Singapore trip 2016 day 3: 3 desserts for lunch

For the last couple of years, there has been one restaurant which I insist on visiting during each and every trip to Singapore.  That restaurant is Candlenut, and is my top recommendation to anyone looking to visit the Lion City.  I simply love the modern Peranakan cuisine that Malcolm Lee is doing at this place.  For the first part of my trip this year, I even went so far as to stay in the Dorsett Singapore... so I could just walk out of hotel lobby and into the restaurant.

Since my last visit, the restaurant has decided to switch to a tasting menu format for dinner.  That is actually bad news for us "regulars", because we've gone through most of Malcolm's repertoire and would prefer to cherry-pick our own dishes.  On this trip, given that I am coming to eat by myself, I decided to do lunch instead.

What I actually love most about Candlenut are actually the desserts.  So before I even stepped foot inside,  I had already made up my mind that I was gonna order THREE desserts... and take just one savory dish to start.

I was sweating a lot when I walked in, so I ordered myself a calamansi juice.  I had forgotten that they serve it straight up without adding any sugar, and provide a small pitcher of syrup on the side.  I like that.

I debated about which one savory dish to order, and after checking my past blog posts to make sure I don't repeat the exactly combination, chose to order the beef cheek rendang.

I expected this to be very tender, and indeed it was.  The extended cooking time plus the collagen meant that meat yielded easily to my spoon.  Not surprisingly the flavors are full-on, and I love the roasted coconut flakes on top...as well as kaffir lime leaves - both chiffonade and deep-fried.  Sweeter than I remembered, but soooo tasty.

After stuffing myself with a hunk of beef cheek along with as little steamed rice as I could get away with, it was time to order my desserts.  I asked my waiter to deliver the three desserts in sequential order, one at a time.

Textures of coconut - true to its name, the entire dessert is made with coconut and comes in 5 different textures: little bits of coconut flesh at the bottom sprinkled among the fresh, clean and pure coconut jelly; a scoop of coconut sorbet that was packed full of coconut flavor; some fluffy coconut espuma on top of the sorbet; and microplane grated coconut.  I would be happy to have this every day.

Chendol cream - probably my favorite dessert here.  I just loooooove the soft and fluffy coconut custard, and of course everything tastes three times better with gula melaka added.  This is a dessert I won't share.

Durian soup - ah... the last of the trio.  I haven't gotten around to getting my durian fix yet, but this would do nicely.  That durian ice cream sure was rich and creamy!  And the feuilletine added a nice texture to the whole thing.

I was really, really full...  Thankfully the three desserts were mostly liquid and would pass through my system relatively quickly, but it was still taking up a lot of space in my stomach.  But I didn't care.  I was really, really happy that I got to take all three of my favorite desserts together.

By the way... as I was on my second dessert, one of the waitresses came over and suggested that I order the buah keluak ice cream, since it was their signature dessert.  Well, I've had that a couple of times already, and while it is indeed very special and creative, I'd rank it as #4 out of the 4 desserts available at lunch.  And no, I didn't have the stomach space for a fourth dessert, anyway...

P.S.  I was still burping up durian some 5 hours after lunch finished.  That's how good it was.