DurianBB is a nice cozy little durian cafe that serves durian treats and even a durian buffet! I am not one to shy away from eating a sinful amount of durian as long as they are good. The last I checked, the buffet time slots were sold out. Could this be indicative of crowd wisdom that the buffet is good? Or merely a reflection of the durian glutton searching for a break from durian withdrawal?

There were 4 cultivars served in the tasting platter – Dato Nina, XO, Tekka and Musang King. I ate them in order to avoid overwhelming the flavors of the milder cultivars with the stronger ones like Musang King. As the durians are supposedly chilled (from the bygone era perhaps), the texture might suffer a little, especially the wetter ones. Dato Nina had a pretty mild flavor and a grainy texture, probably from defrosting. It turned out to be the harbinger of what was about to come. D24 was not bad in terms of texture. Flavorwise, it was pretty one dimensional, but it did evoke the sentiment that I was eating decent durian. Tekka was another mild cultivar that faces the same problems of Dato Nina.

With three down and nothing that truly impressed, I was pinning my hopes on the last seed. After all, even the worst Musang King I have ever eaten was something I wouldn’t mind revisiting in a pinch. It truly is the cultivar that durian dreams are made of. Given the impressive accolades of Musang King, I was rooting for the final seed to be the hero of the platter. MSW, save me from durian abyss!

And, like the final movie of any trilogy, the MSW disappointed spectacularly. Texture-wise, it was grainy and wet. Flavor-wise, it was sour….. SOUR….. It was as though the MSW was mocking the cheapo in me for expecting any semblance of quality from a buffet.

I ended up ordering another round to 1) eat my money’s worth (which at this point is going to be a tall order) and 2) check if it was a batch issue. Turns out, the new round of durian tasted different, but they were all mediocre and plagued by the same problems that I described – grainy and one-dimensional. In fact, the second batch of MSW tasted like a watered-down version of the first i.e. it had no flavor, not even the sourness. If I cannot even depend on the Old Faithful of durians to erupt with flavor, should I really continue playing the durian roulette of disappointment?

The only saving grace is that the service was great. The servers offered to change out any durian that had off-flavors, possibly after overhearing my reactionary comment when I first bit into the lemo… i mean MSW. I guess it wouldn’t be far off if I were to label this durian-flavored Sour Patch the lemon of durians… Gloves and wipes were provided, so at least my fingers did not smell after. Also, as part of the buffet special, they were offering 50% discount for drinks. All the better to wash away my sorrows.

Now… If the pastries and desserts are made with the same chilled durian … I wonder… Hmm … Pastry Roulette …