SINGAPORE, June 8 — As hardcore lovers of the king of fruits salivate over the arrival of peak durian season, something enterprising is happening in the eatery scene: The durian cafe.

Fancy durian pizza, durian crepes, durian mousse or durian sticky rice are on offer — just to name a few wacky-sounding dishes.

Even Singapore’s hottest new attraction, Jewel Changi Airport, features a durian eatery with “durian hotpot” on the menu.

Durian snacks such as these may not be every purists’ idea of how to enjoy the fruit, but for Huang Yong Xian, the owner of Double Durian, a durian cafe on Hamilton Road off Lavender Street, it is a concept that solves one of the imponderables of running a durian business.

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“Fresh durian when it comes, you can only keep it for one night. The third day or the second night, it will turn watery... and Singaporeans would not want that kind of durian,” Huang, 38, told TODAY.

He felt disenchanted after his own personal experiences of getting ripped off and paying high prices for durian that was watery and well past its best — and this inspired his plan to open Double Durian, a durian shop with a difference.

Instead of the traditional durian store, found most famously in the Geylang district, Huang and his team opted for a cafe concept instead, realising that serving durian confectionery and food items is a neat way to solve the issue faced by sellers who “dishonestly” sell durian past its prime.

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“Durian is an interesting fruit. You can freeze it, it goes well with desserts, it goes well with cake, even foods,” he said.

“When durian comes today and we can’t sell, it’s fine. The fresh durian we will keep it for our ice-cream, for our cakes. We don’t have any problem when the durian is unsold, because we can convert it to many products.”

The unsold durian is frozen when it’s still in good shape — and then used in the dizzying array of durian-themed snacks, including durian smoothies and durian burgers.

Another durian cafe, 99 Old Trees, has also been grappling with the time-sensitive nature of durian.

Kelvin Tan, 35, the general manager of the company, said that with durian, “time is of the essence”. With a farm in Malaysia, the durian company’s flagship service was to produce and distribute its goods to wholesalers.

But responding to the craving for freshness from durian obsessives, 99 Old Trees decided to “go direct”, taking the durians from farm to table so that the fruit can “come in fresher.”

“Durian is very time-sensitive... because unlike other countries, we in Malaysia, our practice is to wait for the fruit to fully mature and to let it drop. And if you let it drop, there are many challenges because the shelf life is significantly shorter.”

For 99 Old Trees, the idea of a cafe came as a suggestion from its customers who used its online durian delivery service. With a click of a button, patrons can order a variety of durian types on the company’s website.

“The online delivery started to gain some popularity and then we started to get some recognition. Many customers, they asked, ‘Where’s your shop?’”

In response to the growing clamour for a physical shop, the company decided to open its own durian cafe, on Owen Road.

To keep it going through the durian’s off-peak season, however, the cafe offers select delights, including its bestseller, durian mousse. The outlet even offers tasting sessions, aimed at tourists, who get to try and understand the different types of durian that the cafe has in stock that day.

Mao Shan Wang Cafe, on Temple Street, is one of the pioneers of the durian cafe, a growing phenomenon in durian-obsessed Singapore. — Handout via TODAY
Mao Shan Wang Cafe, on Temple Street, is one of the pioneers of the durian cafe, a growing phenomenon in durian-obsessed Singapore. — Handout via TODAY

Mao Shan Wang Cafe, on Temple Street in Chinatown, run by Four Seasons Durian, is another durian cafe that has gained popularity since it opened.

One of the pioneers in this new niche market here, the cafe was launched in 2017, serving items such as durian coffee, durian chicken nuggets and durian pizzas.

Starting out as a confectionery stop, Four Seasons Durian’s zest for innovation led it to open its first durian cafe.

Four Seasons Durian’s general manager, Leon Chan, who is in his late 20s, said that the durian cafe started out simply as a place to sell durians.

“But since we are a durian expert, we decided to try out confectionery products.”

Lance Lee, also in his late 20s, business development executive of Four Seasons Durian, told TODAY that the company’s focus is to conceive new ideas and create new ways of consuming the tropical fruit. “Our goal is to innovate and be the earliest.”

Apart from the cafe, the brand recently opened a durian restaurant at Jewel Changi Airport, introducing the durian hotpot as one of its “star” dishes. The dish was described by one reviewer, at Mothership.Sg, as a “richer, creamier version of chicken soup, with a punch of durian when you first drink it”.

Like the other durian cafes, Four Seasons Durian recognises the short shelf-life of durian.

“The unique thing about this company is that we are ‘durian’ all year round. So we can truly say that we know the durian, because we take the durian. If we can’t sell, we will freeze it. That’s a guarantee. We do this all year round so it’s not a problem for us,” Lee said. — TODAY