Popular Guangzhou dessert and bakery concept Ruxu lands in Funan
Since its revamp in 2019, Funan has become home to some of Singapore’s favourite eating spots, such as sushi bar Sushi Zushi, and Japanese curry spot Maji Curry.
Ruxu, a dessert-slash-bakery concept from Guangzhou, has joined the vibrant Funan food scene.
It serves up traditional Chinese desserts and baked goods with a modern twist, bringing something to the table, for both the young and old.
There are many Chinese-dessert spots around town, but a concept that mixes both bakes and tang shui is certainly a novelty for us, and in a modern cafe setting, too!
The brand has been making its rounds on Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu for its modern twist on traditional desserts and its aesthetic interior, and it’s exceptionally popular amongst the Gen-Z girlies.
The space at Ruxu
It was hard to miss Ruxu’s space — it was pretty sizeable and split into several sections.
There’s a dedicated baking area where bakes were handkneaded and turned out fresh from the oven, with a window for you to watch the action.
On the far end, there were plenty of dine-in seats, making it a great spot for catching up with friends and family over dessert. In the middle of them both, a cashier counter and a display case full of warm bakes to choose from.
All in all, it’s not a small space, but the many elements and constant foot traffic gave the area a cosy, albeit a little cramped, sort of quality. A perennial line lingered in the corridor just outside, which is why there’s a constant stream of activity in and around the shop.
Dark, woody furnishings, low-hanging warm lighting, and beige uniforms and linens gave the space a rustic feel, similar to traditional Chinese teahouses.
During our visit on a weekday afternoon, we found many local aunties and uncles enjoying the more traditional desserts, while Chinese tourists gravitated towards the sweets.
Baked goods
Tong shui desserts are the signature here, but we found the breads much more impressive.
Ruxu boasts a rather extensive bakery menu of fresh bakes that it turns out from its onsite bakery. Many items were marked as sold out on when we arrived in the early afternoon, but there were still around 15 or so items on display, still.
For a wider spread of options, or if there’s a specific item you’re hoping to try, your best bet would be to head down early, as there’s no guarantee that it’ll be replenished.
Of the breads available, the intense matcha & mochi lava bun (S$3.80) — a fluffy, soft bun with a light dusting of matcha powder on its surface — that stood out simply for its vivid green hue.
It was intense indeed — one bite and our mouths filled with a thick and rich cream, complemented by the chewy mochi nestled within the bun.
If you can’t get enough of all things matcha, you’ll want to make a beeline for this bun!
We also tried the walnut & pistachio cheese brioche (S$5.30), which sees freshly baked brioche buns encrusted with chopped walnut bits, and a lush pistachio-accented cream-cheese filling within.
The bread-to-filling ratio was off, unfortunately — the cream was concentrated near the surface, which makes quite a pretty picture, but left certain parts of the bun totally sans filling. A more even coating of cream cheese would have done wonders.
As a whole, too, the bun was overwhelmingly walnutty and overpowered the pistachios, and despite being a brioche, was tougher and more dense in texture than we’re accustomed to.
Tang shui desserts
A scan of social media showed that the cold fresh milk ultimate-mix (S$8.90) was one of Ruxu’s most popular items, so we had to try it for ourselves.
It comes in hot and cold versions, and sees a variety of ingredients including grass jelly, lotus seeds, peach gum, red beans, taro balls in fresh milk. The red beans are slow-cooked with aged sun-dried mandarin orange peel, bringing out a naturally sweet aftertaste.
You’ll find that it looks very much like a bowl of Nine Fresh’s desserts, with similar ingredients, too.
While the ultimate-mix looked visually appealing, Ruxu’s rendition of the dessert didn’t match up to others we’d tried elsewhere. Despite the abundance of ingredients, the dessert tasted rather one-note — the red bean overpowered everything else in the bowl, even the taro balls, which are often the stars of this dessert.
The mango & mochi taro shaved milk ice (S$10.80) seemed to be a popular choice amongst Ruxu’s younger clientele. Again, while it was pleasing to the eye, we found the shaved milk base to be more muted — more like the icy base of an ice kachang rather than a creamy bingsu. It did, however, serve as plush canvas for the mango cubes — the most flavourful ingredient in the bowl.
Ruxu’s taro double-layer milk custard (S$5.30) — hot Cantonese milk custard with a dollop of taro paste — is eggier than usual. We found the texture to be silky smooth and not too sweet, although the custard was more egg-forward than it should be.
On the other hand, the intense pistachio paste (S$8.60) was visually stunning with how rich it looked, but was ultimately a tad too lumpy to be called a paste. Taste-wise, however, this dessert scored full marks. The taste of pistachio in the paste was strong, yet not too sweet — truly living up to its “intense” name.
The pistachio paste might be too cloying for one to finish alone, so we’d recommend sharing it with a friend or two.
As a whole, Ruxu seems to be drawing quite a healthy crowd, although we did find some room for improvement in its bakes and desserts.
Its overall price point, aesthetically pleasing offerings and central location do make it quite an attractive hang out spot, though.
Looking for new spots to check out? Check out this new hawker baker serving locally inspired muffins and mini pizzas, or this bar serving up cocktails with a sprinkle of academic stimulation.
Tue 10am - 10pm
Wed 10am - 10pm
Thu 10am - 10pm
Fri 10am - 10pm
Sat 10am - 10pm
Sun 10am - 10pm
- City Hall
Hannah is constantly on a hunt for good food and vibey cafes, with the occasional mild lactose intolerance being the only thing that interrupts her endeavours.
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