Love, Gelato! / Ground Floor Coffee (The White House)

There has been quite a number of new gelato stores opening up of the late and it seems that there is yet another new one that had recently opened their doors in a shophouse unit at 430 Changi Road that is dubbed “The White House” which also houses Habibi Kebs — for those whom are familiar with the area, this shophouse used to be occupied by the now-defunct STRETCH by unifive at some point of time. There has been some works that had been done to the shophouse that segregates the space into two different shop units with one set of doors being installed to allow access into Habibi Kebs; there is also yet another set of doors that leads into an establishment named love, gelato!. The space in which love, gelato! operates from doesn’t just consist of one establishment however; as one moves further into the shophouse, it could be noticed that an outlet of Ground Floor Coffee is also situated here as well. For those whom are not aware, Ground Floor Coffee was an establishment that was started off serving up specialty coffee through the window at their HDB flat unit in Pasir Ris on the ground floor — they had since moved to a proper hole-in-the-wall shop unit at East Village along Upper Changi Road (ironically, the address of the building is a 430 Upper Changi Road). The interior furnishings are simple consisting of white walls that are matched with furniture and fittings of wooden accents; there are some elements of nature such as plotted plants that can be found in space that makes the space feels less “cold”, while the use of Persian rugs helps to provide a slightly cosier and more exquisite vibe to the otherwise simple-looking space. In the section of the space where love, gelato! occupies, the dine-in seating comprises of benches with plastic storage boxes being stacked up to double up as a side table; the space dedicated to Ground Floor Coffee in the meanwhile consists of proper dining tables with stools that seats groups of three (3) pax with display shelves consisting of art pieces and children picture books alongside racks filled with table games that patrons can borrow for their use. For love, gelato!, the selection of gelato / sorbet flavours can be found prominently displayed at the counter with patrons being able to opt between having them in a waffle cone or a cup; in the meanwhile Ground Floor Coffee’s menu is split across categories such as Specialty Blend, Our Signature, All Good Brew, and Milky Way.

Skimming through the gelato / sorbet flavours that love, gelato! has to offer, it does seem that the gelato / sorbet flavours available at love, gelato! are fairly limited to a few pretty conventional flavours. We did find ourselves ending up with the Mulberry Fling and the Salty Goodbyes — the former being a sorbet while the latter is a gelato offering. It also does seem that love, gelato! does add a water biscuit on top of their gelato / sorbets for those whom are ordering them to be served in a cup. Both flavours did turn out to be pretty good where consistency is of concern; the Mulberry Fling had a texture that was consistently smooth without any icy bits found within, while the Salty Goodbyes was sufficiently smooth and creamy without being too milky. love, gelato! describes the Salty Goodbyes being a Sea Salt Gula Jawa gelato; we did find that the flavour does carry a strong hint of saltish-ness from the sea salt while the scoop of gelato was also not too sweet. Meanwhile, the Mulberry Flings is being mentioned as a Mulberry Bay Leaf Sorbet that carries pretty evident tangy notes from the Mulberry which was especially refreshing after a heavy meal. Also not missing out on Ground Floor Coffee’s offerings whilst at it, we found ourselves giving their Kurma Black (Iced) while at it; the folks at Ground Floor Coffee describes the item to feature elements like Espresso, Filtered Water and Dates. This does turn out to be a Long Black infused with date syrup at the bottom that adds another dimension of fruity sweetness to the cuppa which didn’t turn out to be overly sweet. The introduction of both Ground Floor Coffee and love, gelato! into The White House is quite a wise decision; the two establishments are concepts that seem to be pretty complimentary to one another — also in turn providing patrons with a choice to opt for a beverage and dessert whilst enjoying the Doner Kebab, Durum and Donner Teller that Habibi Kebs offer. This pretty much turns The White House into a one-stop destination where one can opt for a full meal with mains, drinks and dessert under one roof — all of which being Muslim-owned businesses as well.