Tang Ren Jie Desserts 唐人街甜品

One of the places that we had managed for find out whilst going around the Chinatown neighbourhood recently was Tang Ren Jie Desserts — this turns out to be a fairly new addition to the area, with the establishment taking up a recently renovated shophouse unit along Mosque Street. The facade of the shophouse has been kept relatively simple; one thing to note is how the entrance to the shophouse is set slightly into the shophouse itself, thus creating a wide patio area that Tang Ren Jie Desserts has used to display their food menu to entice potential patrons that are passing by the area — there is however an old-school wooden signage with carved with the shop’s namesake in gold paint that hangs above the doors to help create a nostalgic vibe. Inside, Tang Ren Jie Desserts have kept the space rather simple; apart from some signages that relates to lucky greetings that one can find on the wall, the entire space is decked in a way that is more functional than for form with dining furniture that comprises of wooden accents — a look that is easy to the eyes especially with bright lighting and the white walls that are also painted brown up to half-height here. Being a shop that specialises in their offerings of Hong Kong-style desserts (i.e. Tong Shui), the menu is split across categories such as the Durian Series, Coconut Series, Shaved Ice Series, Hot Series, Milk Series, Ginger Milk Pudding Series, Soy Beancurd Series, Mango Series, Sago Series, and Grass Jelly Series. It is noted that no beverages are being served at Tang Ren Jie Desserts during our visit.

Skimming through the menu, we were initially drawn to their offerings in their Milk Series and Ginger Milk Pudding Series of the menu, though we were informed that these were unavailable when we made our visit during the early afternoon on a weekend as they were still in the midst of preparing the items. Considering so, we went for the Chaozhou Taro Paste from the “Hot Series” section of the menu instead. While the menu at Tang Ren Jie Desserts does not describe on the elements that comes with their Chaozhou Taro Paste, it is noted from our order that the Chaozhou Taro Paste does come in a form that is not too different from the usual yam paste that one would typically have at other establishments — the item comprising simply just yam paste and Gingko nuts. With that all being said, the Chaozhou Taro Paste comes with a velvety smooth texture that sets it apart from most of the yam pastes that we have had from other establishments around thus far — one that does not feel particularly lacquered in oil, yet coming with texture that less grainy as well. The yam paste also comes with a slight hint of milkiness amidst the earthy notes of yam that was almost more akin to that of taro filling found in taro hand pies served at fast food restaurants — all that without being as sweet nor artificial at the same time. The addition of Gingko nuts also helped to provide a contrast of slight bitterness and a soft bite for a bit of variance in textures.

Meanwhile, the Mango Treasure from the “Mango series” section of the menu features elements such as Mango Sago, Mango Cubes, Taro Balls and Mango Popping Balls — the mango mousse itself does come with a decent level of sweetness and is consistently smooth. Mango cubes provides a soft bite that helps to enhance the texture and the flavours of the dessert, while the mango popping balls provide a bursting sensation for an additional contrast of textures. The sago pearls does come with a bit of bite; itself being rather well-executed, and the taro balls does come with a good chew as well. Overall, a bowl of mango-based dessert that comes at an appropriate level of sweetness and coming with all the elements which are crowd-pleasers that gave the Mango Treasure its own appeal. Having only tried a small variety of desserts of which Tang Ren Jie Desserts have to offer, we did feel that the quality of their desserts are pretty good — no doubt some purists might find their Chaozhou Taro Paste to be a little bit different to the ones that are typically served elsewhere, we do find it to suit our palate nonetheless. The prices of the desserts across the Hot Series, Milk Series, Ginger Milk Pudding Series, Soy Beancurd Series, Mango Series, Sago Series, and Grass Jelly Series sections of the menu ranges from $3.20 to $8.80; the lowest-priced item being the Original
Soy Beancurd while the highest-priced item is the Mango Treasure that we have had. Looking forward to return to Tang Ren Jie Desserts again to give the items on the Milk Series and Ginger Milk Pudding Series sections of the menu a go another time; definitely a spot worth considering for some after-meal Tong Shui in the Chinatown area.