The subtle art of fine dessert at Shibui

Be prepared to be wowed by the generous art of sweetness and light, richness and fresh bites created by well-known dessert king Quang Nguyen.

Dessert bar Shibui. Photo: TAIT SCHMAAL

DESSERT for dinner. Sometimes, yes! Otherwise, leave plenty of tummy space for Shibui sweets.

Drop in early, because there’s no phone number for bookings and on weekends it gets busy in peak sweet-tooth hours.

Post-party (but before close at 10.30pm, or 11.30pm on weekends) there might be a queue for the generous art of sweetness and light, richness and fresh bites created by well-known dessert king Quang Nguyen.

Chocolate peanut butter cake at Shibui. Photo: Dianne Mattsson

Quang started wowing us at Devour in Prospect about eight years ago, when the dessert-bar trend first started. He followed up with some suburban pursuits and has settled into this corporate-looking corner on the western end of Grote St.

After cheese, bickies and drinks at home, we lob at about 9pm, park a few steps from the door and find a just-freed table right by the open kitchen.

Shibui’s peach cheesecake with honeycomb. Photo: Dianne Mattsson

Delicious indecision hits first. While the menu is a compact card of everything from fruity freshness to doughnuts and pudding, you know it will never be just that.

There is lots going on, on every plate.

The chocolate peanut brownie comes in two textures, ganache topping a crumbly base, with peanutty cornflakey crunch and more peanuts in the ice cream, plus a powerful punch of tartness in raspberry gel and ruby fruit.

Shibui’s creme brulee with Redskin candy ice cream. Photo: Dianne Mattsson

Memories of getting our teeth stuck on chewy Redskins almost discount the crème brulee with Redskin candy, but it’s a pretty dish worth having. This is a white chocolate brulee, scattered with sweet rice bubbles, raspberries several ways, and that Redskin candy softly flavours dusky pink ice cream. A vanilla bean cheesecake’s crumbly base is rich with brown butter, lightened by fresh peaches and puree, truly good honeycomb (that you can buy by the bag to take home), and tonight, a super sorbet that tastes like nectarine.

Shibui. Phoro: TAIT SCHMAAL

The mango pudding is big. It’s scattered with more memory-tugging sago, fruit, granita, and cloaked with lovely coconut foam.

Bevvies such as caramelised hot white chocolate and thick shakes finish us off. We’re rolling home, happily looking forward to lying flat.