Dessert is the course that gets skipped. You order generously, the table fills, and by the time the plates are cleared, nobody has room left.
That is a shame at a Cantonese meal. The sweet course can be a quieter finish, with chilled puddings, steamed buns and traditional sweets offering a different texture and flavour from the savoury dishes that came before.
Save a little room. At a Cantonese restaurant in Bali, dessert can be more than an afterthought. At Golden Monkey, the selection also changes between the Ubud and Sanur locations, giving you two different ways to finish the meal. You can also browse the Golden Monkey gallery to get a feel for the restaurants and dishes before you visit.
The Cooling Puddings
Chilled puddings make up a distinctive part of Golden Monkey’s dessert selection, and they are particularly appealing after a long meal in Bali.
Mango Pudding is the familiar favourite. It is served chilled and softly set, with ripe mango providing the main flavour. If you are searching for mango pudding in Bali, this is the kind of dessert that makes a good case for saving room after dim sum or Chinese BBQ.
Coconut Pudding follows a similarly chilled and gentle style, made with coconut milk. Its softer flavour makes it an easy choice when you want something refreshing rather than intensely sweet.
Gui Ling Gao is the more traditional choice. This dark herbal jelly has a distinctly bitter edge, balanced here with honey. It is quite different from the desserts most Western diners may be used to, so it is worth ordering alongside something more familiar if you are trying it for the first time.
These three chilled desserts are part of the current Ubud dessert menu.
The Steamed Buns
Steamed buns sit naturally alongside dim sum, making them an easy way to carry the meal into its final course.
Custard Buns arrive steamed and soft, with a sweet custard filling inside. They are familiar, comforting, and made for sharing.
Pandan Buns bring the fragrance of pandan into the same soft steamed format. Pandan is widely used in Southeast Asian cooking and desserts, so the flavour gives this Chinese-style dessert selection a distinctly regional note.
The current Golden Monkey menu lists both Custard Buns and Pandan Buns at the Ubud and Sanur locations.
Order them for the table rather than individually. They are designed for sharing, and pulling apart a warm bun is a more satisfying way to finish a communal meal.
The Broader Dessert Selection at Sanur
Sanur takes a different approach to dessert.
Alongside the steamed buns, the current Sanur menu includes a broader selection of plated and Western-style desserts. Valrhona Chocolate Mousse is served with caramel, raspberries and soil, while Warm Sticky Date Pudding comes with vanilla ice cream. Pavlova combines strawberry, kiwi and Chantilly, and Crème Brûlée is served with vanilla ice cream.
There are also Crispy Fried Banana and Fried Ice Cream, two desserts built around the contrast between warm and cold textures.
This makes the distinction between the two branches fairly simple.
Ubud is the place to look for the more traditional Chinese dessert selection, particularly if chilled mango pudding, coconut pudding, Gui Ling Gao or steamed buns are what you have in mind.
Sanur offers a broader dessert selection, making it a good fit if different people at the table want different styles of sweet finish.
Neither approach is better. They simply give the meal a different ending.
Matching the Dessert to the Meal
A good dessert order should complement the meal that came before it.
After a rich Chinese BBQ dinner of Char Siew and Crispy Pork Belly, something chilled makes sense. Mango Pudding or Coconut Pudding offers a cooler, lighter finish than a rich chocolate dessert.
After a spicy hot pot, a chilled pudding or ice cream can provide a refreshing contrast. If you prefer something more playful, Fried Ice Cream makes the temperature contrast part of the dessert itself.
After a long dim sum lunch, steamed buns continue the same shared style of eating. You have been ordering several small dishes for the table, so a basket of buns makes an easy final course.
After a lighter meal built around steamed fish and vegetables, Gui Ling Gao gives you something more distinctive, while one of the Sanur plated desserts offers a richer finish.
Tea With Dessert
Tea belongs naturally at the end of a Chinese meal and is easy to overlook once the dessert arrives.
Jasmine tea is an easy pairing with chilled puddings and steamed buns. Oolong has a fuller character that can work particularly well with richer desserts at Sanur.
A pot of tea for the table also gives everyone a reason to slow down before the meal ends. In Cantonese dining, that final stretch around the table is part of the experience.
Finishing the Meal Properly
A dessert course does not need to be elaborate to make an impression. Sometimes a chilled mango pudding or a warm custard bun is exactly what a long Chinese meal needs.
At Golden Monkey, the choice depends on where you dine. Ubud keeps the dessert selection closer to traditional Chinese favourites, while Sanur adds a broader range of plated and Western-style desserts.
Book a table at either location through the reservations page, or see the full menu before you arrive.
And when you are ordering dim sum, BBQ or hot pot, leave a little room. The last dish may be the one you remember.
