Hello everyone!

When a certain distinctive pungent aroma (or odour 🤪) hits every corner of Singapore, we know the season of the King of Fruits has arrived. Normally around this time of the year, durian stalls along the streets of Geylang and at all over the heartlands would be thronged with people wanting to get their hands on the best picks for the day.

Photo by Elaine Tan

But the pandemic happened and the recent imposition of restrictions on dining out meant that most food services are now limited to take-out and delivery. Unless you live a stone’s throw away from the stall, durian take-outs probably would not be very ideal as the fruit is banned across all types of public transportation – even cab or private-hire drivers might be reluctant to pick up passengers with durian in tow because its putrid smell can linger in the car for days!

Thus, that leaves us with the option of delivery which may also have its own constraints related to location and timing. For instance, it could take up to 5 hours for durian all the way from the west (my former area of residence before moving to the north-east) to be delivered to me even with orders placed in advance. Sometimes, sellers may give priority to walk-in customers and refuse to deliver due to manpower shortage, or charge exorbitant delivery fees if they do. Worse still, the likelihood of receiving durians of quality that falls short of expectations is definitely there since we can’t personally choose them. Isn’t it frustrating that eating durian has now become an increasingly stressful and expensive affair, especially amidst this economic downturn?

You’re not alone! In fact, it was precisely these problems that prompted Durian Delivery to start their own durian business (way before the coronavirus reaches our shores!) because like us, they’ve seen enough of unscrupulous and inexperienced sellers who are unable to meet the growing needs of millennials.

Durian Delivery website

Some examples of the durian they sell..

Durian Delivery also sells vacuum-packed durian, durian puree and durian puffs (as pictured)!

By adopting a strong e-commerce model, Durian Delivery is able to efficiently collate advance orders from the day before and notify their durian plantation in Malaysia to send them out the first thing in the morning. That said, orders can still be made on the day itself, but would be subjected to availability (which you are able to check on the website where stocks are regularly updated). You can rest assured that your durian is plucked (just as it is about to drop) within 6 to 12 hours of it being sent to your doorstep so you get to enjoy the freshest harvest with your loved ones. Otherwise, a replacement would be on your way (upon verification) at no extra cost should you receive a defective order (i.e. unripe, sour or watery durian)!

My order from Durian Delivery!

Despite online being their primary mode of sales (they do cash-and-carry at their brick-and-mortar premises too!), Durian Delivery tries their utmost in digitally replicating the shopping experience at their physical stall by enabling customers to conveniently select their preferred type(s) of durian and fulfilling their orders – dehusked – within the next two hours at S$9.70 (or one, at a premium of S$13.70). No minimum spend value is required to qualify for delivery, which is a huge plus for small households of durian eaters like mine. Large orders of above S$100, however, would be entitled to free delivery (so organise a spree and get your whole kampong on board!). What’s more, their delivery hours stretch all the way to 3am just so that you wouldn’t go to bed feeling durian-deprived!

Bird’s-eye view of the king of fruits..

Glorious, glorious bed of yellow.. Looking at this just makes me salivate..

Whether you like your durian sweet or bitter, or prefer to indulge in the decadence of the more luxurious types of them (think Black Pearl or Black Gold), Durian Delivery does not snub and has got it all covered with its diverse offerings, albeit depending on the harvest phase. My taste buds lean towards the sweeter side of things (also great for my wallet when durian is in question 😬) so my go-to breeds are Red Prawn (which, in this instance, is brought in from Durian Delivery’s private plantation in Muar) and D13 (only if the former isn’t available but so far, this hasn’t been listed on the website). To give my family a choice of flavours, Mao Shan Wang (from Pahang), which is known to have bittersweet notes, was added to my order.

Red Prawn / Ang Hei (800g)

Red Prawn / Ang Hei (800g)

Red Prawn / Ang Hei (800g)

Their durians typically come in two weights – 400g and 800g (the latter of which, according to Durian Delivery, comes from roughly 3.2 kg of durian with husk, and is enough for two) – and packed in airtight plastic containers that, in my opinion, are rather effective in containing the smell. I did not weigh my order but my 800g Red Prawn and 400g Mao Shan Wang durians certainly felt substantially heavy when held. And no, it wasn’t due to their seeds. These durians had seeds that were a lot smaller than usual, enveloped by their thick luscious flesh that were almost pillowy-soft, creamy and sticky – you really get what you paid for!

Mao Shan Wang / Musang King (400g)

Mao Shan Wang / Musang King (400g)

Mao Shan Wang / Musang King (400g)

MSW’s small seed

For the eagle-eyed: This picture of Red Prawn was taken a few days after my order was delivered because I was constantly feeling bloated prior to this. Still, it tasted FANTABULOUS, so much so that we refused to share it with our dog (which would usually get a small mouthful of durian flesh from us)

Small seed!

All the small Red Prawn seeds!

Since Durian Delivery prides themselves on selling the freshest produce straight from their plantation, leftovers at the end of the day would be frozen and sold to confectioneries and dessert shops to prevent wastage. This is unlike many dishonest sellers who would prey on the naivety of uninformed buyers by pushing old stocks first, often at the very same price as the new ones. This, coupled with the fact that Durian Delivery also offers a 100% replacement guarantee as mentioned above, gives me the confidence to part with my money on my future purchases with them – even when we are free of any pandemic.

What are your thoughts about Durian Delivery? Will you be giving them a shot? Let me know your views in the comments below!

Thanks for reading!

DURIAN Delivery SIngapore · DURIANDELIVERY.COM.SG · Delivery hours: 10.00 am – 11.59 pm (daily) · For more information, please visit Sushi Delivery FACEBOOK PAGE, INSTAGRAM or WEBSITE.

PRODUCTs WERE SUPPLIED BY Durian DELIVERY Singapore in collaboration with BEST IN SINGAPORE FOR MY EDITORIAL CONSIDERATION. ALL OPINIONS EXPRESSED ARE MY OWN.

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