Mei Heong Yuen Dessert 味香园 (Temple Street)

Chinatown has a whole truckload of food gems. You could probably eat there for a few years without any repetition. After dinner, we went for dessert at Mei Heong Yuen 味香园. It was awarded the Best Food Awards 2009/2010 by "The Green Book", and featured in many newspapers etc. 

There was plenty of space in the shophouse, spanning 3 shop spaces. Check out this CNN article on the oldest shops in Chinatown that remain till this day, of course including Mei Heong Yuen. By the way, another restaurant featured in that article, Moi Lum restaurant, offers great food. (Click here for review) 

Same name, not by coincidence! According to its website, the dessert place has its roots connected to the Farmer Brand groundnuts- yes the peanuts you eat during Chinese New Year. 

(photo credit: cnngo)

Here's the menu, featuring the healthier desserts, special desserts and what they are apparently well known for- mango sago with pomelo. It's also well known for its pastes (walnut, sesame, almond and peanut). Peanut paste is obviously the star- remember Farmer Brand peanuts? 

On the flipside of the menu is a selection of shaved ice.

We settled for a Mango Shaved Ice ($5) after much deliberation. Two of us shared it because we were too full after dinner. The shaved ice was fluffy and there was a lot of mango scattered around the shaved ice. Mango syrup (or whatever you call it) on the ice was not too sweet and that's good. But after a while, it tasted too bland as the mango taste did not seep into the ice. There was a milky taste that started to overpower the mango taste after a while. So it's good to share otherwise it becomes a chore to eat if you eat it alone.

This place didn't impress me very much. It's not bad, but not as stunning as many make it sound. I might give this place a second chance another time though, to try the pastes! 


Mei Heong Yuen Dessert 

65-67 Temple Street
Singapore
Tel: +65 6221 1156