Jones the Grocer @ Mandarin Gallery

Momo and I were walking around Orchard Road last week. It was not long before our legs got tired and it transmitted signals to our brain: "Find place to sit. Find quiet place. Find place with no crowds. Find place with preferably ice cream."

Hoping we can find a place that can fit the criteria above, we got out of the more crowded Paragon and walked over to Mandarin Gallery instead. We walked into Jones the Grocer and thought it kind of fits the criteria!

Love the folks here. They are such cheerful and helpful staff. They served us water almost immediately.

*** ai si ki lim ***

Momo's sharp eyes saw ice cream on the menu and asked what flavour were there while our cute round glasses were filled with water. The lady serving mentioned a few flavours and what caught momo's attention was Boysenberry Ice Cream. ($3)



It was a good choice. It was not overly sweet, it has a little hint of tartness too, which kind of blends them together. The biscuit that tasted like the the base for baked cheesecake was yummy too!

*** ko pi peng ***

I realised to my dismay they don't have anything totally chocolate! Die lah. I don't really like coffee and not in the mood for tea. So I picked the closest which was the Ice Chocolate Mocha. ($7). It was listed under their 'signature drinks'.



One of the reasons I don't drink coffee is I don't like the bitterness of coffee. I took a sip without stirring and the bitter coffee taste hit me. Yikes. But common sense (finally!) kicked in and I stirred it, melting the chocolate ice cream into the coffee and chocolate sauce in it. It tasted nice after that!

Don't laugh! I think the whatever mixture they reminds me of a pack of cigarette! I don't smoke, but I am sure you curious people (like me) have picked up your colleague / classmates / friends pack of ciggies and had a smell of it. Tobacco before being burnt smell kinda nice and pleasant. When it's burnt, it totally stinks!

I think the mixture tasted like that, the pleasant and not the stink part. It's quite fun! It did give me a caffeine high and perhaps a nicotine high too? LOL... Reminder, smoking is bad, don't smoke!

*** kim boon tai ***

Momo had the Iced Orange Earl Grey ($6).

I think Earl Grey or Lady Grey are tea for people with acquired taste buds. They just taste so different. But mixing orange juice inside does makes it taste better!



I had a sip and thought it was OK lah, not my cup of tea! (pun intended!)
Well, the lady likes her tea. If she says it's nice, let it be so.


I like this place though. I noticed some of the 'groceries' that I cart all the way back from Rome 3 months ago! I felt so silly lugging it back. The only comfort was that I bought them real cheap in Italy :-)

The ratio of ladies to men is like 20:1 here. It was a weekday afternoon if you are wondering. People showing off their iPads is higher than the ratio of ladies to men! LOL



(If you are wondering what is "kim boon tai", that's Clementi in Hokkien. That's the coffee shop lingo for Ice Lemon Tea)


Jones the Grocer
333 Orchard Road
#04-21/22/23 Mandarin Gallery
Singapore 238897