Dessert Delights

Weirdly enough, the older I get the more I appreciate the traditional sweets, especially Nyonya kuehs. I didn’t expect to find Nyonya kuehs in Bugis, but thanks to a tipoff from @wobblethebui, I found The Nyonya Kueh, a tiny little pushcart stall in the same coffee shop as the famous roast meat merchant.⠀
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I’ve only tried their ang ku kueh, pulut indi and kueh salat so far, but all of them have earned the most prestigious Asian accolade of ‘not too sweet’. The pulut indi’s (left) slightly crunchy coconut shavings are sweetened with gula Melaka for a molasses flavoured sweetness, and the blue pea coloured glutinous rice is fluffy & sticky, but not mushy. The ang ku kueh is a universal crowd pleaser with its marvellous mung bean filling and delicate, sticky skin that’s coloured red. ⠀
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However, my favourite is probably the kueh salat, with the same excellent glutinous rice as the pulut indi, but with a delightful kaya custard layer. I have no idea why the kaya custard layer on top is purple instead of green, but I do know that it’s sweet, creamy, chock full of pandan aroma, and an absolute winner.⠀
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With The Nyonya Kueh, the early bird gets the kueh, as these sweet treats sell way faster than hotcakes. And at an average price of a dollar & twenty cents apiece, these toothsome treats are an amazingly affordable indulgence.

Every good meal deserves a sweet ending, and @charliesgrill.com.sg serves a limited but well curated dessert menu. Due to us being super stuffed from the enormous entrées, we had to pass on ordering the House Made Brownie ($7.90++). Instead, we spilt a Belgian Chocolate Lava Cake ($7.90++), and a slice of Apple Crumble ($7.90++) between us.⠀
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While apple crumble isn’t exactly the same as apple pie due to the former having a crunchy crumbly topping as opposed to the flaky pie crust lid you get on an apple pie. Still, Charlie’s Apple Crumble feels plenty American to me with its sweet, comforting mix of spiced apple filling in a buttery pie crust and capped with a lid of crunchy cookie crumble. I was delighted to find that Charlie’s apple filling is slightly on the tart side, bringing a nuanced balance of sweet, tart and spicy from the cinnamon & vanilla. The only gripe I had was that the pie was served lukewarm instead of steaming hot. It was still decent, but I would’ve loved to see that luscious vanilla ice cream melting all over this slice of apple crumble.⠀
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Thank you so much for the hospitality @charliesgrill.com.sg, and thank you @eatwithkeat for inviting me!

Every good meal deserves a sweet ending, and @charliesgrill.com.sg serves a limited but well curated dessert menu. Due to us being super stuffed from the enormous entrées, we had to pass on ordering the House Made Brownie ($7.90++). Instead, we spilt a Belgian Chocolate Lava Cake ($7.90++), and a slice of Apple Crumble ($7.90++) between us.⠀
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The Belgian Chocolate Lava Cake was very sweet, mainly due to the deluge of melted chocolate contained within the soft cake, but it’s manageable as long as you share it. Of course, a lava cake is simply incomplete without ice cream, so Charlie’s very generously serves every lava cake with two scoops of vanilla ice cream. This sweet frozen dairy treat provides a cold contrast to the heat of the gooey lava cake, and they mingle to form a rich, decadent dessert.⠀
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Thank you so much for the hospitality @charliesgrill.com.sg, and thank you @eatwithkeat for inviting me!

Speaking of second chances, @flakyhaus also managed to pull off a redemption arc with their appealing Apple Turnover ($3.50 nett). It was everything the croissant failed to be: airy, flaky and downright enjoyable. The apple filling within earned the ultimate Asian accolade of ‘not too sweet’, with the sweetness accentuated by the cinnamon mixed into the sweet & tart apple mix. Down it with a remarkably excellent coffee from the Yeo Yeo Huat coffee stall, and you have yourself a delightful dessert.

