Aftermeal Desserts: The Best Desserts in PJ?

For dessert devotees, Aftermeal Desserts shouldn't be an afterthought: Launched this year, this Damansara Uptown cafe has consistently earned widespread praise, respect and consideration for refreshingly icy and soothingly hot temptations that take inspiration mainly from Japan and Taiwan.

On Facebook, LerYeen reveals that Aftermeal "has become my regular spot" for its unique, flavourful desserts. Kharthic assured his friends on Instagram that Aftermeal is "100% recommended." Xie Lin wrote on her Google review that she had a "great experience" that was also affordable - Aftermeal has even managed to maintain 4.7 stars out of a possible five on Google after more than 160 reviews.

Our expectations were heightened before we visited, but even then, we found ourselves pleasantly surprised - Aftermeal Desserts has nailed the formula for satisfying customers by focusing on top-flight ingredients and fine-tuning its recipes through constructive feedback. The result is some of the most well-executed desserts of its genre, not only in Uptown but much of Petaling Jaya.

Aftermeal's signature dessert is its selection of kakigori, the Japanese shaved ice speciality that's a beautiful balm on hot, humid days.

The flagship kakigori is the Iron Lady milk tea kakigori - as its name suggests, Tieguanyin oolong tea is showcased in this kakigori, an alluring avalanche crafted out of ice blocks finely spun off the blade of a Taiwanese-built shaved ice maker.

Aftermeal infuses the tea throughout the fluffy and feathery shaved ice, as light and soft as the first fall of snow - this means that you'll taste the Tieguanyin in every spoonful of the kakigori; Aftermeal even makes the extra effort to tweak the recipe according to the strength of each batch of tea.

This superior kakigori alone would be worth the trip here, beautifully balancing the bitter with the sweet, making it easily enjoyable for children and adults alike. But Aftermeal brings a bonus to the experience, a bowl of brown sugar jelly pearls with grass jelly, almond flakes and house-made taro and sweet potato mochi - the mochi is particularly noteworthy, bursting with natural earthy flavours, with a firm, elegantly elastic chew.

All in all, a pleasurable partnership of two desserts for RM22, since we loved both the kakigori and the mochi. There's more to explore for future expeditions here, including the Malaysian-inflected Horlicks kakigori with peanut buttercup ice cream, Dark Milo kakigori (with 'super thick' Milo cream) and Durian-&-Coconut fresh milk kakigori.

Confident interplays of flavours and textures are woven across all of Aftermeal's offerings. The calamansi yokan (RM16) is another over-achiever, a summertime Japanese jellied treat, conveying a citrus liveliness here, with a rich but not excessive tang. Beneath the jelly, there's more shaved ice, suffused with calamansi as well, for thirst-quenching rejuvenation. The final components - including lemon slices, longan, honey sea coconut and passion fruit popping pearls - round this out as a feast of fruits, fresh and vital.

Grass jelly is a can't-fail classic, and Aftermeal's is one that all generations will adore - heaped close to the brim, thick but buoyant, moderately herbal but unmistakably aromatic, blanketing distinctive grass jelly shaved ice mingling with red beans, this is the fifth iteration of the recipe since Aftermeal's inception, ensuring it's neither too saccharine nor too medicinal (RM16; also comes with the mochi bowl - yay!).

It might not be the Winter Solstice Festival or the Lunar New Year, but there's always time for tang yuan - Aftermeal's might be our current favourite rendition, with those gloriously glutinous rice balls stuffed with black sesame swimming in hot soup that's sharpened with no less than Bentong ginger, suitably matched with mochi showered with ground peanuts this time - soulful and hearty (RM16).

Other options span red bean soup to beverages such as milk teas and winter melon teas with plenty of customisable toppings - if you enjoy a variety of East Asian desserts, this is the place to bookmark.

Many thanks to Aftermeal Desserts for having us here.

Aftermeal Desserts
52, Jalan SS 21/58, Damansara Utama, 47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Open daily, 2pm-11pm (Last Call)

This post first appeared on eatdrinkkl.com