Invited Session: BLIC Ice-Cream Cafe

Ask me what a sleepy neighbourhood needs and I will tell you, an ice-cream parlour of course! Right here at Tampines Avenue 4 there's a brand new cheery-looking shop with my all-time favourite dessert, and for a place that has opened its doors for barely a week it does have a pretty good (if not, impressive) variety of flavours on offer. Students from Temasek Polytechnic as well as members from the Safra Tampines Clubhouse would be glad to know that it's only a few minutes walking distance from where they are, so anytime that you guys have an ice-cream craving (which I do ever so often), you know where to go now :)


If you're wondering how the name "BLIC" came about, it really is a mix of the names of it's two owners, Ben (left) and Larry (right). They realised that they would have to think of something else other than "Ben & Larry's", since that would be quite confusing for the obvious reason, and so joined B and L with Ice-Cream to get BLIC. Right there in the picture above you have three guys who really love their ice-creams, one of them of course only does the eating all the time haha.


As the title of this post suggests, my first trip to BLIC was an invited session by Ben himself. He had suggested that I organise a small bloggers' outing to his cafe so that we could sample the flavours and give him comments on how to improve. I was more than pleased to help him out with that, and brought along an entourage of ten ice-cream lovers after our brunch outing at Botanical Gardens' Halia. Once there at BLIC, we were greeted warmly by Ben and Larry, who then went on to give a detailed introduction on the company and the ice-creams that it offers.


We started off with sampling spoons, but people like me would need more than a tiny spoonful surely. Once we started on a bowl, we went for another, and another, and another. So yes, we're merely posing for a picture and there was so much more ice-creams to come. All on the house by the generous people of BLIC.


This is almost like a poster shot, and I like this picture quite a lot. Captures the delight that we all have when it comes to ice-creams. That curiosity, that anticipation, and that first taste... lovely.


And here's one more of the ladies. All of us were happily getting into the routine of choosing flavours, taking pictures and then thinking of what flavours to get next.


And... I know, I know, you must be close to screaming, "Enough with the long stories and tell me the flavours now please!" so yes, it's finally time to roll out them out. Enjoy :)


If you like the dark chocolate cakes from Awfully Chocolate, then you would like the Double Choc flavour which was adequately rich and thick. Quite sure it would make for a delicious milkshake that BLIC does as well. My favourite flavour has to be the Ferrero, because I've never tasted one that is so close to the original chocolate, and this especially has bits of nuts and crunch in it so that's an extra plus for me. The Dino Milo was smooth and a clear ice-cream version to the typical cold drink. Right on top of the pile lies the Vanilla Bean ice-cream, with numerous specks of vanilla beans. It somehow needs to be richer and fuller in flavour though, and Ben says he would get down to improving on it. True dedication indeed.


Next up, the Lychee ice-cream was quite delightful as it had lychee bits in the ice-cream as well as on top of it! The Coffee one meanwhile would suit those who like a stronger and more distinct flavour. Be creative, use this as a base, mix it with another flavour and do a milkshake!


Want more biscuit but don't want it in a cone? Here's what you can do. This is the same Lychee ice-cream, and if you look closer, there's vanilla bean specks on it too!


BLIC takes Rum & Raisin to a literal meaning when it adds on larger raisins to your ice-cream. Fair amount of rum (die-hards would demand more of course), but definitely more raisins.


If I had to choose the freshest flavour, it would have to be the Banana Peanut Crunch (the one with golden peanut bits in front), and this would also be another of my personal favourites. A very strong and distinct taste of banana, with the only contender being the Mao Shan Wang Durian flavour. The latter is so potent not just in taste but also in smell, so much so that it has to kept separately (and seal-wrapped) from the rest. The Green Tea ice-cream reminds everyone of matcha surely, but I don't really like it because it isn't very sweet. Black Sesame and Seasalt Malt wraps up this batch, with the malt one tasting so much like Horlicks.


The darker-coloured ice-cream at the back sums up my top three favourites, the Bailey's flavour here is nice and creamy without leaving out that hint of liquer in it.


Other than more unique-sounding flavours like "SCaM" (a light mixture of soursop, calamansi and martini) and Mentos Chocolate Ball (mint ice-cream with tiny crunchy chocolate balls in it), there's also a Bird's Nest with Almond (bottom left) flavour that peaked my curiosity quite a bit. This however turned out to be more almond-flavoured that anything else, but if you like almond jellies and stuff, you'd like this one.


Ben also plans to roll out more items like the Tiramisu, which I think would be quite a hit with the delicious vanilla ice-cream amidst light sponge cake and a soft alcohol-infused biscuit base. He probably has to get a clearer glass that can show the different layers though. Other items that would be available soon includes freshly-baked waffles and brownies, the perfect complements to any ice-cream for sure.


Once again, thank you Ben and Larry for the invite. We truly enjoyed ourselves and it was definitely a wonderful way to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon. On behalf of the food bloggers who attended the sampling session, we wish BLIC all the very best! :)

Price
Single Scoop Classic/Premium: $3.20/$5.20
Double Scoop Classic/Premium: $4.80/$7.80
Double Scoop Mix: $6.30
Milkshake Classic/Premium: $5.80/$8.80

Place
Blk 802 Tampines Ave 4 #01-23.
Click map (left) to enlarge.

Pictures taken with the Canon EOS 500D.