Ivy's Guide: Jakarta's Taiwanese Dessert Cafes

Just as expected, after frozen yogurt and bubble tea fever, now comes Taiwanese dessert as the trending one in town at the moment. More and more new cafes open offering the same dessert type, some are good, some are pretty standard. Here's the list of Jakarta's Taiwanese dessert place.

HONG TANG 

Being the pioneer of Taiwanese dessert in Jakarta, Hong Tang definitely put itself as the most popular one so far. Their popularity is huge! Coming from a family business with first outlet at Muara Karang, North Jakarta, they used to be named "Sweet Poetry", not many has heard about them until they changed their name into Hong Tang, added menu variety and opened their second outlet which remains to be the most crowded one until now at the F&B heaven complex at PIK. The crowd knows no weekday or weekend as the place is full house almost everyday. Personally, I do think they deserve it. Among others, I still find theirs to be the best one. 

Ps. Their most popular menu is number 28 (grass jelly base dessert with toppings and matcha ice cream). If you are like me whose not into dairy and matcha, choose number 26 and ask for separate creamer. Oh and ask for extra red bean, they serve the best red bean. Guaranteed like! 

Location: 

- Pluit Karang Timur Blok O8 Timur No. 72, Muara Karang, North Jakarta (+6221 6611213)

- Ruko Garden House Blok D No. 18 D, Pantai Indah Kapuk, North Jakarta (+6221 98989585)

- Central Park Mall Tribeca level UG, West Jakarta
- Summarecon Mall Serpong
- Baywalk mall pluit

BLACKBALL

Blackball is the only Taiwanese dessert franchised from Taiwan with outlets in Indonesia. They started back in 2006, and expanded their dessert chains to Singapore, Malaysia, China, Australia, Philippines and Indonesia. They are the only Taiwanese dessert with the most outlets in Jakarta so far. Before I found my favorite number 26 at Hong Tang, I used to go to BlackBall more often. Many said their portion is a bit small, but I find it to be quite okay and I liked their grass jelly and topping texture, chewy but not mushy. Their dessert is my second favorite.

Location: 

- Central Park Mall, Mall Alam Sutra, Mall Kelapa Gading 3, Kota Kasablanka, Mall Artha Gading, Lotte World Shopping Avenue, Supermall Karawaci, Living World, Puri Indah Mall, Grand Metropolitan Bekasi, Mall Paragon Semarang, Surabaya Town Square, Beachwalk Bali.
- Opening soon at Pantai Indah Kapuk.

HONEYBEAN 

Honeybean opens at PIK with plenty of dessert variety to choose from. Soya base, red bean, grass jelly, mango, fruits, puddings and many more. I have went there twice and tried several of their desserts and to be honest, not too fond of them. But the place have many crowds and they do have many many options of desserts to choose from. Definitely a place for sweet tooth.

Location: Ruko Garden House Blok B No. 23, Pantai Indah Kapuk, North Jakarta (+6221 29033623)

SUMOBOO 

Coming as a dessert shop with Japanese concept, Sumoboo might be the one with prettiest presentation, both on the desserts and the shop's interior. If you are someone who likes to have a nice ambiance while having your desserts, Sumoboo is the right place. Click here for full review.

Location:
- Rukan Crown Golf Mediterania, Pantai Indah Kapuk (+6221 96628677)
- Mall Taman Anggrek 4th flr
- Central park mall (Next to Ikkudo)

FAT BUBBLE 

Fat Bubble started as a bubble tea shop at PIK. Following what's trending at the moment, they now serve Taiwanese dessert as well besides their other popular snacks, Fat'O (read: dorayaki).Personally I don't really like their Taiwanese dessert as I find it way too milky for my taste, however, putting the dairy thing aside, it tasted pretty decent. Huge portion, and the texture of the grass jelly and pudding is very smooth. Plus it's cheaper compare to other tenants.

Location:

- Tebet Timur dalam 2 No. 47 C, Tebet

SNOWBOWL

What I like about Snowbowl is how they not only offer sweet desserts, but also sour one. They have various base choices for Taiwanese desserts, like grass jelly, soya bean, red bean, but they also have unique one such as pineapple ice, mango ice, and my favorite plum ice. Their D22 (snowbowl plum ice, lemon jade jelly, passion fruit popping ball, rainbow jelly, nata de coco) 32k is sourly refreshing. Topped it with additional fresh mangoes and it will definitely make your day, sour lovers.

Location: Rukan Exclusive Blok A No. 16, Pantai Indah Kapuk

*Updated Dec 6th, 2014