Pui Pui Heng Hot & Cold Dessert (Bukit Merah)

One of our favourite neighbourhoods to take a walk down the entire estate does seem to Bukit Merah of the late, and it does seem that it is for a good reason — Jalan Bukit Merah is probably a stretch of road that one can walk down to find a number of hawker centres around without having to make a detour to stop by any one of them; think Bukit Merah Central Food Centre, ABC Brickworks Food Centre, and Alexandra Village Food Centre. Pui Pui Heng Hot & Cold Dessert 杯杯兴冷热甜品 is one of those stalls that we had chanced upon whilst going around ABC Brickworks Food Centre; situated just right across from Sin Thor Eunos Bak Kut Teh Kway Chap, the stall features a white signboard with red text that easily captures the attention of prospective patrons that are passing by the area. Pui Pui Heng Hot & Cold Dessert is much like a typical local-style shaved ice dessert stall which one can find operating out of a hawker centre — the offerings at Pui Pui Heng Hot & Cold Dessert seemingly being more limited, and that there is a strong emphasis on cold desserts since the only hot desserts available here are the Sweet Potato Soup and the Cheng Tng.

We were originally really interested to give their Chendol a go but we just could not get over the fact that the Chendol jelly that they are using are those that seemingly looked artificial — one that bears a neon green aesthetic which we aren’t very keen to have. That is also the moment that we ended up noticing that they also do serve up Ice Jelly with and without fruit cocktail; we had been pretty much on a hunt for local-style Ice Jelly desserts that are served without fruit cocktail, so this week to have answered to our search for such items. For $2, the Ice Jelly at Pui Pui Heng Hot & Cold Dessert came with quite a huge mound of ice; the folks behind the stall first layers the bowl with ice jelly before shaving the ice into the bowl — once done, they will then drizzle lime juice and Calamansi syrup over the top. Truth to be told, we still prefer the Ice Jelly that we love from 安记香滑文头雪 at Chinatown Complex Food Centre for how it is being layered; that being said, special mention has to go to them for the shaved ice that comes with a consistently light and fluffy texture that is almost Bingsu-like. Giving everything a good mix to ensure that the shaved ice soaked with Calamansi syrup and lime juice goes with the Ice Jelly, it gives everything a sweet and zingy note that provides some contrast of flavours; overall not too bad an attempt considering that we have some pretty off-tasting Ice Jelly previously from other establishments. Likely to give their Ice Kachang a go next time when we are around the area; noticed quite a number of folks giving this a go and we were pretty impressed with how the texture of the shaved ice is here — probably something that does seem promising amongst the other items that they have to offer!