Sweet Dots

Got to learn about the opening of Sweet Dots 甜心点点 when we were going around 100AM and made a mental note to drop by for a revisit — these folks do seem to be a relatively new addition to the mall, occupying a space that is right in front one of the sets of escalators that leads up towards the third floor of the mall. The entire establishment does seem to be decked in a way that attempts to evoke some zen and oriental vibes — the establishment can be observed to be decked in a wooden furniture and fittings from the counter to the floorings and even for the dining furniture as well; the use of lighting with a yellow hue also provides a rather warm look and feel for the entire space that isn’t too harsh for those stepping in from the aisles outside. Most of its seating is arranged in a manner that would best suit patrons visiting them in groups of four (4) to six (6) pax. As the namesake of the store suggests, Sweet Dots is an establishment that primarily focus on dessert offerings; in fact, Sweet Dots is one of the establishments that had jumped onto the bandwagon of dining establishments that focuses on Chinese-style Tang Shui — the menu for its dessert offerings is being segregated into sections dedicated to Signature, Hot Dessert, Soy Beancurd and Grass Jelly, and Cold Dessert. Despite its focus on dessert, Sweet Dots does offer a variety of hot food options as well; this include some rice dishes, as well as Chee Cheong Fun, Carrot Cake and Hakka Taro Abacus (SuanPanZi) dishes as well.

Hakka Abacus Seeds is actually an item which is fairly difficult to find around casual dining establishments these days and it is interesting to see Sweet Dots offering it as the QQ Hakka Taro Abacus (SuanPanZi) with Minced Pork on their hot food menu. Sweet Dots does not describe the elements that comes with their various dishes but one can observe that the QQ Hakka Taro Abacus (SuanPanZi) with Minced Pork does feature elements such as mushrooms, fried shallots, spring onions, and chili along with the abacus seeds that are made from yam. We did feel that the QQ Hakka Taro Abacus (SuanPanZi) with Minced Pork was a little generic but does work well enough for those whom are having a craving for the said dish. The abacus seeds that is made from yam does come with a bouncy texture; a little chewy but these do not stick to the teeth whilst also did not feel particularly greasy, while the addition of mushrooms does help to add an earthy note and carried a contrasting hint of savouriness as well. Fried shallots did feel a little limp, but does add a little bit of a different dimension of flavour to the entire dish, while the spring onions and chili padi adds a colour contrast to give the dish a visual appeal from the otherwise monotonous brown that the dish came in. The sliced chili does add a slight hint of fragrance and a lingering spicy note that creeps up slowly at the back of the tongue, but the real spicy note does come from the sambal on the side that comes savoury with a real kick of spiciness that should do just about right for those whom have a moderate level of tolerance to spiciness.

We had also managed to try the Curry Chee Cheong Fun during our visit to Sweet Dots — this pretty much comes as-is with the components included being observed to be Vegetarian Goose (i.e. Zhai Er) along with rice vermicelli rolls in a curry gravy; the same garnishes of spring onion and chili were also used for the Curry Chee Cheong Fun as it would be in the QQ Hakka Taro Abacus (SuanPanZi) with Minced Pork. The rice vermicelli rolls were reasonably smooth and silken with a springy texture, while the curry gravy did come with a slightly tangier note that felt brighter but less heavy in flavour despite being denser in consistency than the usual curry chicken gravy that comes with coconut milk typically served up at local-style establishments. The addition of Vegetarian Goose actually gives the Curry Chee Cheong Fun a contrast of textures by delivering a crispness to the entire dish; overall a decent eat but we would think that there are more impressive versions of similar dishes being served elsewhere.

Knowing that these folks also do serve up Chinese-style Tang Shui, it is needless to say that we found the need to give their desserts from the “Signature” section of the menu a go as well — there has been an ongoing trend of Pistachio Paste being served up at similar establishments around the island and Sweet Dots does have their own version of such an item as well. The Signature Pistachio Paste is an item on Sweet Dots’ menu where only limited portions are available daily — the dessert arrived the table in a bowl featuring a paste with a green hue that also features bits of crushed nuts both atop the paste and also finer bits of crushed nuts within the paste itself. Considering how we aren’t exposed to many versions of the Pistachio Paste when we had given the Signature Pistachio Paste from Sweet Dots a try, we did notice that the Signature Pistachio Paste doesn’t quite come with a texture as smooth as what we had experienced at other establishments serving the same, though the we did find the paste to be reasonably thick without feeling overly dense — the paste does come with a gritty texture that comes from all the crushed nuts within where one can also argue that it provides some texture to the paste if it suits to their preferences. We did find that there is a slight nuttiness from the pistachio that can be detected from the paste, though we would prefer a more evident note with a bit more sweetness that can help to give the paste slightly more depth in terms of flavour.

We also gave another one of their other dessert items a try — an item that is listed under the Cold Dessert section of the menu, the Fresh Mango Glutinous Rice Milk does quite defy one’s expectations considering the category of the menu it is sitting under. Turns out, the Glutinous Rice is actually served warm, and the Milk added does seem to be more of Coconut Milk; in fact, the only cold element in the dish here would be the cubes of fresh mango. The cubes of fresh mango does initially provide an interesting temperature contrast to the black glutinous rice at the start, though they did gradually absorb the heat from the black glutinous rice over time; the cubes of fresh mango being naturally sweet and does match the slightly nutty notes of the glutinous rice that has been cooked to a thickened consistency which eliminates the graininess of the black glutinous rice grains itself — all that while the coconut milk also doesn’t quite add a heaviness to it as well.

There has been a recent uprising of establishments serving up Chinese-style Tang Shui across the island and it does seem that Sweet Dots is one of such establishments that is catching the wave. Interestingly, we do like how Sweet Dots attempts to serve up more than just dessert offerings by also serving up a variety of hot food items — this does seem to be pretty smart as this would probably help to draw some of the office workers in the area to see Sweet Dots as a viable lunch option as well. We do feel that the items served up at Sweet Dots are sufficient to scratch the cravings for such fare reasonably; no doubt some items might feel a tad generic but it shouldn’t be too much of an issue for those whom are too picky about food in general. Prices of their dessert and hot food items generally fall under $8 — pretty wallet-friendly to say the least. Something that is worth trying once for those whom are curious on what they have to offer.