I've never been to Hong Kong*. I certainly was not exposed to Hong Kong style desserts growing up. But I've become rather fascinated by them as an adult, mostly as I've discovered how much I really love ingredients like taro, durian, coconut milk, toddy palm, pandan, and so on. And, because I just love desserts, and love trying new things.
I was recently staying in the Cupertino area, and was hosting a series of dessert outings with co-workers. I wanted to share interesting things with them, and started with Somi Somi for taiyaki cones and exposed them to the joys of ube soft serve (zomg, yes). I tried to get them to try items from 85* Bakery Cafe that same night, but alas, while I have an infinite dessert stomach, it turns out, they did not. So two days later, I dragged them back to the same area of Cupertino, to seek out more interesting, unique desserts at SweetHoney. Or at least, interesting to me. Only two others decided to join.
*besides the airport
Our destination was located in one of the strip malls that they call a "Village". It was right next to an even trendier liquid nitrogen ice cream shop, which I nearly took people to instead.
SweetHoney is a chain, with 600+ stores, mostly in China, Southeast Asia and Australia. It is casual, but does have full table service.
The most memorable thing about the place, is ... the menu. I had looked it up online before of course, when I was doing my research, and I warned my guests it would be overwhelming, but ... I think no real warning prepares you for the book, literally, that is the menu.
My group was only 3 people. I knew each dessert could easily serve 1-2 people. It would have made sense to order 2, or maybe 3, items. And yet ... I ordered 5.
I was recently staying in the Cupertino area, and was hosting a series of dessert outings with co-workers. I wanted to share interesting things with them, and started with Somi Somi for taiyaki cones and exposed them to the joys of ube soft serve (zomg, yes). I tried to get them to try items from 85* Bakery Cafe that same night, but alas, while I have an infinite dessert stomach, it turns out, they did not. So two days later, I dragged them back to the same area of Cupertino, to seek out more interesting, unique desserts at SweetHoney. Or at least, interesting to me. Only two others decided to join.
*besides the airport
Setting
SweetHoney Dessert is a chain, but our visit was the to the Cupertino location.
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| Curb Appeal? |
SweetHoney is a chain, with 600+ stores, mostly in China, Southeast Asia and Australia. It is casual, but does have full table service.
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| Menu. |
Pages, and pages, and pages of desserts, broken down by categories, all nicely illustrated, which helped since many items were unfamiliar to the group.
But even with the warning, and even with the illustrations, somewhere around page 15, they just gave up, and told me to order. I didn't object to having the choice to order everything I wanted to try (or, ok, a small selection of things I wanted to try, with a menu this large, you could return many, many times, and barely make a dent).
Seating is all inside, in a fairly non-interesting setting. It was clean, it was comfortable, but had very little personality.
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| Seating. |
Food
Service was fast and friendly, and we were given complimentary tea as we sat down.
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| Desserts for 3 People. Yes, Really. |
What can I say, I'm a dessert girl, and even narrowing it down this much was extremely hard.
We skipped the "Sweet Ball" series, featuring freshly made glutinous rice balls, not because we didn't want any, but because we had only 3 people, and ordering 5(!) desserts for 3 of us was already ridiculous. Same with the "Tofu Pudding' series, again, I'd gladly try these, but alas, we had to limit our selections. And same with the "Chinese Style Mixed", which had a slew of items I've never had before, but would love to try (walnut, almond, sesame soups!). We also skipped the more boring drinks, and fruit platter sections.
But we ordered something from every other section of the menu: a sago, a frost, a stew, and of course, multiple items with durian. We had two warm dishes, a chilled dish, and icy dish, and a room temperature dish. Lots of variety. And yet we still covered only a fraction of the menu!
It was fun to try this variety of items, but I don't think we were particularly impressed with anything.
After we finally ordered, we were quickly brought little bowls and individual spoons, since we were sharing everything.
We skipped the "Sweet Ball" series, featuring freshly made glutinous rice balls, not because we didn't want any, but because we had only 3 people, and ordering 5(!) desserts for 3 of us was already ridiculous. Same with the "Tofu Pudding' series, again, I'd gladly try these, but alas, we had to limit our selections. And same with the "Chinese Style Mixed", which had a slew of items I've never had before, but would love to try (walnut, almond, sesame soups!). We also skipped the more boring drinks, and fruit platter sections.
