Before meeting my girlfriend, I did not even know that this specific type of powdery shaved ice existed - and that would had been a total waste. Nowadays, instead of your typical ice desserts, such as ice kacang and chendol, people are having bowls of towering shaved ice, which are usually flavoured and topped up with syrup, diced fruits and jelly cubes. Well, with all the new desserts stalls starting to appear in the local food scene, you might ask, "where is the best dessert place, or has the best snow ice?" Although the answer might be ambigious to some, Mei Heong Yuen, or better known as 味香园 is one dessert place to head for.
Being featured in several newspaper articles and television programmes, Mei Heong Yuen is also proud to be one of Singapore's Chinatown Heritage Brand, an initiative by Chinatown Business Association to introduce long established heritage brand names to visitors. Despite being in business for years, its standard still remained the same, unlike some restaurants who slacked on their standards after quite some time. And, if you are still wondering why the name sounds familiar, the owner of Mei Heong Yuen also owns the famous Farmer Brand peanut - the logo features a farmer holding a spade and a bunch of groundnuts with the other hand.
Shifting the focus back to the shave ice, Mei Heong Yuen has one the best ones in Singapore. Their Mango Snow Ice (S$5.00) is a good thirst quencher on hot days, with the flavoured ice matched with fresh mango puree and mango cubes. The strawberry version (S$5.00) does not lose out as well, being a good lover of the adorable-looking red fruit, I am bias towards to this shaved ice, paired with fresh strawberry slices and jelly cubes.
Another favourite of mine - Yuan Yang Snow Ice (S$6.00), a perfect combination of black (sesame) and white (almond), which comes complete with roasted almond slices and grass jelly cubes. If you like the hot yuan yang paste, I am pretty sure you would take a liking to the cold version as well.
Expecting no less from the owners of Farmer brand peanuts, Mei Heong Yuen is also highly acclaimed for their smooth Peanut and Walnut paste (S$3.00). Recently, Mei Heong Yuen has once expanded to fit the large crowds, and it is now occupying three shops allocation. On top of that, they do have another outlet at the basement of Ion Orchard as well. It is small and often over-packed, therefore if you're eating in a big group, do head to their Chinatown outlet.
Mei Heong Yuen Desserts 味香园
Tel: 6221 1156
Opening Hours
Sun-Fri, PH: 10.30am – 9pm
Sat: 10.30am – 10pm
65-67 Temple St
Chinatown