In late October 2014, a new soft serve shop was announced for the ground floor of 313@Somerset on Orchard Road. Honey Creme, a Korean-style dessert chain, was making its Singapore debut. Yahoo reported that doors opened to the public on 26 October.
The shop took unit #01-37, next to the mall’s taxi stand. Earlier announcements had described it as taking over the space once occupied by the bubble tea chain Gong Cha.
The soft serve craze it arrived in
Singapore was in the middle of a soft serve and frozen yogurt boom, and Honey Creme arrived with a reputation already built abroad. The brand had opened its first store in Taiwan in March 2014, then repeated that popularity in Hong Kong and Macau before Singapore.
Pre-opening coverage described it as a Seoul-linked chain, while others called it a Taiwanese brand. Either way, it was part of a wave of Korean-style soft serve shops. The craze was widely seen at the time as one that would last.
What was on the menu
The signature was milky, smooth soft serve made by hand. Its trademark was a chunk of honeycomb on top. Other toppings included cotton candy and popcorn, and an affogato version came with a shot of espresso.
One early visitor listed the opening prices. Popcorn, affogato and organic cotton candy were S$5.50 each, honeycomb was S$5.90, and an organic mixed grains option with flax seeds, oats, black beans, rye and barley was S$6.20. Those were the prices in 2014.
The same visitor found the soft serve smooth, milky and light. Later visitors noted local twists such as Pandan Gula Melaka, and a tiramisu soft serve was reviewed in 2017. Opinion on the showier toppings was mixed. Some diners found the cotton candy version too sweet or awkward to eat, and thought the honeycomb perched on top was impractical.
The queues
Opening week brought long lines. One food writer timed a weekday-afternoon visit at 20 to 30 minutes, about 20 outside and another 5 to 10 after ordering. Another visitor got dessert in about 25 minutes and said the wait was better than feared. Opening hours at the time were 11am to 10pm daily.
Where it stands now
The shop’s address was 313 Orchard Road, #01-37, 313@Somerset, Singapore 238895. Its social pages and online listings still carry that address and the 11am to 10pm hours. However, no recent, dated confirmation of whether the store is trading today could be found. Anyone planning a visit should check the brand’s official channels for current opening hours and menu before going.