But we ordered something from every other section of the menu: a sago, a frost, a stew, and of course, multiple items with durian. We had two warm dishes, a chilled dish, and icy dish, and a room temperature dish. Lots of variety. And yet we still covered only a fraction of the menu!
It was fun to try this variety of items, but I don't think we were particularly impressed with anything.
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| Bowls & Spoons. |
Our desserts started arriving 2 minutes later, really considerably faster than I expected. I didn't even have time to settle in or use the bathroom!
From the "Stewed" section, we went for dun lai, skipping over the more adventurous swallow nest and stewed hashima or snow fungus items.
Dun Lai is a new item for me, and I selected this after reading reviews where people describe it as like crème brûlée, something I obviously love, but, lighter, fluffier. It sounded fascinating, and, I do love puddings in general.
This one came from the intersection of the "Sago Series" and the "Grass Jelly" series, a slightly cold dish, more like room temperature, really.
The sago series is the most extensive section of the menu, which is saying something, given just how many dishes are on this menu. There are ... so, so, so many options for sago, starting with a slew of simple fruit forms (mango sago, watermelon sago, papaya sago, toddy palm sago, etc, etc), or basic soup forms (sesame soup & sago, walnut soup & sago, almond soup & sago, etc, etc), and then from there, the options just explode. Same with the grass jelly series, so, so many options.
The top layer was a warm custard, thicker and more cake-like than a crème brûlée, with a lovely golden top. The texture and consistency was good, and it wasn't too eggy for me, but it certainly did head in that direction. Not the most exciting component, but it is what lay beneath it that I cared about: the taro!
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| Stewed Series: BLUEBERRY DUN LAI. $5.95. |
Dun Lai is a new item for me, and I selected this after reading reviews where people describe it as like crème brûlée, something I obviously love, but, lighter, fluffier. It sounded fascinating, and, I do love puddings in general.
We had the choice of almond, red bean, or blueberry for this, and I opted for blueberry, mostly because the fruit sounded like a good compliment with custard.
I ... didn't like it. At all. I was surprised when it arrived warm, not a bad thing, just, not what I was expecting. That wasn't the problem though.
It had a film on top, which actually I liked for giving it a bit of texture, but was rather off-putting at first. Still not really the problem. It was lighter, fluffier than a crème brûlée I guess ... but it was also very eggy, and reminded me more of a quiche than anything else. And that was my issue. I don't like eggy desserts, I don't like quiche. And this ... just strange lighter, slightly sweet quiche. Not my thing at all.
The blueberry on top was some stewed goo, not offensive, but it didn't add anything.
One diner liked it because it wasn't too sweet, and he appreciated a not sweet dessert, but I kinda hated this, and tried several bites, trying to like it, but alas, definitely not for me. My least favorite.
I knew that I wanted durian items, and I knew that I wanted to try a frost item, and I do love black glutinous rice, so, I decided to combine those 3 wishes into one dish, and opted for this. Frosts come in *many* other forms, and durian shows up in a slew of items, so I certainly had many options, but this seemed like a great way to cross off 3 of my wishes at once.
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| Snow Frost: DURIAN & THAI BLACK GLUTINOUS RICE. $7.25. |
It was a mixed success.
First, the frost. I really, really loved the frost. It was a fascinating icy substance, sorta like ice cream, sorta like shaved ice, but, somewhere in-between, if that makes sense. Creamier than shaved ice, frostier than ice cream. It was sweet vanilla flavored, slightly coconut-y, and melted into a really delicious cream. I could gladly just eat a bowl of that frost. I now see why so much of the menu centers around it, and I think some of the other creations that use it would be fabulous. The frost was hands down my favorite thing we tried.
Now, for the rest of the dish.
The black glutinous rice wasn't very good. I love sticky rice, and prefer black sticky rice. But this ... was just flat. It wasn't that it was mushy, nor was it over cooked, or anything particularly strikingly bad, but, it was just very blah. I think likely not very fresh, and, not very glutinous, really. Even mixing it with lots of frost didn't lift it up in any way.
Then, the durian. A very generous big scoop of durian. It had funk, it smelt bad, it was stringy and strange. It was, well, durian. The others were not fans. And to be honest ... I didn't love it in this dish either. I think durian goes great in a shake (like I had from Bambu, in nearby Sunnyvale), and I liked it in the other dish we got with durian, but here ... it just didn't go great with the frost, and the rice was so blah it didn't work with that either.
