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

Manteigaria (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

Manteigaria (otherwise known as Fábrica de Pastéis de Nata) is a world-renowned Portuguese egg tart artisan bakery best known for its exceptional egg tarts who has built a loyal fanbase in Lisbon, Portugal. Widely celebrated by locals and travelers, it's highly coveted for serving some of the best pastéis de nata (Portuguese egg tarts) in the world.

The brand has recently expanded into Asia, opening its first Hong Kong store on one of the busiest streets in Central. From what I’ve read from its social media account, it has officially opened on June 2, 2026. Since I was in Central for my tempura lunch, there was no way I would miss out on checking them out personally.

Only a handful of customers were lining up outside the newly opened store, so the wait wasn’t really long. In fact, I got my Portuguese egg tarts in less than five minutes.

These egg tarts are seriously all about the texture. You get a super thin, crisp puff pastry crust topped with a velvety, caramelized egg custard centre that’s smooth and a little runny. With two of these in my hand, I went straight to the small dine-in area to indulge.

I thought the crust was both flaky and chewy at the same time, which wasn’t unlike what we have in Hong Kong. But what really sets these apart from local egg tarts (and even other Portuguese-style tarts in Hong Kong) is the vanilla-infused custard. It’s more firm, almost pudding-like yet sweet and richly aromatic, without tasting overly eggy.

We had a choice between sugar and cinnamon powder as condiments to the egg tarts. Personally, I like the cinnamon more for its distinct and aromatic tone which added another layer of flavor to the egg tart. 

I can absolutely see how someone could get genuinely addicted if they taste these straight out of the oven. Even knowing the tart (especially the pastry crust) probably won’t taste as good after reheating, I decided to take home another six for my team. It’s still worth the effort.

Food Rating: 7/10

Price: $$$

Address: Shop B G/F, Man Hing Commercial Building, 79-83 Queen's Road Central, Central, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Central

Tel: +852 6336-5059

Website: https://www.instagram.com/manteigaria.hk/?hl=en

Opening Hours: 10:00am - 8:00pm daily

Sister Wah Beef Brisket 華姐清湯腩 Coco Park 店 (Shenzhen, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

I wrote about Sister Wah Beef Brisket (華姐清湯腩) opening in Shenzhen back in April after I stumbled upon its (then-future) One Avenue (卓悅中心) outpost. This new location should save diehard fans some serious headaches, considering the long queues in front of their Tin Hau (天后) flagship. In fact, a couple of weeks ago, I saw a Facebook post somewhere mentioning a certain Hong Kong mogul lining up there like us ordinary citizens. It really spoke volumes about the quality of Sister Wah — but my main question was whether they could maintain the same standard with ventures across the border.

I was running errands near Coco Park in Shenzhen this afternoon, and what I didn’t realize was that, apart from One Avenue, they were also opening another branch there. Guess I gotta find out about their beef brisket after all.

To my major disappointment, a few of their signatures were unavailable this afternoon including my favorite skirt steak (崩沙腩)!

Beef brisket in clear broth (清湯腩) — My consolation prize.

I have chosen egg noodles instead of flat noodles and it worked beautifully with the clear broth.

To my pleasant surprise, the beef brisket was much fattier than I thought. Even the meat wasn’t rough and chewy like I had first feared. Not bad.

The chilled cucumber was packed with a surprise extra kick (chili?).

Sister Wah Beef Brisket wasn’t my first choice to begin with but I was glad I unexpectedly bumped into its new location at Coco Park. Crossing it off my list didn’t even break a sweat.

Food Rating: 6.4/10

Price: ¥¥¥

Address: 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

Closest Metro Station: Shopping Park (購物公園)

Tel: +86 13265884747

Opening Hours: 10:30am - 9:30pm daily

Map: https://j.map.baidu.com/a8/14TM