one scoop! So in the end you get a really great deal at $2.80!)

Onto the story! Well I asked one of the owners (the guy) who was Tom? (Since the stall is named Tom's Palette) And well, there was a rather touching and meaningful story behind the ice cream. It seems that the name is not the name of any of the owners, rather it belongs to one of his friends that used to be rather discouraging with regards to setting up a ice cream stall in Singapore. His friend would tell him that Singapore has a small market, so it's hard to compete especially when you have Ben and Jerry's, Haggen Diaz, Swensen's as well as the lowerend ice cream of Walls, Magnolia, and etc. In other words, with the market saturated with high end players like Ben and Jerry's and Haggen Diaz, and the lower end filled with cheaper alternatives found in the supermarkets, what made him so sure that his business could stand out and thus survive?

I've forgotten the guy's name whom I was talking to (not a very good memory you see) but one thing that struck me was his passion for his ice cream stall. He wanted only the best quality and the best flavour. If the flavours were unique but did not have the essence of the flavour, then he would not sell it. That's why flavours like Justiamo and the Black Sesamee are great and delicious, though they do take a while to hit the market.

Thereafter he named his shop Tom's Palette as his friend was called Tom, and he wanted himself to remember the words of his friend and prove him wrong. Thus the shop's name is a motivating force to him, to remind him to work even harder when times are bad and to hang on and perservere. Cool right?

Well, one thing you've got to admit is that they really got perserverance!! And one thing that ice-cream eating session taught me was that perserverance pays! And that good food will always survive!! :)

So guys, you see why my pictures were of melty, ugly ice cream? It was because I was chatting up a storm! Haha and I couldn't eat my ice cream fast enough! In Singapore's hot weather, ice cream sure melts really fast. But for that delicious 5 min of heaven, I would do it all over again! Buy lots of ice cream and eat them all up though you can't finish them after the 4th bite!

To get there, go to Shaw Tower (it's just opposite Suntec). Not Shaw centre silly, but Shaw Tower... it's located near the foodcourt.

Tom's Palette is locaqted in this corridor just next to the foodcourt.

Tom's Palette

Verdict: 4/5 for great tasting ice cream and precise accurate flavours!! I tried the Lavender (totally refreshing and unique), the banana chocolate (my siblings loved it to death!), the raspberry and mango(very tantalising! and yummy), and the black sesame (extremely accurate in taste and perfect for the times when you crave black sesame paste!) YUMMY! Must eat somemore ice cream!!!

Tom's Palette
100 Beach Road, #01-25 Shaw Leisure Gallery
Tel. no. :62965239

Blogged with Flock