Food Blog | Ah Chew Desserts Bugis
If you ask me, when someone says trendy desserts, I tend to think more about waffles, souffles and generally Western/Korean desserts. This spot in Bugis (and Novena) is an exception to the rule, being able to pull in long queues everyday!
Context: Came to Ah Chew Desserts post-dinner with my family. (4 pax.) I would say we weren’t full from dinner, so we ordered quite a bit. Generally 1 per person is safe here - it ain’t TOO big.
I’ve been here around 5 times, so this is a spot that I do enjoy very much.
Is it Halal?
Honestly, I’m not sure, but I believe there is no pork/lard served here and I would think that like most dessert spots, it is generally a bit on the safer side if you’re concerned about certification. But, as always, eat at your own discretion.
Where it Is?
Ah Chew Desserts Bugis is located opposite Bugis Junction. If you’re driving, I would say just park at Bugis Junction and if you’re taking a train, the Bugis train station is a really convenient stop to get to Ah Chew Desserts.
I would say just walk over to McDonald’s and find the traffic light to walk across the road (you’ll see a Korean dessert spot and Q&M Dental Clinic on the second floor of a building opposite. Just walk straight into the lane with Q&M and you’ll see it on the right side around mid-way through the lane.
You’ll pretty much almost always see a queue here!
How this place works is that you’ll join the queue for a table before they seat you. Next, they’ll hand you the menu and a self-order sheet for you to fill up. After that, you (yourself) bring that sheet over to the payment counter and pay. They’ll then bring the desserts over to your table within 5 minutes!
Address: 1 Liang Seah Street, #01-10/11 Liang Seah Place Singapore 189032.
Operating Hours:
Mon – Thu 12:30 PM – 12:00 AM
Fri 12:30 PM – 1:00 AM
Sat 13:30 PM – 1:00 AM Sun,
Public Holiday 13:30 PM – 12:00 AM
Mango Sago (SGD4)
What it Costs
The 4 of us ordered 5 desserts! We got a plain mango sago (SGD4), a Hashima Papaya Milk (SGD9.50), a Yam Paste (SGD3.30) with a rice ball add-on (SGD1.30), Ginko Barley (SGD3) with a rice ball add-on (SGD1.30) and 4 pieces of mochi (SGD2.40 - this is a single order of 4 pieces of mochi if it wasn’t clear).
Total we paid was SGD24.80 (this is including the 7% GST), making it approximately SGD6 per person - but that is probably mostly because of the Hashima Papaya Milk.
A quick tip would be that for the hot desserts you can add-on rice balls (which we did) and for the cold desserts you can add ice cream! (which we didn’t)
We kinda just picked one that we liked each this time around and shared among the 4 of us. My pick this round was actually the Hashima Papaya Milk - this is the first time I’m trying this dessert - and I didn’t actually know what Hashima was before XD, but it looked interesting on the menu so I tried it out.
Mochi (SGD2.40)
How it Tastes
I feel as though I’m never disappointed in this place and the crowd that comes here everyday generally agrees!
Yam Paste with Rice Balls (SGD4.60)
If you were to ask me, you can’t go wrong with the mango sago! It is really rich - unlike a lot of other variants where it is really diluted - so it is something I always enjoy when I come here. They’re quite generous with the mango as well, so if you were to have 1 cold dessert, my pick would be a mango sago (with or without pomelo).
Their pastes (black sesame and yam) are really tasty too. They’re my personal picks for the best hot dessert. Meaning if you came here as a pair and wanted to order 2, I would probably pick a paste and the mango sago (personally, I REALLY like the yam version - which is shown in the pictures from this visit). Another one that just oozes with flavour - it is quite thick unlike a lot of other versions I have tried.
Gingko Barley with Rice Balls (SGD4.30)
The ginko barley is one of those okay dishes here quite simply because there isn’t much room for them to improve on the dish itself because it is a dish where you can’t really change much in general.
Whilst I do like the mochi - I almost get the feeling of “mochi is mochi at the end of the day” since it does taste really similar to other variants as well. But it is a good dessert if you want something solid and sweet to have at Ah Chew (I DO LIKE IT, just to clarify).
The one that fell flat this time around is probably the Hashima Papaya Milk. Honestly I wish it used a milk that was perhaps more rich or fresh - like those they are using now in trendy bubble tea spots nowadays.
Hashima Papaya Milk (SGD9.50)
Apart from that, hashima (which I had for the first time) tastes a lot like bird’s nest - both texture and taste - so if you’re a fan, this is a good dessert for you! The papaya tastes pretty good with milk too, so this dish is otherwise actually really tasty.
Star Rating
8.5/10. A solid 8.5/10! It deserves the queue it gets because it is consistent, tasty and has that really nostalgic feel to it! I’m not going to deny that this is a simple spot if you want to compare to those fancy dessert places, but it is REALLY HARD to get the basics right, and Ah Chew Desserts excels from this aspect!