Sweet Thoughts Dessert (Newton Food Centre)

Sweet Thoughts by M.O.D is not a name that is unfamiliar to the F&B scene for those in the know — located at J Forte Sportainment Centre in Kovan, the establishment is best known for their modern interpretation of shaved ice and hot desserts that sees a combination of local flavours/elements with a Western execution, which is opened by the former chef-owner of the now-defunct Non Entree Desserts previously at Rangoon Road. The folks behind the concept had recently opened yet another outpost; though this time round named Sweet Thoughts Dessert, and located at Newton Food Centre offering patrons their signature Shaved Ice, Iced Blended Beverages, and Hot Desserts.

The range of shaved iced desserts here somewhat varies from the Kovan outlet — we noted some flavours such as the Lucky Mango Sago, Hokkaido Milk and “Tok-Kong” Mao Shan Wang which we did not recall seeing at their Kovan outlet (there again, our memories are kinda failing us so you might want to take this with a pinch of salt), but we found ourselves going back to the Pandan Kaya Roti Shaved Ice considering how this was a clear favourite of ours during our previous visits to the Kovan outlet. Unlike the ones served at their Kovan outlet, the shaved ice and hot desserts served at Newton Food Centre understandably comes served in disposable ware — the Pandan Kaya Shaved Ice still comes with pretty much the same elements, including the Kaya Shaved Ice, Brown Sugar Jelly, Chendol, Butter Bread Roti, and a Milk Cap; still best to be shared between two. The whole deal still tasted pretty much like what we remembered it to be — the Kaya Shaved Ice perfumes of a light note of Pandan amidst the creaminess of the milk cap once the shaved ice has started to melt, while the brown sugar jelly and green Pandan jelly (i.e. the “Chendol” element) provides a chew to the dessert; cookie crumbles are also added for a crunchy texture. Whilst the Butter Bread Roti comes in a form rather similar to croutons at the Kovan outlet, the one here at Newton Food Centre comes served in an entire piece similar to Roti Kok — crunchy, buttery and sugary, and soaks up the shaved ice and milk cap without compromising on its texture. It still feels pretty much like the inventive dessert that it was supposed to be, though we will definitely still prefer the aesthetic of the dessert at Kovan considering how it comes in a paper bowl here, and how the paper bowl actually conceals quite a bit of the component included inside the dessert.

Newton Food Centre has seen quite a change over the year, with notable additions such as OG Lemak and Krapow Boys that offers patrons of the food centre with more choices apart from the standard BBQ fare that the food centre was mostly known for previously. The addition of Sweet Thoughts Desserts gives patrons here a choice away from the usual desserts of Ice Kachang and the likes of it that are commonly found in hawker centres; and this provokes an interesting thought on whether is this the start of the gentrification of local desserts in hawker centres, or would it be just a passing trend. Not that I am complaining though — pretty glad to have found them here considering how I actually visit their Kovan outlet periodically whenever the cravings for their shaved ice hits!