The food pairing this time was a dessert platter with a spicy chocolate ball that crackled & popped in your mouth like the old fizzy candy we used to have as kids, and a spicy & sour mango tart that was paired with mango coconut nitrogen dessert for a tart yet sweet ending to our little cocktail adventure. I can confidently say that I’ll definitely be back for more cocktails when I need some strong remedies to cure me of my life related ailments.⠀
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Thank you so much for the hospitality @antidotebar.sg, and thanks for having me as your plus one @wobblethebui!

After you’re done feasting on @picolino.sg piquant pastas & pizzas that possess lots of potential, cap your mouthwatering meal off with Picolino’s desserts. I can’t think of a plausible reason why we skipped on their tiramisu ($10++), but we got the other three desserts.⠀
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Starting the finale off in style with the Poached Red Wine Pear (left, $12++), we were thrilled by its soft, muted booziness. The pear had been poached to soft perfection in the red wine, and the bitter alcohol of the wine had been cooked off, leaving behind fabulous fruity notes that enhanced the mild sweetness of the pear. A scoop of vanilla bean gelato adds an icy creaminess & richness to the dessert, rounding out the poached pear for a satisfying dessert.⠀
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The Milo Dinosaur Panna Cotta ($10++, top right) was pretty decent, but considering that it is a Milo Dinosaur, we were hoping for a lot more Milo on it. The gelatine was nice & bouncy without being rubbery, and was decently infused with the chocolatey notes of Milo. Although it was a little odd to have Koko Crunch topping the panna cotta as opposed to Milo cereal, I enjoyed the extra chocolatey flavours and the crunchy contrast it delivers to the soft & springy pudding.⠀
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Last but not least, the No Bake Horlicks Cheesecake ($8++) is a nostalgic blast from the past with its malty flavours. Just like with the Milo Panna Cotta, the Horlicks Cheesecake could’ve benefited from a significantly stronger dose of Horlicks. The sweetness & lusciousness of the cream cheese was always well moderated and never threatened to be cloying, and when eaten off the gingery, cinnamon spiced Lotus Biscoff, it was simply sublime.⠀
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Grazie mille for the Italian indulgences @picolino.sg, and thank you to @burpple for the invite!

@thekongsee.sg may not have the most extensive dessert selection, but it is one of the most tightly curated ones in a Singaporean restaurant. There are only three dessert items available, but all three are quite tremendous.⠀
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Next up was the Churro Waffle with Kaya Ice Cream ($12++ as well), which was a fittingly decadent finale for a luxurious meal. The Kaya Ice Cream, which is made in house if I recall correctly, was inundated with the fragrance of pandan & gula melaka, and has a strong sweetness that carried over perfectly to the churro. The Kongsee had made an effort to ensure that the oil used to deep fry the churros is clean as possible, resulting in an airy, fluffy churro that sports a crusty exterior devoid of any offensive odours from the oil. The churro was purpose built to soak up the fast melting kaya ice cream, and it did that effortlessly. There was never a worry about the ice cream melting or the churro going cold, because every element was so exemplary that we polished everything off in record timing.⠀
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Thanks for having us, @thekongsee.sg & @kevin._.ngan, and thanks for letting me be a plus one @wobblethebui!

@thekongsee.sg may not have the most extensive dessert selection, but it is one of the most tightly curated ones in a Singaporean restaurant. There are only three dessert items available, but all three are quite tremendous.⠀
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First up is the Coconut Sugar Crème Brûlée ($12++), which sees the classic French dessert given the Mod-Sin glow-up with coconut sugar replacing the regular sugar. The result is the prominent flavours or toasted coconut which enhance the depth of flavours and aromas in the dessert. The custard is ravishingly rich, silky smooth and suitably sweet, and we had a cracking good time smashing the thin, crunchy layer of crystalline caramel topping the creamy custard.⠀
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Thanks for having us, @thekongsee.sg & @kevin._.ngan, and thanks for letting me be a plus one @wobblethebui!

