Gentle Pasta PAFC Mall 黑手制面 平安金融中心店 (Shenzhen, CHINA) ★★★★☆

I’m heading back to Gentle Pasta (黑手制面) at PAFC (平安金融中心) for an early supper before heading home.

What I love most about dining here is their fusion take on Italian pasta, and the prices are always pretty reasonable. They also seem to roll out new dishes every month, which keeps things exciting.

Cream of mushroom soup (蘑菇奶油濃湯) — The soup was genuinely creamy, with a subtle hint of black truffle (maybe truffle oil?).

Caesar salad (凱撒沙律) — I always enjoy Caesar salad in Shenzhen because the lettuce is consistently fresh and crisp. I also liked that the dressing was served on the side, so I didn’t have to worry about it overpowering the greens.

Pasta with roasted chicken in aromatic ginger sauce (霸王沙薑烤雞意麵) (¥88 per set) — This is a new item on the menu, and it’s another fusion dish.

Overall, it was okay, but not as impressive as some of the other items on the menu. The spaghetti had a nice bite, which is always a good sign. The roasted chicken was decent too, but if I’m being picky, the aromatic ginger sauce was far too sweet, and the ginger didn’t come through with enough heat to make the flavors truly stand out.

The pasta I had tonight wasn’t my favorite compared with other dishes here, but I appreciate that they are willing to experiment and bring new ideas to the table. From what I’ve seen, that’s pretty common across Shenzhen — restaurants, cafés, and even bakeries constantly adding something new to keep our dining experience interesting. It’s something I feel Hong Kong is missing more these days: many places just stick to the old recipes and don’t bother to innovate.

Food Rating: 6/10

Price: ¥¥

Address: Shop 110, Level 1 South Tower, 5033 Yitian Road, Futian, Shenzhen, China

深圳市福田区福田街道福安社区益田路5033号平安金融中心南塔L1层110号铺

Closest Metro Station: Shopping Park (購物公園)

Tel: +86 13543918357

Opening Hours: 11:00am - 2:00pm, 5:00pm - 9:30pm daily

Map: https://j.map.baidu.com/3d/bEdM

P3 by pLeace COCO Park (Shenzhen, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

pLeace is a popular casual dining and lifestyle brand that originated in Shenzhen in 2021. It’s known for its unique mix of fusion cuisine, artisanal coffee, and fresh baking, all in a stylish, light-filled setting.

I was still working on my list of the best Basque cheesecake in Shenzhen, and a few social media posts suggested that pLeace would be worth a try. To be honest, I wasn’t familiar with the chain before, and I have never dined there ever. So I figured — why not?

These days, you can find pLeace in almost every major shopping mall around Shenzhen. The one I chose to visit was P3 by pLeace at COCO Park, near Futian Station. From the look of it, it seemed like a spin-off from the main brand focused more on comfort food like pasta and salad.

Extra blue cheesecake (超濃藍紋芝士) (¥28) — It wasn’t labeled as a Basque cheesecake, but it absolutely tasted like one. What stood out most was the bold blue cheese flavor—it was fluffy and creamy, with a molten centre.

It was a mixed bag for me personally, but if you’re a true cheese lover, I’m sure it’s a fantastic treat.

I still have a few more Basque cheesecakes to try over the next couple of weeks. Hopefully, that’ll be enough to wrap up my top 10 list.

Food Rating: 5.6/10

Price: ¥¥

Address: Shop B1-040a, B1F COCO Park, 268 Fuhua Road 3rd, Futian, Shenzhen, China

深圳市福田区福华三路268号星河COCO Park 一期负1楼 B1-040a号铺

Closest Metro Station: Shopping Park (購物公園)

Tel: +86 13316473021

Opening Hours: 10:00am - 10:00pm daily

Map: https://j.map.baidu.com/57/6PnM

Charmi Shenzhen Bay MixC 深圳灣萬象城店 (Shenzhen, CHINA) ★★★★☆

These days, whenever we visit Shenzhen Bay MixC (深圳灣萬象城), we always make it a point to spend some time at Pink Street (粉紅大街), a new stretch of trendy restaurants, cafés, and boutiques. An we followed the same routine this afternoon, as planned.

Our first stop was Charmi, a popular bakery café that we first discovered at K11 ECoast a few months ago.

They have all kinds of freshly baked goodies including croissants, danishes, and donuts, some of which come with a distinctly local twist. 

The artful presentation definitely caught our attention, so naturally we decided to sit down and enjoy a few of these creations.

Smoked corn Basque danish (烤玉米巴斯克丹麥) (¥26) — The pastry was beautifully flaky, and hidden inside was a light, sweet corn mousse that tied everything together nicely.

Pistachio danish (開心果丹麥) (¥25) — Just like the corn danish, it had a crisp, buttery texture. As someone who’s a total pistachio fan, I loved the pistachio cream filling and the crushed pistachio topping. A perfect combination.

Hazelnut caramel sea salt donut (榛子焦糖海鹽甜甜圈) (¥28) — The donut had that textbook pillowy texture. Flavor-wise, the hazelnut and salted caramel custard was doing most of the heavy lifting — perfect for anyone with a major sweet tooth.

This bakery café has a small sit-down area with about five tables and it’s a great spot for a quick treat and a relaxed break. Definitely worth another visit in the near future.

Food Rating: 6.9/10

Price: ¥¥¥

Address: Shop B1-40, Pink Street, Shenzhen Bay MixC, 3213 Keyuan South Road, Nanshan district, Guangzhou, China

深圳市南山区深圳湾万象城B区粉红大街B1层B1-40号铺

Closest Metro Station: Houhai (后海)

Tel: +86 18028704994

Opening Hours: 10:00am - 10:00pm daily

Map: https://j.map.baidu.com/06/05nM