Sitiawan's First Gelato Shop!

Sitiawan is becoming posh!

First we have our brand new Tesco, and now, we have the our very own Gelato shop located right opposite my old school, SMJK Nan Hwa (and if you dont know where that is, shame on you!) called SWISSOMELT, a franchise and the first of its kind in Malaysia (or I was so told).



This place was very surprising to me because first of all, its located opposite a school, in an area not generally known as a hot spot here. One would expect a shop like this to appear perhaps IN Tesco, or at least around the Manjung area there, next to Old Town Coffee or City Kopitiam etc.


For those who don't know, Gelato is just a very nice and fancy word for a variation of Italian ice cream. There! Now you can feel smarter already :) So when you go to KL or Singapore or Italy and you see "Georgio's Gelato" or "Figaro's Awesome Gelato" you can just say "ceeehhhhh, only selling ice cream mah!" . Its just like how Americans pay $$$ for "Roti Canai Bawang" in some fancy Indian restaurant just coz it sounds exotic. Wait till they find out 'Roti' just means bread......


As you can tell from the pictures, this shop focuses primarily on selling Gelato, sandwiches, and coffee. None of us ordered coffee or milk shakes, but we did get their sandwiches and gelatos. They also offer Belgian waffles to go along with your ice cream for an extra RM2.50 (and yes, I know some of you are going "Wahhhhh, BELGIAN waffles meh!")

Cookies and Chips Gelato with Belgian Waffle

Chocolate Gelato with Belgian Waffle and chocolate chips

The selection of Gelato's while not many, were labeled pretty fancily which made me very curious to try the other flavors in the future. They also offer additional toppings such as hazelnut or chocolate chips and more for an additional RM0.50-0.80.

They also serve milk shakes, but unfortunately, besides sandwiches, they dont prepare meals such as steaks, hamburgers, noodles rice or whatever we would come to expect from a shop in Sitiawan. Same thing for snacks - no french fries, no nuggets etc.

The ice cream was, in my opinion, pretty decent. It didn't taste too cheap, but at the same time, it did not live quite to the dizzying satisfaction of say..Baskin Robbins or Haagen Daaz. But considering it's about 1/4 the price of those brands in comparison, I find it perfectly acceptable. Besides, where else can i get Rum flavored ice cream in Sitiawan? :)

Rum Raisin Gelato

I did not get to taste the waffles, but apparently my friends said it tasted.. weird? But, this being Sitiawan, i must admit I dont really trust their sense of taste (and yes I sound damn conceited here). But of course, if you choose to open a store in Sitiawan and the majority of people here don't appreciate your offerings, you're in trouble!

Chicken and Ham Sandwich with BBQ sauce

The picture above may show a chicken ham sandwich, but it could be turkey, beef or anything else, and it would look the same. That's my problem with their sandwiches, the presentation does not change from one another. The portion is large, and they come with a healthy dose of veges in it, but the MEAT portion is actually pretty lacking. The sauces are good though, ranging from Ranch to Habanero sauces. (and side note, not everyone eats all the veges in the bun. It would be nicer if the staff ASKED the customer whether there's any vegs eg. bell peppers that they want removed )

I may sound picky, and I am, but only because this is the first of its kind in Sitiawan, and I want it to do well. With better food choices and longer opening hours, this place may thrive well on businesses from adults and students from colleges/uni's back for the holidays.

Oh, when you do visit this place, do get this flier from them. Presenting this to them grants you a 20% discount on your bill, which is always nice ;).

SWISSOMELT does many things right. It has taken a regular shabby shoplot in this area and turned it into a presentable and comfortable location for people to frequent. And they also provide free Wi-fi, which is a very smart move. If they decide to offer discounts to students around the area, they may be able to profit where so many other restaurant here have failed.

Check it out, support a local shop's efforts in poshing up Sitiawan, and may many shops of this caliber appear soon in the years to come. :)