2am:dessertbar

Dessert as the main event, until 2am, on a Holland Village side street. Janice Wong has run it this way since 2007.

Go after dinner elsewhere in Holland Village, when another round of drinks feels like a waste and you would rather end on something sweet. 2am:dessertbar serves plated desserts the way other bars serve small plates, each with a suggested pairing, alcoholic or not, and it keeps going until 2am. The compromise is the menu: it changes, so come for the format rather than a dish you saw on someone's feed.

The pedigree is why the format works. Pastry chef Janice Wong opened it on Lorong Liput in August 2007 to blur the line between sweet and savoury, after training with Thomas Keller, Grant Achatz, Oriol Balaguer and Pierre Hermé. She went on to be named Asia's Best Pastry Chef by Asia's 50 Best Restaurants in 2013 and 2014, and Pastry Chef of the Year at the World Gourmet Summit in 2011, 2013 and 2015. The upshot for you: the desserts are built like courses, with textures and savoury notes, not a slice of cake under a sparkler.

The room has been reinvented more than once. The 2014 relaunch, which Wong put down to a need to reinvent the place, came with a ceiling of nori marshmallow you could pull down and eat. A later refit swapped the loungers for booths, tables painted with chocolate-inspired art and concrete bar counters. It seats around 60, which keeps it intimate without going hushed: a date works, and so does a table of four sharing plates.

What to order is a moving target. Past menus have run from a strawberry caprese with raspberry fluff, sakura lychee pearls and pickled strawberries to a mango yuzu dessert served in a glass, and further back a "mushroom garden" with coffee soil and foie gras. There are vegan and keto-friendly options, and a sticky date pudding for whoever wants comfort over concept (every table has one). The menus are split into dessert, drinks, food and takeaway, so a savoury plate can go alongside if dinner was thin.

How to do it well: arrive late, order one dessert each plus one to share, and take the suggested pairing rather than your usual drink. The pairing is the reason to be here rather than at a gelato counter. Holland Village MRT is a short walk, and it is closed on Mondays, which is the night you will remember that too late.

Good to know The website also mentions an outpost at W Sydney; check the official site for current Singapore opening times and reservations before you go. Holland Village MRT is a short walk.

2am:dessertbar | 21A Lorong Liput, Singapore 277733