@wanhelou Thai Coconut Pudding ($11.90++ per serving) has earned the ultimate Asian praise for a dessert: not too sweet. Coconut pudding is topped off with coconut ice cream, which may sound overwhelmingly coconut-y, but it was delicately balanced.⠀
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The coconut pudding proper was very mild tasting, only possessing a subtle sweetness of coconut. The gelatine was bouncy, firm yet yielded under a reasonable pressure. The coconut ice cream was where most of the sweetness in the dessert was derived from, and it’s a delightful dessert. It’s full of the sweetness of coconut, it’s creamy, and it’s the ideal ice cream. The coconut pudding provides the texture of the dessert while the ice cream provides the flavour, and both work in concert to make this Thai Coconut Pudding an enjoyable ending to any dinner at Wan He Lou.⠀
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Wan He Lou’s dessert menu section is aptly titled as ‘The Conclusion - Sweet Memories’, and I couldn’t have said it any better myself. Once again, thank you so much for having us @wanhelou, and thank you @thestephaniebenedetti for organising this!

I’m indifferent to pears, but poached pears get my curiosity, and @sofrancesg Poire Belle-Hélène has my attention. Priced reasonably at fourteen dollars before additional customs, this classic French dessert of poached pear drizzled with chocolate sauce & complemented with vanilla ice cream is a rare sight in Singapore.⠀
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Unlike its more common distant relative, the wine poached pear, Poire Belle-Hélène is poached in simple syrup and is alcohol free. As such, most of the flavour comes from the pear itself, and the chocolate sauce. So France is incredibly generous with their chocolate sauce, and the pear is positively inundated with it. It’s rich, bittersweet & smooth, a perfect complement to anything sweet.⠀
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Unfortunately, the pear itself seemed like it wasn’t ripe just yet, as it was a bit bland despite being poached in simple syrup. Additionally, it was still a touch hard, requiring concerted effort from a spoon or a knife to cut through it. Still, the lush chocolate sauce, velvety vanilla ice cream and whipped cream were more than enough to ameliorate the shortcomings of the poached pear.

[Invited Tasting]⠀
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First and last impressions are crucial, and @ameising.la.volta have put their best foot forward on both counts.

We were pleasantly surprised by dessert, as it was complimentary thanks to Ameising’s grand opening promotion. Even though the waitress readily admitted that these little cheesecake bites weren’t baked in house, we were thoroughly thrilled by them. The chocolate cheesecake struck a brilliant balance between the sweetness of milk chocolate & the bitterness dark chocolate, and the richness of the cream cheese was perfect with the chocolate & the crust. As for the caramel cheesecake, it evoked comforting memories of a Werther’s Original, fresh out of the wrapper. Even though these little cheesecake bites are a promotional item, we do dearly desire it to be a permanent dessert item, perhaps in the form of a quartet for ten dollars.⠀
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Grazie mille for hosting us, @ameising.la.volta!

Min Jiang Kueh is a Chinese peanut pancake that is a timeless classic, and it’s a tasty, satisfying sweet treat that is loved by both young & old. However, @munchipancakes has made it their mission to modernise this beloved sweet treat with fillings like Biscoff & cream cheese.⠀
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Munchi still offers classic fillings such as red bean ($1.60 per piece), like this one spread between green tea flavoured pancakes. Unfortunately, while the green colour was pretty strong, the flavours were not. Still, the pancake was chewy & enjoyably bouncy, and the red bean filling had the occasional red bean in the smooth, moderately sweet red bean paste for extra texture.⠀
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As for the more modern offerings, their Biscoff ($1.90 a piece) is probably the most eye catching option. The same delightfully bouncy & chewy pancake, sans any extra flavouring this time, is spread with a lavish layer of Lotus Biscoff. It starts out as a crunchy, chewy & superbly sweet treat, but due to the intense sweetness & oiliness of the Biscoff spread, it gets too cloying after the halfway mark. Definitely share this with a pal, or leave the other half for a pick me up later in the day if you’re chronically alone like me.⠀
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Munchi Pancakes do the sweet staple of min jiang kueh justice, and at two bucks and under for a slice, these pancakes are perfect for when you get the munchies.