The Durian Times - It's Once Again the Durian Season @ Yishun Block 748 [Singapore]

The sinful durian season is once again upon us! My usual to-go stall is Ah Di in Ang Mo Kio but it's not exactly convenient for me as I don't have a personal transport and I was simply too lazy to jog the 9-10 kilometers (about an hour)! 

Strangely, durians stalls have been mushrooming in Yishun and some had a strong social media presence. Aside from the infamous durians stalls in Chong Pang, there's a Famous Durian stall in Khatib and another one called The Durian Times that's super near me; i.e. like 5-minute walk only. 

I got hold of the mobile name for The Durian Times the day before, after my jog, and decided to message them on WhatsApp to pre-order the durians. Prices were given in a format that's the norm nowadays; rate of durian species was based on weight after removal of the husks. 

To be honest, I am more accustomed to reading the price of durian with husk and with the unhusk version; I couldn't make a fair comparison on whether the rates are expensive or not! The stall do put out the price of the durian species (with husk) for walk-ins but not for delivery, which I understand as the receiver wouldn't be able to ascertain the weight given that the delivered durians would come without husk in the first place.

Mine was for self-collection though since it's just a short distance away from my house and I am not rich enough to fork out the S$10.00 delivery fee per location; which would have been worth it if I live in Jurong. 

Our durians - one pack of cat mountain king (affectionately known as mao shan wang), another pack of golden phoenix (jinfeng) and last one would be D13 (also known as the fake red prawn). Each one is supposed to contain 500g grams of durians, without husk. 

Species' name was written on the cover of each box and in case you are still confused; the lighter colored flesh is golden phoenix, square box would be mao shan wang. 

As a skeptic who is always afraid of being shortchanged, it's good to give the box a check on the weighing scale. I didn't do the one for D13 as we couldn't wait and had already devoured some! Okay, both boxes had at least 500g; mao shan wang was even close to 600 g! 

Golden Phoenix was a bit too bitter for my friends although my mom would have immediately fallen in love with the flavour that came with a touch of fermentation and small seeds! I think the operator mixed different fruits as half of the box had seeds much bigger than the rest. 

Mao Shan Wang - with its firm texture and bright yellow sheen, I couldn't wait to pop it into my mouth and clean the flesh off the seed! 

I have had my fair share of disappointment when it comes to Mao Shan Wang (MSW) ; this was average and frankly, still acceptable for the meatiness and the somewhat small seeds (although not as tiny as golden phoenix). Only issue; it was bland; you still get the pungent aroma and the taste yet it's not a strong enough appeal for our palate, which is strange given that MSW is renowned for its richness! 

Surprisingly, it's the cheaper D13 that resulted in the most thumbs-up! And at S$30 for a 500-g box, we got like 15 seeds, which was quite a good deal. Maybe I should just opt for Golden Phoenix and D13 in the future. Or, I could just drop by the physical stall and personally choose the durians I want, given my skepticism.   

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Address

748 Yishun Street 72, 

#01-222, Singapore 760748

Map

As above.

Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/theduriantimessg/

Whatsapp Contact for Pre-Order 

+65 9785 1068

Pricing

Mao Shan Wang (500g) - S$45

Golden Phoenix (500g) - S$45

D13 (500g) - S$30

Additional Information

Prepacks are available for purchase. However, if I am onsite, I would usually go for the fresh durians as we never know how long these boxes have been out in the open.