Focusing on producing authentic home-made gelatos, pies and soups, Sugarhaus, which has two branches in Singapore located at Jalan Serene and Tampines One, is a gelato concept that was founded by banker-turned-gelato man, Stanley Seow.

The brand prides itself in rigorously examining and sourcing across continents for the finest ingredients to add new textures and contrasting tastes to their gelato in order to elevate the gelato experience – with the ultimate aim of accentuating gelato in its purest and most original forms.

Said Seow, “At some point, we realised that a great scoop of gelato does not exist anymore. We wanted to break away from this by introducing contrasting textures and tastes and really reinvigorating our gelato with natural ingredients to bring an oomph to your palate.”

This means that the gelato flavours at Sugarhaus are fashioned around three all-time classic crowd favourites – Chocolate, Milk and Matcha.

And in addition, Seow also stresses that the gelato flavours at Sugarhaus are created and churned in-house, containing no added artificial flavours or colours. So this means that at Sugarhaus, you are getting the real stuff.

Invited to a media tasting session at Sugarhaus

Together with a companion, I was recently invited to a media tasting session to try the gelato flavours at Sugarhaus’s Jalan Serene outlet.

The Gelato Flavours

There are nine different flavours that are entered around either Chocolate, Milk or Matcha, and these are as follows.

Hokkaido Milk
Hokkaido Milk and Honeycomb
Hokkaido Milk and Strawberries
Kyoto Matcha
Kyoto Matcha with Warabi Mochi and black sugar
Kyoto Matcha with with Azuki Red Bean
Dutch Chocolate
Dutch Chocolate with Peanut Crumble and Banana
Dutch Chocolate with Orange

We were given the Hokkaido Milk flavoured gelatos to taste first before progressing onto the Matcha and then the Chocolate flavoured ones.

According to Sugarhaus, having us try the gelato flavours in this order, is because the taste buds are sensitive – Milk is light in flavour, so it is best to have this when the taste buds are still sharp, clean and pure.

On the other hand though, chocolate should be eaten last, because this is rich in flavours, and so would thus likely drown out other flavours that is eaten after it.

Matcha, while it is still quite light, has a stronger flavour than Milk, which is the reason why it is served as middle flavours.

As a whole, I thought that the Hokkaido Milk based flavours were the most clean and pure ones out of the lot, possibly because of the milk base that is used.

Hokkaido Milk

The basic Hokkaido Milk flavour was very creamy and at the same time, I was able to detect a milky note coming from it.

For the Hokkaido Milk and Honeycomb one, I admit that I had really enjoyed the addition of the honeycomb in the gelato.

Because it used the same base, this flavour had the same creamy, milky note as the Hokkaido Milk flavour, yet at the same time, the usage of the Honeycomb added a slightly sweet note, which I thought balanced out the milkiness very well, without being overpowering.

This was easily my favourite out of the lot, and in fact, I liked it so much that I even ended up getting myself a scoop of this flavour to eat.

The Hokkaido Milk and Strawberries flavour was really yummy too, and reminded me of the Strawberries and Cream desserts that I used to enjoy eating, as a child.

In this gelato, the milkiness and smoothness coming from the Hokkaido Milk was immediately apparent, yet at the same time, I could also pick up a fruity note in this flavour, which came from the strawberries. If you want to have something light and refreshing, I would definitely recommend this flavour.

Kyoto Matcha

After the Hokkaido Milk gelato, we went straight to the Matcha based flavours.

For the basic Kyoto Matcha gelato, the green tea flavour was immediately apparent, yet at the same time, it was just right and not overwhelming.

According to Sugarhaus, the Kyoto Matcha that they use, is ceremonial grade.

The texture of the gelato was smooth and there was a mild oily note coming from the matcha too, At the same time, it gave off a sightly bitter aftertaste – which had prevented this flavour from being too sweet.

Overall, I had thought that this had been definitely an enjoyable, light and refreshing Matcha gelato and was one of the better versions of a Matcha dessert that I have had.

The Kyoto Matcha with Warabi Mochi and Black Sugar however, was quite unusual and intriguing. In this gelato flavour, the Mochi had been prepared in a Black Sugar sauce before being mixed into the gelato.

While I could immediately detect the flavours from the green tea, this one also had a rather chewy texture to it, which came from the Mochi.

So as a result, this flavour was not as smooth as some of the other flavours, but I would definitely say that it was an interesting sensation to my palette, as the presence of the mochi had added a rather unique texture to the gelato.

At the same time, it had also seemed to be a tad sweeter than the Kyoto Matcha flavour, thanks to the usage of the black sugar.

