There does seem to have been quite a number of gelato / ice-cream parlours that are opening their doors around the island in recently months — this includes notable names such as that of Birds of Paradise Gelato Boutique that had recently opened their Holland Village outlet, as well as new names in the F&B scene such as Miss Gelato located at Bugis. A.T. Glace is a name that might not ring a bell for most at the first glance; that being said, the concept is one that is run by the same folks behind Ambling Turtle that is located at The Flow along East Coast Road — the A.T. being an acronym to Ambling Turtle, drawing the relationship between the two brands alongside the use of the same turtle logo that Ambling Turtle uses. A.T. Glace itself takes over the former premises of the now-defunct 2nd Serving that operated from a shop unit in the HDB block at Blk 43 Holland Drive — a short walk away from Buona Vista MRT Station and Holland Drive Market & Food Centre. There are some changes made to the facade of the store, though the shop unit is still fairly recognisable from its days being 2nd Serving; the vending machine-esque door has seen the “shelving” for the ice-creams replaced with a transparent plastic panel that one can see through into the shop space, while the doors and window frames have been repainted to green — this would be aside from obvious changes like the change of signages. Inside, the space also sees minimal changes apart from new paintings hung on the wall; also a fresh coat of mint green paint is painted over the previously pastel pink part of the walls as well for a fresher look. Despite the list of items stated on the menu, the staff whom attended to us on the day or our visit to A.T. Glace over the weekend informed us that only the usual Waffles are available apart from the usual cup and cone options for the variety of gelato that they have to offer. In terms of beverages, the only ones available would be the espresso-based specialty coffee.

Considering the sheer number of items which are unavailable when we made our visit to A.T. Glace, we found ourselves resorting to just giving their normal Waffles a go alongside with the range of gelato which they have to offer. Looking into their display fridge, their line-up of gelatos do comprise of some more conventional flavours as well as flavours that are slightly more interesting or adventurous — think flavours as safe as Houjicha and Vanilla Macadamia, all the way to Speculoos Yogurt, Malty Milo and Kaya Butter Toast. We found ourselves eyeing upon the Cerealicious and the Fresh Pandan gelato — these eventually being our choices of gelato to be paired with the Waffle. Waffles are made on the spot upon order; the Waffle also coming with maple syrup that is drizzled only around the waffle on the plate, whilst also comes dusted with icing sugar. Going for the Waffle, we actually quite like how the Waffle is like over here — the exterior is no short of being crisp and even maintains to be so even when left for an extended period of time; the Waffle itself also being beautifully browned and was much on the lighter side without feeling too dense or cake-y. Mopping up the maple syrup on the side provides the waffles with just the right level of sweetness as well. Between the two scoops of gelato we went for, our preferred choice would be the Fresh Pandan. A.T. Glace does not describe on the elements which their gelato comprises of, but one could notice brown swirls in the Fresh Pandan gelato — our guess would be that the Fresh Pandan gelato comes with swirls of Gula Melaka to sweeten things just by a light touch, though it is undeniable that there is an evident hint of Pandan going on in here. The Fresh Pandan gelato also comes with a smooth and creamy texture.

In retrospect, the Cerealicious gelato was a little less than ideal being a bit crumbly. Again, no descriptions of the elements that went into the gelato is available, but we suspect the Cerealicious gelato is a flavour inspired by the once trendy Cereal Milk from Momofuku Milk Bar in New York, United States — a flavour that usually sees a milk gelato base with cereal churned into it. Unfortunately, we felt that the cereal used here came with a very soggy and limp texture with a grainy note that made it a little odd and jelak with the gelato base; not quite the flavour which we would go for. Apart from the odd texture of the Cerealicious gelato, the dining experience was also a bit off — thought that some more work could be done in reworking the interior considering the lack of maintenance since 2nd Serving’s time; the furnishings looking rather tired with the concrete floors taking on rust stains left by the table’s base. The entire vibe also felt terribly still and sterile — the lack of background music or anything that created a lively vibe just felt particularly jarring. Also disappointing is the lack of choices on the menu given that almost more than half of the items listed on the menu are unavailable to order during our visit; A.T. Glace describing themselves as a “Homemade Gelato & Fresh Tea Bar” though the entire tea menu was not available to be ordered. It does seem that A.T. Glace may need to relook into its operations — it might be teething issues considering that they have just opened their doors, though such issues do impact on the overall experience of a patron when they walk into their doors and choose to dine there even now matter how decent their offerings can be.