The best local desserts in Singapore, from chendol to cheng tng

The afternoon heat always wins. These seven bowls are the terms of surrender.

Two stops cover most needs. When the 2pm sun is winning, go cold: durian chendol at Yat Ka Yan in Fortune Centre, or Gangster Ice at Jin Jin in ABC Brickworks. When it's raining or late, go warm: sesame or almond paste from the stone grinder at 115 Tang Shui in Chinatown Complex. The compromise is that these are hawker stalls with weekly rest days, so check before crossing town for one bowl.

Singapore's sweet tooth runs two ways. Cold means shaved ice heaped with syrups, beans and jelly, from ice kachang to chendol, where pandan-green rice-flour noodles sit in coconut milk and dark gula melaka. Warm means Cantonese and Teochew tong sui: almond and sesame paste, cheng tng, peanut soup with glutinous rice balls, the kind of bowl a grandmother insists is good for you. The arguments are small and passionate. How much gula melaka is too much? Is durian on chendol genius or vandalism? Should cheng tng be hot or cold? (Our answers: more, genius, depends on the weather.)

Yat Ka Yan, Fortune Centre

The pick if you only have room for one cold bowl. The Tang family opened it in 2019 as a sister to Ren Ren Desserts; the name means "one family" in Cantonese. Order the durian chendol, which is the reason to come, or the avocado sago if durian starts arguments in your household. If there's a queue, join it.

Jin Jin Dessert, ABC Brickworks

The cold option at the Bukit Merah end of town. Gangster Ice is the order: mango chunks on crushed ice under a layer of icy durian purée. The Power Chendol is the other name on the board, but the Gangster Ice is the one to cross the food centre for.

Nyonya Chendol, Old Airport Road and Whampoa

A chendol specialist and nothing else, which is usually a good sign. The original is at Old Airport Road Food Centre, with a second stall at Whampoa Makan Place. The bowl is the classic build: shaved ice, gula melaka, coconut milk, azuki beans and pandan jelly, with red bean, sweet corn or D24 durian on top if you're feeling flush. Come here for chendol done straight; go to Yat Ka Yan for chendol done rich.

Mei Heong Yuen Dessert, Chinatown

The easy Chinatown stop, and the one to bring visitors to. The family behind it started out in peanuts and snacks and opened the Temple Street flagship in 2002, built around Cantonese dessert pastes and Taiwanese snow ice. Order the almond paste or the mango roll, and share the snow ice, which comes piled high. Skip the cheng tng, which runs sweet, and have it in Bedok instead. It's a Singapore Chinatown Heritage Brand, and the toppings (lychee, longan, gingko, ice cream) let you build your own bowl. Check its rest day before you go.

115 Tang Shui, Chinatown Complex

The warm-bowl pick, and the reason to climb to the second floor of Chinatown Complex. The stall still uses a 42-year-old stone grinder for its sesame and almond pastes, and its bobo chacha follows a family recipe. Thick, warm bowls at hawker prices; come after dinner rather than in the afternoon heat.

Ye Lai Xiang Cheng Tng, Bedok

Cheng tng is a clear, lightly sweet soup crowded with small ingredients, and this Bedok Food Centre stall, nearly eight decades old, puts 11 of them in each bowl, in a pandan syrup. Have it cold on a scorching day and hot when the monsoon arrives. Worth it if you live in the east; a long way to go for soup otherwise.

75 Ah Balling Peanut Soup, Golden Mile

Trading since 1947 and doing one thing: tang yuan, glutinous rice balls filled with peanut, sesame, red bean, yam or matcha, bobbing in peanut soup. The most comforting bowl on this list, and the sensible finish to a Golden Mile dinner.

Hot or cold, the rule holds: order one to share, then quietly order another for yourself.

What to order

• Gangster Ice (mango and durian); Power Chendol · Jin Jin Dessert · #01-21Order the Gangster Ice. ABC Brickworks Food Centre, 6 Jalan Bukit Merah.
• Chendol, with red bean, sweet corn or D24 durian · Nyonya Chendol · #01-115Chendol done straight. Original branch at Old Airport Road Food Centre; also #01-17 Whampoa Makan Place.
• Almond paste, snow ice, mango roll · Mei Heong Yuen DessertTemple Street flagship since 2002; skip the cheng tng. 63–67 Temple Street.
• Durian chendol; avocado sago · Yat Ka Yan · #02-08The durian chendol is the reason to go. Fortune Centre, 190 Middle Road.
• Sesame paste, almond paste, bobo chacha · 115 Tang Shui · #02-206Pastes from a 42-year-old stone grinder. Chinatown Complex Food Centre.
• Cheng tng, hot or cold · Ye Lai Xiang Cheng Tng · Stall 31Nearly eight decades old, 11 ingredients a bowl. Bedok Food Centre, 1 Bedok Road.
• Tang yuan in peanut soup · 75 Ah Balling Peanut SoupTrading since 1947. Golden Mile Food Centre.

Good to know Hawker dessert stalls usually close one day a week; check rest days, Mei Heong Yuen's in particular, before travelling across town.