Combat Durian

Just want to state that everyone's taste & experience are different. Don't base your judgment solely on others' opinion especially food blogger and people who give 1-2 star reviews. We actually went to the area to have Bak Kut Teh at Ng Ah Sio, and found this durian store just next door so we decided to have some durian for dessert. We gave the Black Thorn variety a try ($32/kg) and found that it was good. Not wanting to miss out on Musang King, I decided to have it as well ($28/kg). Now eventhough the Black Thorn was said to be the superior one, we found that we liked the Musang King better. It's more flavourful and sweeter. It just left a nicer feel in the mouth. Place is clean, which is important to us. Given that it's just next door to our favorite BKT place, we'll definitely be back again for a durian fix next time we're in Singapore.

Disappointing! We paid SDG 50 which is very expensive (for this price we could get premium quality of Musang King in Hong Kong) but we got a worst ever MSW at this place. Only bitter taste with jumbo seeds, merely no sweet though we made it very clear at the beginning that we want a sweeter one. This is not a good durian place for tourists coz they only accept cash plus they don’t really care whether you will come back or not.

The durians are generally good quality, although they are also more expensive. Would however not rate the overall experience too highly for two reasons. 1. Poor service. I’m not a fan of the uncle who sits at the shopfront - i do not know what his specific role is but I find his attitude very offputting, and could add to your ‘heatiness’. There was once I bought a 2kg durian, ate one seed, and found durian to be not so ripe (they shld be great considering the price premium), he replaced with a 1.8kg durian and claimed that its fair since I have already eaten a little. 2. The shop has a system of preordering which means that walk-in customers may not get any durians even if you turn up early. I think they should set aside some durians for walk-ins. Otherwise, you may end up buying durians in boxes which tend to a hit or miss - like the one in the picture which I purchased on another occasion.

My neighbourhood Durian stall. They used to be along Balestier road but this has more space for them to operate in and street parking too for customers. Height of durian season so good prices now. Friendly staff and helpful. I got 3 boxes of Mao Shang Wang and left happy! Couldn’t wait to get home to dig in. Combat durians and Linda always deliver quality Durians.

Craving for durians, discovered the new location of the famous Combat Durian. They are just adjacent to the Ng Ah Sio Bak Kut Teh, so it’s a perfect after dinner activity. The price at combat will always be on the higher side, but the quality is almost assured. We enjoyed the MSW and tekka immensely. The place is spacious but feels stuffy, but overall clean and with washing area. You have to pay upfront and mineral Water are not longer provided for free, which is a pity and somehow we missed the old temple vibe. Still highly recommended for your durian fix :)

Update: Owner replaced the durians with dryer but less bitter type. The flavour was excellent. I brought all the durians I bought back to them the next day, some were contained in my own plastic containers. The cashier was so nice, she washed the containers for me. Thumbs up for great service. Quality of durians varies, depending if it is the rainy season or normal sunny weather season. I bought some durians two weeks ago and they were superb. Yellowish creamy texture with very rich flavour and slight alcoholic taste. I have patronising them for about 5 years on and off, but this is the first time I felt so disappointed. As the current rainy season dragged on, the durians I bought today were way too soft, to the verge of being watery, and it tasted like durian mixed with water. It lost all traces of Musang King's signature creaminess and rich aroma because there was so much moisture, it tasted almost "bland" (by Musang King's standard). Compared to the durians I bought two weeks ago, today's batch is really bad. I could easily get this type of watery quality at my neighbourhood fruit stall at half the price. Do take note that the prices at Combat are above average, usually at $20/kg and above. And I had to take the train and a bus to get there, I put in so much time, effort and money. So it is a huge disappointment. If you don't mind watery textured durians, go to your neighbourhood fruit stall. I have raised the issue with the owner Linda, and she promised to replace them.