So a very mixed bag. Two pretty blah components, but also, my favorite component of the day. The presentation with the scoops of rice and durian was nice, and I'd gladly try another type of frost, maybe with mango or toddy palm?
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| Sago Series: MANGO POMELO SAGO GRASS JELLY (Add Toddy Palm). $6.25. |
The sago series is the most extensive section of the menu, which is saying something, given just how many dishes are on this menu. There are ... so, so, so many options for sago, starting with a slew of simple fruit forms (mango sago, watermelon sago, papaya sago, toddy palm sago, etc, etc), or basic soup forms (sesame soup & sago, walnut soup & sago, almond soup & sago, etc, etc), and then from there, the options just explode. Same with the grass jelly series, so, so many options.
One of the most popular dishes on the menu is the mango pomelo sago, which we almost got, and then I saw the version that also had grass jelly, and opted for that, so we could try not only the signature mango pomelo sago, but also add in the fun of grass jelly. And ... I added toddy palm, because I wanted toddy palm in something, but was trying to limit to 5 desserts (which was still too many for 3 of us!), so instead of adding a 6th item just to get toddy palm, I added it here.
This ... wasn't quite what I expected either.
To start, I expected it to be more sago forward. There wasn't much sago here at all. We all remarked on this fact. The sago that was there was fine, well cooked, soft, not stuck together, small balls, but, you had to fish for it.
We also expected, and wanted, more mango. We only found a few small cubes. The mango that was there was quite good, soft, sweet, perfectly ripe. But we wanted more.
I didn't mind that there was just a little bit of pomelo, providing a hint of acid, and not much more. I'm not a big fan of citrus, so this was fine with me.
The grass jelly was fairly standard, not much to say about that, except that, unlike everything else, there was tons of it.
The toddy palm I added in was also fairly standard, and I enjoyed the texture the pieces added, plus, they were quite fun to fish out, given the larger size.
And finally, the broth in which we were fishing. This is I think where I was not excited. It felt very plain to me. I thought it would taste like mango, or coconut (was it coconut milk based?), but it was just ... kinda there. It was orange, and it was slightly milky, but it didn't have much going on.
This dish was the sweetest one we had, but it still wasn't overly sweet at all, which again, one diner liked.
The other two ranked this dish in their top two, but for me it was pretty meh - every component was fine, and it was fun to fish things out, but I grew sick of it after a few bites, and didn't find myself really caring to go back for another bite. 4th pick and I wouldn't get it again. Next time, I'd try the tofu pudding or one of the asian soups.
That said, I took the leftovers, and mixed it with the leftovers from the durian and black sticky rice frost, and really, really loved it the next day. The flavors all combined together nicely, and the rice soaked in the pudding base was considerably more interesting than the original form. The mango and durian even complimented each other nicely.
We had a one minute (literally) break, before more items arrived.
From the "Baked" series, I did consider the baked mashed durian sago pudding, but I knew my dining companions were not excited about more durian, and I did actually want a taro dish myself, so, this was a pretty easy pick. I also knew this wasn't going to be a pudding in the sense that my companions may have thought it would be, as in, not jelly-like.
And finally, the broth in which we were fishing. This is I think where I was not excited. It felt very plain to me. I thought it would taste like mango, or coconut (was it coconut milk based?), but it was just ... kinda there. It was orange, and it was slightly milky, but it didn't have much going on.
This dish was the sweetest one we had, but it still wasn't overly sweet at all, which again, one diner liked.
The other two ranked this dish in their top two, but for me it was pretty meh - every component was fine, and it was fun to fish things out, but I grew sick of it after a few bites, and didn't find myself really caring to go back for another bite. 4th pick and I wouldn't get it again. Next time, I'd try the tofu pudding or one of the asian soups.
That said, I took the leftovers, and mixed it with the leftovers from the durian and black sticky rice frost, and really, really loved it the next day. The flavors all combined together nicely, and the rice soaked in the pudding base was considerably more interesting than the original form. The mango and durian even complimented each other nicely.
