The best traditional Chinese dessert shops in Singapore

This humble dessert shop on the second floor of Fortune Centre is a true gem, with many flocking here for its lineup of hot and cold desserts. Expect traditional desserts like black sesame paste ($3.50) and cheng tng ($3.20). But order the must-try item – the Yammy Chendol ($5.50), a delightful mix of orh nee (sweet yam paste) and quintessential chendol ingredients like gula melaka, red beans, and coconut milk. They now have a second outlet Bugis, 9 Tan Queen Street too.

It’s one of the city’s favourite traditional Chinese dessert spots: Ah Chew Desserts. While the Novena branch was recently shuttered in March 2023, they’ve recently opened new doors at Cineleisure Orchard. Both the Bugis or Orchard joints have an extensive menu with over 50 different dessert items, classics like the durian mango sago ($6.60) and fresh milk steamed egg ($3.80) stay firm as crowd-favourites. If you’re looking for a dessert that’s equal parts tasty and health-conscious, try the Hashima red date soup ($9.50) that’s made with snow frog fat. If you're craving a bowl of traditional Chinese dessert while you're in town, hop over to its new outlet at Cineleisure.  

This hidden gem is nestled within Studio HHFZ, a cheongsam dress shop. Here, they serve up bowls of delicious traditional Chinese desserts. If you favour warm and comforting sweets, try Siyuan Dessert's 3 Mini Bowls ($5), which comes with sample servings of its signature almond paste, sesame paste, and walnut paste. On hot days, cool off and refresh yourself with chilled options like chng tng with peach gum ($5.50 for chilled, $5 for warm) or mango sago ($5). The latter comes with generous toppings of mango chunks, tadpole jelly, and sago. You might be surprised to find chendol ($4) on the menu as it's not a traditional Chinese dessert. It's still worth a try, especially when you can add a dollop of yam paste ($2.50) – a combination you don't find often. 

You’re spoilt for choice over at Jin Yu Man Tang Dessert Shop, known for having more than 100 items on the menu. There are two outlets: one along East Coast Road and the other at South Bridge Road. For a refreshingly sweet treat, try the Chinese herbal jelly ($3.90) known for its cooling properties or the burbur cha cha ($3.50), a coconut milk dessert filled with taro and sweet potato chunks. You can also order hot food like chicken feet ($4.50 for four), marinated with a signature secret sauce, or even deep fried milk ($5.90) – sinful, but tasty.

While Dessert Bowl does traditional Chinese desserts well, most delight in their durian-infused desserts. Try the durian mousse (from $6.30), which comes with a large scoop of D24 durian flesh. Durian lovers, no need to stop there – this joint also has a lineup that includes durian snow mountain ($7), durian chendol ($7.50), and a tiramisu-inspired durian-misu ($10). Admittedly though, not everyone is a fan of the king of fruits. For those looking for traditional Chinese desserts, then the red bean grass jelly served with ice cream ($6.30) or the black glutinous rice with mango ($5.70) will be right up your alley.

It’s always sweltering hot these days, so head over to Mei Heong Yuen Dessert for one of their refreshingly cool desserts. The classic snow ice, a mountain of ice heaped with all sorts of ingredients, is one of their bestsellers – try the green tea ($6.50) with red bean or the fruity mango-strawberry mix ($7.50). They also do a variety of other desserts though, ranging from osmanthus cake ($3.50) to mango roll ($4).

Bing Tang Tang Shui tips over into 'trendy' territory, but we can't deny that it brings a unique experience with its vintage-themed shop too. Located in Thomson Hills, the dessert café looks like an office from the bygone era, with a receptionist, meeting rooms, main office and pantry, and a chairman's office all decked out in vintage furniture and knick knacks. The desserts here skirt the classics too, putting a twist on traditional Chinese desserts with floral infusions.

Take the chng tng ($8.80), given a floral touch with a light rose infusion. Familiar mango sago ($8.80) gets an upgrade with rich cream cheese topping and lavender infusion. Another standout – the honeydew and watermelon sago ($8.80) that's finished with a ginger flower-infused drizzle. It's subtly spicy and overall refreshing, great for a hot day.  

This unassuming hawker stall at Bedok Food Centre is renowned for its traditional cheng tng, a sweet soup that’s generously filled with ingredients. This particular stall does it with 11 premium ingredients, with the likes of dried longan, white pearls, sweet potato, dates, and white fungus. A bowl starts from $3, and you can choose to enjoy it either hot or cold. The current hawkers are third generation owners, and many within the Bedok vicinity claim this to be one of the best bowls of cheng tng in the city. 

As it goes, “not too sweet” is high praise for any Chinese dessert, and it’s exactly how the desserts are over at Gong He Guan. They have two branches: Geylang and Chinatown, but both serve up a variety of hot and cold desserts – that aren’t too sweet. Try their special slow-brewed herbal dessert, gui ling gao ($8.60) that’s also known as tortoise jelly. It purportedly has the benefits of 23 natural herbs. You can get this with fresh mangos too, for $6.80. Otherwise, the menu also has the crowd-favourite mango pudding ($5) and sesame paste ($4.50).

Unlike the other traditional Chinese dessert spots, this shop over at The Odeon Katong isn’t all that old – in fact, it only opened during pandemic days towards the tail end of 2021. While they preserve the traditional flavours of yesteryear, they’ve also added their own modern flair. Take the customisable shaved ice (from $8) where you can choose to add on toppings like attap seeds, red bean, and nata de coco. They also have hot desserts like sweet potato in ginger soup ($4) and cold desserts like red tea jelly ice dessert ($4).

With classic desserts like tau suan ($2.80), green bean soup ($2.80), and cheng teng ($3), it’s little wonder that this is a favourite spot for the older generations. This dessert stall in People’s Park Centre has been around for years, and you can tell from the quality desserts and generous ingredients. Make sure to bring cash down though, since they don’t accept card or online payments.