Samsen Sheung Wan 泰麵 上環店 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

I didn’t realize that Samsen the popular Thai noodle joint has opened a branch in Sheung Wan until a few months ago, when little nugget was having his lessons in the area on Saturdays.

Samsen is the brainchild of owner-chef Adam Cliff, an Australian chef who spent years at the highly successful Nahm in Bangkok under world-renowned chef David Thompson. Before launching Samsen, he was the head chef of Chachawan, another hugely popular Thai restaurant in Sheung Wan.

Compared to Chachawan, Samsen has a much smaller food menu focused more on its wok-fried noodles, skewers, curry and roti (both savory and sweet). 

At around 8:30pm, the crowd had thinned out a bit, so I was able to grab a seat at the counter next to the other solo diners.

Wok fried Thai watercress ($88) — These were tossed with chili, garlic and yellow beans. I figured they wouldn’t be too spicy since there was no chili 🌶️ sign next to it on the menu. I was obviously wrong. The spicy kick caught me a little off guard, but otherwise, it was pretty decent, with a nice wok hei.

Stir-fried flat noodles with chicken and baby corn ($148) — This came with even better wok hei. The flat noodles, slightly sticky (in a lovely way) was nicely tossed with baby corn, baby kale, succulent chicken fillet and egg in a light oyster sauce. I really enjoyed the texture of these flat noodles. I could probably have this everyday!

I have to come back to try their roti sometime. They make it fresh on the spot, and it comes in both sweet and savory versions.

It was raining all day, and it got worse during dinner. A black rain signal was on for a while, so I had to wait a bit before heading back out into the rain.

This was a very good meal — enough to make me wonder why I took so long to come back. That said, for the ultimate Thai dai pai dong (open-air food stall) experience, I still prefer Chachawan or Soi 29, thanks to their more extensive menu. Samsen is more of a stopgap option if you’re in the mood for a quick Thai noodle fix.

Food Rating: 6.7/10

Price: $$$

Address: G/F, 23 Jervois Street, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Sheung Wan

Tel: +852 2234-0080

Website: http://www.samsen-hk.com/

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 3:00pm (Mon - Sun), 6:00pm - 10:00pm (Mon - Thu), 6:00pm - 11:00pm (Fri - Sun)

Chef Tan’s Kitchen Traditional Zhongshan Cuisine AVIC City 譚廚中山傳家菜 中航城店 (Shenzhen, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

We are meeting up with Ben sir and his family for lunch, followed by some game time for the kids today. As always, I get a break from picking the lunch spot with Ben Sir leading the charge again this afternoon.. He ended up picking Chef Tan’s Kitchen (譚廚) which was music to my ears given I’ve never eaten at any of their locations before. So, it was a real first for me.

Chef Tan’s Kitchen is known for the delicacies from Zhongshan (中山). Naturally, dishes like roast pigeon, crispy grass carp fillet (脆肉鯇), and stuffed fried tofu (釀豆腐) were front and centre on the menu.

Salt-baked pigeon (鹽焗妙齡乳鴿) (¥59) — I didn’t get to try this dish but the kids seemed to love it. I didn’t know if the corn was a good fit with the pigeon.

Baked crispy grass carp fillet with aromatic ginger (沙薑焗脆鯇) (¥108) — The grass carp was nicely crispy, just as advertised and I liked the fact that the aromatic ginger wasn’t overpowering like I first feared.

Deep-fried leek cake with clam meat (中山蜆肉餅) (¥59) — My first time having leek cake. I’m not normally a fan of leeks, but the clams really helped carry the dish especially with the texture. Not bad.

Fresh squid baked in clay pot (砂鍋焗鮮魷) (¥88) — This came sizzling hot in the clay pot and the squid was packed with flavors.

Hakka-style stuffed tofu (家鄉釀豆腐) (¥43) — Hakka-style tofu is an iconic dish and I could definitely see why. The silky smooth tofu was topped beautifully with minced pork and dace fish paste.

Sweet and sour pork belly (甜酸菠蘿五花肉) — I thought it would just be a regular sweet and sour pork dish (咕嚕肉), but this version was different. The lean pork came wrapped in a layer of pork fat before being deep-fried with the batter. It was an interesting twist on the classic.

Chef Tan’s Kitchen is a restaurant chain with locations in many of Shenzhen’s major shopping malls, and it has always been on my radar so it felt great to finally cross it off my list. With that checked off, it’s time for some uninterrupted game time at last!

Food Rating: 5.8/10

Price: ¥¥¥

Address: Zone B, Level 5 AVIC City Junshang Shopping Centre, Futian district, Guangzhou, China

深圳市福田区华强北街道华富路1018号中航城君尚购物中心B区L5层

Closest Metro Station: Huaquiangbei (华强北)

Tel: +86 18028734851

Opening Hours: 11:00am - 3:00pm, 5:00pm - 9:30pm daily

Map: https://j.map.baidu.com/83/Tdji

Yue De Xian AVIC City 悅得閑廣式點心茶樓 中航城店 (Shenzhen, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Yue De Xian (悅得閑) seems to have taken over as our breakfast spot from Tsui Wah lately. At least it was the case this morning. The place operates several locations across Shenzhen in a similar style to Dianduda (點都德). In fact, their décor also feels a bit alike.

One interesting observation about the Yue De Xian branch at AVIC (中航城) is that even though it opens around 8:30am, the crowd doesn’t really show up until about 10:30am. So our plan was to arrive just ahead of the rush.

Assorted meat congee with sliced fish (荔灣艇仔粥) (¥32) — What I like most about breakfast here is the congee. They offer a few different options, and I usually go with this one thanks to the crunchy pork skin (豬皮).

Steamed shrimp dumplings four-ways (四喜蝦餃) (¥37) — Something for little one. To be brutally honest, I can never really tell the difference between the “four,” except for the color. The dumplings with the green wrapper were likely made with parsley. At least one of them does.

Bean curd roll with enoki mushrooms and abalone sauce (鮑汁腐皮金菇卷) (¥28) — 

The Hong Kong version usually comes with minced pork inside but no mushrooms. My teammates said the enoki mushrooms added a really nice crunch, and I can see why they enjoyed it so much.

Three dim sums for three people!? Usually, that wouldn’t be enough, but since we had pickleball a couple hours later, nobody wanted a full stomach while running around on the court.

Food Rating: 5.5/10

Price: ¥¥¥

Address: Shop L317, Zone A, Level 3 AVIC City Junshang Shopping Centre, Futian district, Guangzhou, China

深圳市福田区华强北街道华富路1018号中航城君尚购物中心A区L3层L317

Closest Metro Station: Huaquiangbei (华强北)

Tel: +86 (0755) 8256-0812

Opening Hours: 8:30am - 9:00pm daily

Map: https://j.map.baidu.com/ca/bDJi