Monga Dessert Lounge
1/F 600 Station Street
Box Hill, VIC 3128
03 9890 0925
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Monga Sweet CafeLevel 1, 217 Russell St
Melbourne, VIC 3000
03 9654 4885
www.mongadessertlounge.com.au
Image may be NSFW.
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You should know by now I’m not a very Western dessert person. Cakes, tarts, macarons and puddings are nice and all but I generally won’t crave for them. But put in front of me a bowl of tau foo fa or birds nest soup after a Chinese meal and I’m a happy man.
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But where can you get these types of Chinese sweet dessert soups? More and more of these places are cropping up like Chinese mushrooms. I noticed one along Elizabeth St close to Rose Garden and there’s Dessert House along Swanston St. But dessert house is not that good, don’t go. I’ve not heard of Monga until Billy recently posted about it. There are three branches, one in Box Hill, Glen Waverley and in the CBD. I’ve visited two…
Box Hill Branch – Monga Dessert Lounge
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I came here after dinner with Isaac. The Box Hill branch has got a different ambience to city’s apparently. I liked how it’s all old Hong Kong rustic-looking here. And the vibe was incredibly Asian, it feels as if you’ve walked in and up the stairs from a street in Tsim Tsa Tsui. If the venue was dimmer with rooms and dark corners, I could imagine triad gang members playing cards, cigarettes dangling from mouth, with guns hidden in jacket, and bodyguards wearing sunglasses, standing by the doorway…
But no, it’s just a big open hall here with a somewhat messy looking kitchen and many tables, a quick turnover and a fair amount of noise. Service can be just a tad overstretched and sketchy, but I was thankful that Isaac could do the ordering for me in Cantonese. I just sat there like an English-speaking tourist.
Isaac had one of the more popular desserts here, the 楊枝金撈 – Mango Sago Dessert w/ Pomelo, $8, served in a scarily massive bowl. I think he enjoyed it, that’s what he said! When I had a taste, it did nothing for me, probably because I really wanted a less thick and more cleansing dessert. But to be fair, Hao had this same dessert a few weeks later with me at the CBD branch and he seemed to enjoy it too.
I chose 腐竹白果雞蛋糖水 – Beancurd Sheet Sweet Soup w/ Gingkoes and Egg, $5.5, served cold instead of warm. It was exactly what I wanted, something clean, light and healthy. It’s the kind of dessert I’d much rather have especially after I’ve had a greasy, heavy meal before. Nice! Plain and simple tasting beancurd sheets, a smattering of barley, a few gingko nuts in a gently tasty cold soup.
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Loved how it wasn’t overly sweet at all. It’s like balancing out all the over-seasoned food that I might’ve had earlier. But I have to say the hard-boiled egg felt and tasted pointless in that dessert. It was overboiled, with a green ring around the yolk. I took one bite, and left that behind.
Boiled egg in a cold soup. No thank you. Haha!
CBD Branch – Monga Sweet Cafe
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After that positive experience at the Box Hill branch, I was more keen to visit what Monga in the CBD had to offer. It is true, the CBD branch has a darker, more modern Chinese fit-out, but in a cosy way. I actually wouldn’t mind hanging out here after dinner, it’s got sofas and little partitioned areas to make things feel a little more private.
I’ve been here twice and service has the tendency to be a little scatterbrained. They got our orders wrong on both visits! Ha ha ha… Asian eatery service… sometimes I think it almost can’t be helped. But at least they’re not rude like Pacific House is. Anyway, the right dessert will come eventually, so just be patient, clarify things… and wait.
My first visit to the CBD branch was camera-free. Fakegf had a peanut soup (which she enjoyed) while I had a weird dessert soup with “mango sago and popping boba”. The popping bobas were waaay too odd in texture and artificial in taste for me but fakegf liked it.
A week later, I came back here and brought Hao (and my camera) along. He got the exact same dish as Isaac did in Box Hill, while I grabbed the 南北杏雪耳燉海底椰 Snow Fungus and Palm’s Seed Sweet Soup, $6. It was double-boiled and then served cold. I think in Melbourne I like my dessert soups cold because it’s more thirst quenching, and reason why I’m thirsty is because Asian food here is generally more salty and MSG-laden.
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If any of you were to order this snow fungus soup, you’d probably conclude it’s bland. But I loved it! The snow fungus was soo light and yet gently crunchy and the soup was soo clear and clean and cooling. Delicious! I have tried making snow fungus sweet soup at home, but think I’m missing a step, they come out with the wrong texture and taste sourish…! Maybe double boiling is the key…
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Having sweet dessert soups can be a strange concept to many, but it’s something that I love having. You should try them too…! Also, the ones I like hardly have any calories in them. You see? Desserts doesn’t always necessarily equate with having to eat something fattening! The menu is also pretty extensive, so I think there will be one dessert in there that will suit anyone’s palate. But choosing it right can be tricky, ha ha!
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Revisits
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I have been here many times more since the original written post above. Here’s a few more desserts:
I have been here many times more since the original written post above. Here’s a few more desserts:
椰香紫米露 black glutinous rice sweet soup
It’s essentially pulot hitam, a popular Malay dessert. Rich, warming, and coconutty.
百合香橙蓮子紅豆沙 red bean sweet soup with lily bulbs
The red ‘sludge’ may look a little frightful to some, but to me it’s just so simple and yummy. Especially when you can taste hints of dried orange peel in it.
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