Orchard has been seeing quite a number of new F&B establishments open of the late; apart from Vanda Botanical Desserts which had recently commenced operations at Ngee Ann City, as well as 怡Small Tables at Pacific Plaza, there is also Smoochie Creamery at the ground floor of Far East Plaza as well. Smoochie Creamery takes over the former premises of the shop that was previously serving up Chinese desserts (i.e. Tong Shui 糖水). Giving the space a revamp, Smoochie Creamery adopts a rather functional interior design that seems to hint slightly of industrial elements — think a concrete-esquire flooring, as well as the use of spotlights, neon lighting and rather basic furniture tha comprises of white tables and wooden stools. Being primarily a ice-cream parlour, the ice-cream flavours available for the day are being displayed in the display chiller that faces out to the shopping aisle — a great way to entice shoppers that are passing by to have a look at what they have to offer. Patrons can choose to either have their ice-creams in a cup of a cone, though there are other options to pair up the scoops of ice-cream as well — think pastries such as a “Happy Fudgie Brownie” and a “Almond Butter Bread”. Each scoop of ice-cream is also entitled to one topping — the toppings available can be easily viewed at the counter which includes Loacker-style wafer biscuits, cereal (i.e. something similar to Honey Stars, Rice Krispies etc.), crumbles and even haw flakes as well; just to name a few.

Having glanced through to the display fridge to see the various ice-cream flavours which they have to offer, we found ourselves opting for the Rum & Raisin (contains alcohol), as well as the Lemon & Lime flavours; they also do have other intriguing flavours such as Marsala Tiramisu (contains alcohol), Maple Walnut, as well as Vanilla Brownie as well. Between the two, the Lemon & Lime was something that suited our tastebuds really well; not to say that the Rum & Raisin wasn’t good, but perhaps the Lemon & Lime was something that we were more inclined towards considering how we have had a rusher heavy-tasting meal prior and the Lemon & Lime was what we needed to refresh our tastebuds. The staff over the counter did give us a prior warning that the flavour may be a little bit sour, though we did find that the Lemon & Lime sorbet here did carry a somewhat sweeter ending as the bitter-ish notes that some other sorbets may end with. Not only did the Lemon & Lime sorbet provided the zingy and zippy citrus-sy notes that one would expect out of such flavour, it does come with bits of lime pulp that further adds on to the ice-cream; the ice-cream being sufficiently smooth with a consistent texture throughout — no undesirable, icy bits hidden anywhere. Went with the Haw Flakes as our choice of the topping to go with the Lemon & Lime; thought it was a great accompaniment since it provided a soft and slightly chewy bite — also came with a slight tang that further elevated the citrusy notes of the ice-cream.

Whilst ice-cream parlours have been sprouting up everywhere in the heartlands, ice-cream parlours like Smoochie Creamery are few and far between in Orchard. This makes Smoochie Creamery a wallet-friendly spot for desserts in the heart of the shopping belt in Singapore — somewhere that seems to serve up fuss-free ice-cream with quite a good variety of toppings and items to pair the ice-cream up with. For an ice-cream parlour of its size, Smoochie Creamery also does seem to carry quite a good variety of flavours as well — the flavours being pretty consistent with what is being described in its namesake while the consistency of the ice-cream is pretty ideal; could definitely tell that there were some attention to detail being placed here. With its rather playful aesthetic, Smoochie Creamery does blend well into the surroundings it is set in; somewhere to hit for simple desserts in Orchard without having to break the bank.