Okay, so I might seem a little over enthusiastic about Donergy and their latest addition of an ice cream cart right by the entrance of their diner in Millennia Walk.
But, you see, Donergy's ice cream and I go back a long way.
There are some memories that linger around with you even long after they've passed.
My first acquaintance with Donergy's ice cream is one of them.
It was a couple of years when I was still hanging around the Joo Chiat area.
That evening we had been heading out to dinner, my friend and I, going towards what I think was the frog leg porridge place on the road towards Joo Chiat Complex and Geylang Serai.
Then there, in one of the (usually closed) shop house fronts, I turned my head, and saw someone I thought I recognized.
What's charming is that he recognized us too.
Was it a pleasant surprise?
Absolutely.
By that time we had been frequenting their outlet at Millennia Walk, relishing in the Kebab Wrap (I always had them cut into half), on occasion the Babaganoush, and their Tombik (whose crunchy top bread made me think of a burger every time)
And because the boss was the super hands-on type always at the counter, I always saw him, he always saw me, and we recognized each other.
What made this chance encounter really interesting was that in the shop house he wasn't working the kebab station.
Instead he was working the ice cream.
A sight which, I must say, absolutely delighted me.
Those of us who know Turkish ice cream, or Dondurma, as Wikipedia tells me, will know just how unique the texture of this dessert is.
Unlike soft serves and ice loliies that melt readily in the tropical heat, Dondurma doesn't.
Made from salep- a root flour from the early purple orchid, mastic-a resin from a tree, and cream, Dondurma holds probably one of the thickest textures when it comes to ice cream.
It's so thick you can't lick it as you would other ice creams.
And so dense is it that it won't drip even when they do that flipping, twirling thing whenever they serve their cone to you.
Maybe that's why they do it.
They have to show you just how thick it is.
How it doesn't drip.
How it doesn't plop onto the counter even when they turn the ice cream upside down.
This ice cream is great for children.
One doesn't have to worry about staining their clothes because this whole frozen dessert doesn't even melt away at all.
As a street food, Turkish ice cream makes for a fantastic snack.
As the close of a meal, it makes for a pleasant end that will get you going for whatever it is you want to do after.
You know, I've never forgot the dense, chewy texture of the huge strawberry ice cream scoop he so generously gave me that one late evening.
I remember the pretty pink of the (big) strawberry cone.
I remember the sweet of it.
And ever since the presence of Turkish ice cream carts began to dwindle all around town, I've never stopped wishing Donergy would have their ice cream cart at their restaurant either.
So I'm glad.
I'm glad they're here, cultural outfit and all.
Sure, some might think they be a little out of place, but oy, they're lively, they're full of color, Turkish food is probably one of the most soulful, delicious, heartwarming (and reasonably priced) foods in this Downtown bay area zone, and judging by the weekday lunchtime shirt and tie crowd digging into their kebab wraps and plates of rice, it is highly unlikely that the charm of Turkish food- and their ice cream- will be going anywhere anytime soon.