Limited-time durian dessert buffet at Goodwood Park Hotel, including durian tacos alongside the classics

Durian fans, unite — there’s a buffet made just for this community at Goodwood Park Hotel. In line with its annual Durian Fiesta, the hotel is having a full dessert buffet line-up alongside takeaway and delivery treats, all centred around the king of fruits.

The buffet takes place at the hotel’s coffee lounge from May 15 to August 9, and is priced from S$68 per adult and S$45 per child. It’s available for Friday dinner, Saturday lunch and dinner, and Sunday lunch.

Set along Scotts Road, Goodwood Park Hotel is a five-star hotel with a distinct luxurious, old-world charm — and it’s long been known for its durian offerings that draw crowds every season.

Live stations

This year’s durian buffet brings in a mix of live stations, and the new additions feel a lot more playful and experimental.

The rotating live stations include:

• Japanese souffle pancake with D24 durian ice cream
• D24 durian taco
• D24 durian mini pancake

The Japanese souffle pancake with D24 durian ice cream stood out the most. The pancake was light and fluffy, while managing to maintain its structural integrity, and paired especially well with the creamy D24 durian ice cream.

The D24 durian taco, on the other hand, was probably the most intriguing item of the lot. It took us a while to decide how we felt about it — and we loved the inventiveness involved. 

It’s unusual, and definitely a station worth trying.

The nitrogen meringue cookies and D24 durian boba is a live station available throughout the buffet — giving that nostalgic “dragon breath” effect that many of us were obsessed with for a period of time.

Durian buffet exclusives

Among the buffet-exclusive creations, the D24 durian pandan coconut roll was an easy favourite of ours throughout the evening — fragrant and light, with a soft sponge and a balanced durian flavour that wasn’t overly rich.

Other buffet-exclusive signatures include the D24 durian mousse cake, D24 durian puffs, and D24 durian crepes — classic durian desserts done in familiar forms.

Also worth noting are two new additions this year — both of which also stood out.

The D24 tiramisu Sphere features coffee-soaked ladyfingers and mascarpone mousse around a rich D24 durian centre, giving it a light, creamy profile.

Meanwhile, the D24 raspberry Gem takes inspiration from our nostalgic iced gem biscuits, pairing raspberry mousse and jam with creamy durian mousse for a slightly tangy contrast. 

For those who would rather enjoy their durian desserts at home, several of the items are also available for takeaway and delivery.

Some of the more eye-catching creations include the D24 mini choco Bear, an adorable chocolate-coated dessert filled with durian mousse and chocolate sponge.

There’s also the D24 Thorny King, a highly realistic durian-shaped cake layered with pandan sponge, durian mousse, Chantilly cream, and pandan mousse. It hops onto the whole “is it cake or not?” style of hyper-realistic cakes that was trending online.

This year’s takeaway and delivery line-up feels noticeably conservative, with several desserts designed to look almost collectible or giftable. 

That said, for the prices, we think the durian buffet offers much better value — especially if you’d want to try a wider variety in one sitting.

Durian merchandise

For the first time, Goodwood Park Hotel is also launching Durian Fiesta merchandise.

The lineup includes the Duri Puff Pal (S$8) plushie, Spikey (S$30.55), durian Squishy (S$5) stress toy, sticker sheets (from S$4), and the Spikey shopper bag (S$8) — all themed around the hotel’s durian mascot and made with durian lovers in mind.

Taiwanese porridge buffet add-on

It’s hard to go straight into a full durian spread without something savoury first, which is where the Taiwan porridge buffet add-on comes in. The Taiwan porridge with durian desserts buffet is priced from S$92 per adult and S$59.80 per child.

The spread includes comforting dishes such as fried omelette with chye poh (preserved radish), deep-fried black pomfret fillet with superior sauce, and braised pork belly with mui choy (mustard greens) — simple and hearty, delicious plates. It’ll balance out the heavier desserts that follow.

If you’ve read till the end, here’s a little bonus: Guests can enjoy 15% off with Citi, DBS/POSB, OCBC, and UOB cards when pre-ordering and collecting until August 9.

This was a hosted tasting.

For more ideas on what to eat around Orchard, read on our Cuppage Plaza food guide and the husband-and-wife duo behind Japanese curry spot Kare Kami.