Nevertheless, it was certainly innovative I must say, and I would recommend it to green tea lovers who want to have a new spin to their desserts. Kudos to Sugarhaus for their creativity.
The Kyoto Matcha with Azuki Red Bean was also another innovative flavour. I was not sure what to expect when I tried this one, but the crushed bits of Red Bean inside the gelato added a crunchy note to the gelato.

While the Matcha was still the predominant flavour here, the presence of the slightly crunchy red beans had added a zing to the gelato, which I thought had enhanced the flavour quite well. It was interesting, but I must admit, yummy at the same time.

Dutch Chocolate

We then moved on to the basic Dutch Chocolate flavour. This one would definitely suit dark chocolate lovers – the moment that I put a spoonful into my mouth, the richness of the chocolate immediately hit me.

The chocolate is rich and satisfying – but I must say that this is probably a flavour that is best shared with a friend, because the richness of the chocolate alone, may make this flavour quite jelak.

There was also a bit of a dark chocolate aftertaste that lingered on in my mouth for a few moments, too.

The Dutch Chocolate Crumble flavour was similar to the basic Dutch Chocolate one in terms of the richness, but as an enhancement, biscuit crumbs were added into the gelato. While I could pick up a slight crunch coming from these, they were a tad soggier than I would have liked, though.

But I had rather enjoyed the Dutch Chocolate with Zesty Orange flavour.

There seemed to have been some orange peel used in the preparation of this flavour too, and the sourness from this was good in balancing out the bitterness and richness from the chocolate.

As well, the orange peel added some texture to the gelato, thus resulting in it being slightly chewy as well – I thought that this had made it more interesting. I would possibly order this flavour again if I am craving for some chocolate.

Other Gelato Flavours

As well, Sugarhaus also has a small sprinkling of other gelato flavours to cater to those who may not be fond of milk, chocolate and matcha – and these include the Blueberry Yoghurt, Cookie Crumble, Thai Milk Tea, Speculoos and Mango ones.

We tried out a few of these, as well. The Blueberry Yoghurt flavour was quite light and refreshing. There was a slightly sour note coming from the Yoghurt base, and at the same time, a fruity note coming from the Blueberries that helped to balance out the sourness from the yoghurt.

In fact, this was a very pleasant flavour and I would not hesitate to get it again.

And while I know that Speculoos is basically caramel biscuit, I had thought that the taste of the caramel had been a bit on the sweet side.

But having said that though, I liked the Speculoos biscuit crumble in the gelato, as this had helped to give it some texture and thus prevented it from being too one-dimensional.

And the Mango Sorbet flavour was also slightly sweet, but at least the Mango flavour was strong – in fact, the moment that I put a spoonful of this into my mouth, the taste of the Mango had hit me immediately.

There was also a bit of a fruity aftertaste that had lingered on in my mouth too.

Each gelato flavour at Sugarhaus will set you back from S$3.20 per scoop.

Home-made pies

Besides the Gelato, Sugarhaus also serves home-made pies as well as chunky soups to cater to those who prefer something savoury.

So we decided to take the chance to try out their Beef and Mash pie too.

After heating the pie up, I must say that it was quite delicious and one of the better mince beef pies that I have tried, in Singapore.

The pastry shell was crispy and as for the filling inside, the beef mince was pretty thick, moist and gooey and there was a hint of a beefy note to it too, but this was not too strong or overpowering though.

And the mash had also complemented the mince very well, helping to add to the smoothness and moistness of the beef mince. Together with the crunchy pastry shell to add some texture to the pie, it was enjoyable to eat.

Overall this is a classic pie combination that always works well together and I felt that Sugarhaus did not disappoint at all, with their version.

Drinks

And to round off the evening, we picked a couple of drinks from Sugarhaus’s drinks menu. I had an iced chocolate and my companion had a Red Wine.

The iced chocolate was rich and chocolatey, and went well with the Hokkaido Milk and Honeycomb gelato that I had chosen, while my companion had commented that the Red Wine had been full-bodied and tasty.

A great place for post-dinner treats

As a whole, I would say that Sugarhaus is a great place to go if you are craving for something sweet after dinner.

With its close proximity to the Singapore Botanic Gardens too, it is also great to head to Sugarhaus to treat yourself to something cool and refreshing, after a evening run at the beautiful Gardens.

And I know that I will certainly be doing just this, from time to time – to keep me motivated to continue training for the upcoming Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon this December.

Sugarhaus is located at:

10 Jalan Serene,
Serene Centre #01-04
Singapore 258748
Tel: 6314 2257

Opening Hours:

Sunday – Thursday: 11am – 10pm
Friday – Saturday: 11am – 11pm