Friday, June 24, 2011

The Last Polka Ice Cream: First Class

Tuan-tuan dan Puan-Puan, Ladies & Gentlemen. It fills me with pure joy to say that quality Malaysian-made ice cream is now widely available in the Klang Valley. My heart skipped a beat just typing that. Alright alright, I know that I'm not the first to rave on about The Last Polka who've been in business since 2009 but it is exciting how KL has received this very now food trend towards artisanal ice cream.



Behind The Last Polka are two friends who decided to pack up corporate jobs and venture into what they enjoyed - bringing goodness to the market. Their strapline is attractive and succinct: "we combine our creamy French-style ice cream with the regional Asian flavours we love".

The ice creams of my KL childhood were McDonald's Sundaes (with chocolate sauce thankyouverymuch) and our local ais krim potong in sweetcorn, yam and red bean. Whilst I still hold these in high regard, up till now KL wasn't quite the stage for frozen desserts. Say ice cream and one thinks of  glossy Italian gelato, exquisite Japanese favourites like black sesame and matcha, and the wacky conconctions that places like London (Breast milk Baby Gaga from The IceCreamists/Heston's infamous Bacon & Egg) and the US (I distinctly remember watercress & fennel from Californian parlour Ici) create to push the flavour boundaries.

The Last Polka could very much be a game changer. I tried Salted Gula Melaka (Molasses) and Teh Tarik ("pulled" tea, similar to Indian Chai)  recentlytwo fiercely loved Malaysian flavours that lend themselves perfectly to ice cream and I'm very much liking this line of thought.



Creamy and with body, this is ice cream made with fine ingredients and an instinct for how flavour translates across food types. The Salted Gula Melaka was actually less salty than I'd expected though I wondered if that was enough to counter-balance molasses which is extremely sweet. What was great were the tiny nuggets of sugary Gula Melaka that dissolved so readily upon bite. What really stood out for me in the Teh Tarik was how the smoky tea element had been captured. Were those little flecks tea granules? Absolutely delightful.


Other wonderful sounding flavours they have amongst others are Coconut Kaffir Lime, White Coffee, Guiness, Horlicks and French Toast. I hear there are potential plans for a Cendol flavour and in the spirit of savoury, even suggestions of Satay (yikes)! I can't wait to try more and am confident the Last Polka are only on their first waves of success.

Their scoops can be found at:
Marmalade at Bangsar Village II (where I had mine) and Mont Kiara
The Bee at Jaya One
The V Cafe at Taylors University Lakeside Campus
Visit their Facebook Page here
Prices start at RM6.80 for a small individual tub

7 comments:

Baby Sumo said...

Salted gula melaka sounds really yum!

The Last Polka said...

Thanks so much for the first class write up! We're glad to bring a measure of our home-goodness and awesomeness to people like you in KL who appreciate the things we appreciate and love. There is indeed so much we can bring and do in this city of ours :)

Love your support!

May+ Ee Vee

p/s: the speckles are actual tea dust which we use to make the teh tarik ice cream! Plenty of work that goes into steeping the tea, but it's all worth it!

Hungry Female said...

Baby Sumo: it was! You must try it!

The Last Polka: Well thank you for giving me something to write about! I'll be visiting the V cafe soon to check out some of your other flavours and would be lovely to meet you too. Keep up the great work!
P.s. Aha - thanks!

jade said...

hurrow! was great meeting u today n so easy to remember ur webbie =) keep in touch babe! add me on fbook! im a fbook addict =) ur photo is there too! jade

Hungry Female said...

Hi Jade! You too, and thanks for visiting! Stay in touch, Shu x

Sean said...

ooooh, i haven't tried the two newest flavors yet, but if may and ee vee read this, pleaaaaaaaasssse consider introducing flavors for some woefully under-appreciated malaysian fruits: mangosteens, ciku and duku langsat! i promise to buy at least 30 small tubs for a start! :D

Hungry Female said...

Yes! Totally with you on those fruits - especially mangosteen which is so awesome and rarely manipulated even in Malaysia as a dessert ingredient. And I can imagine a ciku sorbet mmmm!