Crowd-drawing Gelato Messina in Singapore is probably better than in Australia – here’s why

Queues persist at Gelato Messina, the famous brand from Australia that opened two and a half weeks ago at Club Street.

“Wah, what are these people queuing for?”, said the driver who picked me up from their doorstep. “Ice cream ah? Must be at least S$5 for one.”

Uncle, it’s S$7.50 for a single scoop. But, there’s a reason for the price. Not only is every single one of their 40 gelato offerings churned fresh on-site daily, their mix-ins, such as macadamia brittle, cookies and even their chocolates, are made from scratch (with one notable exception, which we’ll come back to later).

And, wait until you hear about the milk – the sacrosanct base of any gelato.

Unsatisfied with unsustainable farming practices in addition to the high prices and lower fat content of the milk available on the market, Messina decided they would simply acquire their own dairy farm and raise Jersey cows, which give milk of up to six per cent fat. The 500-acre (202ha) farm in Australia has just over 600 cows, which are milked in rotation to give them time to rest, shared Alessandro Palumbo, Gelato Messina Singapore’s International Operations Manager.

According to the same reasoning, Messina also decided to produce their own honey, farm their own hazelnuts of the premium Tonda Gentile variety and grow their own mint. “Our Mint Chocolate gelato has real mint – it’s the only flavour we force people to try before they order it,” Palumbo said, because it doesn’t taste like the mint chocolate ice cream many people are used to.

“We’re lucky – we’re our only customer,” he quipped. So, Messina can, for example, “do things for the cows’ benefit that we think make them happier”, resulting in higher quality milk.

“From normal milk to Jersey milk – it’s very expensive,” he added. But, “We look at ourselves as chefs – always self-loathing! 'Nothing is ever perfect. How can we be better?'”

Here’s how: Milk from the farm is air-flown into Singapore within two to three days of milking, and then pasteurised in Messina’s kitchen here, guaranteeing optimal freshness and flavour, Palumbo said.

What’s more, Singapore has five country-exclusive flavours – Kaya Toast, Teh Tarik, Tau Huay, salted egg yolk with gula Melaka caramel, and coconut gelato with durian jam and durian cake – which Australians have been clamouring for, too, Palumbo divulged. “Why can’t we have Kaya Toast, too, mate?”, is the general sentiment Down Under, according to him. So, yay, we win – for now.

“When we decided to open in Singapore, we knew we had to do it properly – staying true to our Gelato Messina identity while also honouring Singapore’s status as a nation of serious food lovers. That meant creating flavours that genuinely resonate here.

"We were not going to just add a hint of gula melaka or pandan and call it local. Like all our gelato, the local flavours go through the same meticulous process: everything is made from scratch as much as possible, without using flavour pastes or taking shortcuts.” Even things like durian jam and durian cake, for example, are made in-house.

In fact, some other local flavours were mooted, but deemed too labour-intensive to make, like an ondeh ondeh gelato and a calamansi sorbet (they may, however, appear as specials).

Kaya, though, is one ingredient used that is not made from scratch, as they have not yet been able to grow their own pandan to make it cost-effective. Instead, they use the most expensive kaya available on the market. “‘Let’s just get the best one’,” was the thought process, Palumbo said. Again, that’s a for-now thing – in the future, who knows?

In crafting the local flavours, “we even involved many Singaporeans we met – from contractors to delivery drivers – to taste our gelato, as our goal was for locals to instantly connect with the flavours. The most rewarding part is seeing people’s reactions; it is a big part of why we love what we do. And, perhaps, we are a little obsessed! These flavours are not watered down or adapted to Australian tastes; they are made for Singapore, with full respect,” Palumbo said.

My driver uncle would have been pleased to hear that, I think.

OUR TOP 3 MUST-TRY GELATO MESSINA SINGAPORE FLAVOURS

1. TAU HUAY

You’d expect this to be quite creamy and cloying, sort of like beancurd pudding, but it is actually light, bright and refreshing, and our favourite flavour.

“We were drawn to the simplicity of soy beancurd and wanted to maintain that purity,” Palumbo explained. So, “we crafted a lightly sweetened tofu gelato that is smooth and gentle, highlighting the clean flavour of soy. This flavour is more technically challenging due to the delicate nature of silken tofu, but we focused on preserving the comforting simplicity of the original dish.”

2. YOLK’S ON YOU

This is the salted egg yolk with gula melaka caramel gelato, ideal for those who like savoury-sweet combinations.

"When I tried salted egg yolk chips, I knew it would make a great gelato flavour,” Palumbo said. Actually, we think, this tastes more like mooncake than the chips, thanks to the gula melaka caramel.

“Yolk’s On You was a fun experiment. We have explored savoury flavours before in Australia, but combining salted egg yolk with gula melaka caramel was uncharted territory,” Palumbo said.

“We currently use whole salted egg yolks. The rich, custardy taste of the egg yolk, combined with the burnt-toffee sweetness of palm sugar caramel, creates an unexpected but harmonious blend. Salted egg yolk is synonymous with Singaporean cuisine and we wanted to capture that umami twist without it feeling like a gimmick.”

3. PISTACHIO

Messina is known for its nutty gelatos and even if you don’t like pistachio, give this a go. To make this gelato, Messina uses pistachio paste made from premium nuts grown in the rich, volcanic soil of Mount Etna in Sicily. We tasted the pistachio paste and were taken aback at how unique its flavour was – naturally sweet, almost malty, even with no added sugar.  

One year, Etna erupted, and there was a pistachio shortage, Palumbo shared. Messina rolled out a Pistachio Praline flavour to take its place, and sold double of what they would usually sell in Pistachio. Pistachio Praline is now a mainstay on the menu and you can try it if you like a sweeter crunch. But, be sure to sample the pure Pistachio, too.  

Gelato Messina is at 1 Club Street.