Blackball @ Clementi

Glass Jelly which cost $4.50 a bowl. Priced more than the usual (a bowl from hawker centre cost $1 at most), but have the ability to convince people to buy because of 3 points:
1. It is from Taiwan
2. It is unique (wayy unique)
3. It is new

Newly open Blackball (ok, not so new just as i discovered from their FB page it started operations in April...some 2 months which frankly, to me is 'old') at Clementi smaller and less hyper shopping mall, Cityvibe, level 1 (next to Long John Silver). With some seats available for dine-in customer and a counter which reminds me of a typical bubble tea shop (with the Q number on the receipt and the electronic display of your Q).

The shops sells virtually bubble tea and glass jelly. Just tried the Glass Jelly, which differs greatly from the local version. All along, I thought Singapore is the only country (maybe Malaysia and Hong Kong) which eats Glass Jelly every other day. But no, Blackball from Taiwan (land of Bubble Tea and Fried Pork Chops and your typical cheesy TV soap) proves otherwise, with a real quirky way of eating. 

Packaging- looks like some usual Glass Jelly

When open the cover, it looks just like a typical normal Glass Jelly

The quirky ingredient inside. Nom Nom Nom

Now, this bowl of dessert contains toppings, including Taro, Sweet Potatoes, Bubble Tea Pearls, Red Bean (my fav) with the traditional Glass Jelly. Glass Jelly is well-known for it's cooling properties in TCM. This creates a twist of a classic dish and turns Blackball Signature into a contemporary local dessert.

Being a typical person who orders Bubble Tea without pearls, I'm not liking the pearls. However, compared to Gong Cha, i think it is more of the same usual standards. It is quite chewy, but with a 'tough' interior. It is none where to a close fight to Eskimo smaller pearls.

The sweetness of the Glass Jelly cannot be customised. But I can certainly taste some 'medicine' in it, with the softness of the Jelly. Taste of the other toppings, however, are moderate, with some (like the yellow colour long thingy) being extremely chewy, with no quick outburst of taste. Perhaps it is masked by the strong taste of the medicine.

We usually add sugar syrup to Glass Jelly, but over at Blackball, some cream is used. Taste of the cream=complement the whole thing into a more unique and taste-bud blown experience.


The cream gives it a rather 'milky with some savoury' flavour. So in all, I think I might be back for seconds, but there's some room for improvement for the recipe. Perhaps it is not suited for the average Joe.