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| BAKED MASH TARO SAGO PUDDING. $5.95. |
From the "Baked" series, I did consider the baked mashed durian sago pudding, but I knew my dining companions were not excited about more durian, and I did actually want a taro dish myself, so, this was a pretty easy pick. I also knew this wasn't going to be a pudding in the sense that my companions may have thought it would be, as in, not jelly-like.
It arrived very hot, and took some time to cool down so we could eat it. This was fine, as we had a pile of other items to keep digging into.
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| Baked Mash Taro Sago Pudding: Side Profile. |
Yup, just a bunch of warm, mashed sweet taro under the custard-cake top, with a tiny bit of sago in there too. I love taro, so this was quite pleasing, but I can't say it was particularly special.
We all liked this dish. My third pick overall, and I gladly saved the extra for breakfast the next morning (its ... totally breakfast food, right?)
And then, at last minute when ordering, I threw on another durian item. I knew we had too many desserts already, but ... I really wanted just one more durian dish (it didn't matter that one of the other guests said he wasn't having any of the durian dishes, and the other had never had durian).
From the "Durian Special" lineup, I could have opted for durian pudding, or durian mochi, both of which sounded good, but, the durian pancake I knew was likely right up my alley. They also make this in a mango form.
I knew exactly what to expect with this one. Not a pancake in the fluffy breakfast carb sense. No, this was more like a thin crepe, wrapping a mound of whipped cream, with fresh durian inside. Oh yes. In my head, I was thinking it would be like the glorious durian (or mango) cheese buns I had in Toronto of all places, from an Austrian bakery, Guschlbauer (seriously, go there!). And it was, actually, quite similar in some ways.
This item came last, significantly after our other items, and at first, I thought they had forgotten it. It was clear it was freshly assembled, and came cold, chilled. The dish came with three small forks, and a knife, so we could cut them up.
Here you can see inside the pancake.
Yes, nothing fancy here, just thick whipped cream and durian. The cream was thicker than your standard whipped cream, sweet, and a wonderful texture. I do love whipped cream.
The cream went sooo well with the durian, complimenting the funk perfectly, balancing it out. The durian was the same fresh durian we had in the other dish, just, better balanced out here. And yes, there was plenty of durian, they certainly did not skimp on the durian.
The pancake wrapper was green (pandan? food coloring?), but didn't have a particular flavor. It was a good texture, not gummy, not chewy, pliable but not wimpy, it served it purpose of wrapping the fillings well, but not letting them fall out too easily.
I really enjoyed this item, my favorite overall dish, and second favorite bite (to the frost). The others said they would have loved it with anything but durian inside, and I'm positive they would have loved the mango version. Oops. The plus side? I got to take the extra whole one home!
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| Durian Special: DURIAN PANCAKE (2PCS). $7.45. |
From the "Durian Special" lineup, I could have opted for durian pudding, or durian mochi, both of which sounded good, but, the durian pancake I knew was likely right up my alley. They also make this in a mango form.
I knew exactly what to expect with this one. Not a pancake in the fluffy breakfast carb sense. No, this was more like a thin crepe, wrapping a mound of whipped cream, with fresh durian inside. Oh yes. In my head, I was thinking it would be like the glorious durian (or mango) cheese buns I had in Toronto of all places, from an Austrian bakery, Guschlbauer (seriously, go there!). And it was, actually, quite similar in some ways.
This item came last, significantly after our other items, and at first, I thought they had forgotten it. It was clear it was freshly assembled, and came cold, chilled. The dish came with three small forks, and a knife, so we could cut them up.
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| Durian Pancake: Inside. |
Yes, nothing fancy here, just thick whipped cream and durian. The cream was thicker than your standard whipped cream, sweet, and a wonderful texture. I do love whipped cream.
The cream went sooo well with the durian, complimenting the funk perfectly, balancing it out. The durian was the same fresh durian we had in the other dish, just, better balanced out here. And yes, there was plenty of durian, they certainly did not skimp on the durian.
The pancake wrapper was green (pandan? food coloring?), but didn't have a particular flavor. It was a good texture, not gummy, not chewy, pliable but not wimpy, it served it purpose of wrapping the fillings well, but not letting them fall out too easily.
I really enjoyed this item, my favorite overall dish, and second favorite bite (to the frost). The others said they would have loved it with anything but durian inside, and I'm positive they would have loved the mango version. Oops. The plus side? I got to take the extra whole one home!
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