Tao Tao Ju One Avenue 陶陶居 卓悦中心店 (Shenzhen, CHINA) ★★★★☆

We’re back in Shenzhen for another arcade-filled weekend! Right after breakfast, Jelloman headed off for her spa session, leaving little nugget and me to enjoy some bonding time at the arcade.

We hung in there for over two hours until we finally called it a day. As we have already agreed this morning over breakfast, we met up at One Avenue (卓悅中心). As usual, I had already secured a table remotely, so the wait was minimal (more on that later).

Signature Hong Kong-style milk tea (招牌港式奶茶) (¥22) – As always, silky smooth and rich with deep, robust tea flavors.

Tao Tao Ju’s Jumbo prawn dumpling (陶陶居大蝦餃) (¥36) – A staple for us whenever we visit Tao Tao Ju, delicately made with flawless wrappers.

Tao Tao Ju’s crispy pigeon (陶陶居脆皮乳鴿) (¥52) – I’ve never tried their roasted pigeon so time to cross it off my list. This was pretty tasty and succulent. Not as juicy as the one from Dagefan (大鴿飯) but more than did the trick for me.

Steamed rice roll with shrimps and egg (鮮蝦韭王滑蛋腸) (¥36) – The combination of scrambled eggs and shrimp worked surprisingly well with the silky rice rolls. Not bad at all.

Pan-fried turnip cake (香煎蘿蔔糕) (¥26) – Little nugget’s favorite turnip cake in SZ. A touch more diced cured meat and mushroom would have been perfect.

Sautéed broccoli with beef (西蘭花炒牛肉) (¥58) – I told little one that he seemed to be losing a bit of weight of late, so I recommended a protein boost for him. Surprisingly, he didn’t even ask for a bowl of steamed rice to go with it.

My friends have been asking me how to get a ticket at Tao Tao Ju remotely to shorten the wait. I know it’s not on Tao Tao Ju’s official app.

This is how it’s done.

(1.1) Fire up your Dianping app.

(1.2) Type Tao Tao Ju or "陶陶居" in Chinese in the search criteria box.

(2.1) If you don’t have Dianping app installed on your mobile. Fire up your WeChat.

(2.2) Go to the “Chat” page.

(2.3) Enter “陶陶居排队取号” or Tao Tao Ju in the search criteria. Do not go to the app (小程式) page and try this on the restaurant’s official app as the function isn’t available there.

(3) Either way, a list of Tao Tao Ju restaurants will be displayed with ones closest to your GPS location showed at the top. Click on the one you want to make reservation for.

(4) Click “Queue up 排隊”.

(5) Select the table size (1-2, 3, 4, etc.). You can choose to receive notifications.

Hope this helps! 

Food Rating: 6.8/10

Price: ¥¥¥

Address:  Shop L233, East Zone, Level 2 One Avenue, Fuhua Road, Futian, Guangzhou, China

深圳市福田区福华路卓悦中心商场东区L233号铺

Closest Metro Station: Gangxia (岗厦)

Tel: +86 (755) 8299-8870

Opening Hours: 10:00am - 9:30pm daily

Map: https://j.map.baidu.com/39/WOi

True Shan Hotpot 三出山火鍋 COCO Park店 (Shenzhen, CHINA) ★★★★☆

My friends have been raving about True Shan Hotpot (三出山火鍋) for months, with some even claiming it to be the best hotpot restaurant in Shenzhen right now. As a big fan of hotpot meals, I finally got my chance to check out their Coco Park location this afternoon

Hailed from Wuhan (武漢), True Shan is a highly popular hotpot chain that has taken the market by storm in recent years. Known for its forest-themed aesthetics and fresh ingredients from the Yunnan-Guizhou-Sichuan region, I once waited over three hours for a table, but sadly, I was still unable to secure one for dinner.

But I knew for sure that lunch on a weekday would be much easier.

With only two soup bases to choose from (one spicy and one non-spicy), this was an easy choice to make!

I was told by my server to prepare my condiments ready while he got the broth ready.

True Shan 全湯鍋 (¥58) – The clear broth was garnished with coriander, celery, and dates. As it approached boiling point, I could smell subtle herbal notes in the air.

The set also included a small bowl of goodies like ox tongue (牛脷) and cabbage.

Winter melon mountain tea (冬瓜山茶) (¥22) – Something for my social media account! This was very nicely decorated and most definitely thirst-quenching. 

Cabbage (高山娃娃菜) (¥12) – I thought I could use more cabbage to balance out all the beef.

Grass-fed beef fillet (草育肥牛) (¥49) – Obviously, we have slightly different definitions of fatty beef (肥牛) in Hong Kong and across the border. This beef fillet was much less marbled than I expected for something labeled as fatty.

While it was a bit chewy, I can honestly say it was quite flavorful.

Grass-fed beef tenderloin (草育脊側肉) (¥48) – The tenderloin was much better marbled, offering a superior texture, albeit slightly less flavorful. 

Still, I would choose better texture any day.

Dining solo at a hotpot restaurant can be an enigma, as it limits the number of items you can try by yourself.

That said, a return visit is a must to get a better assessment of this place. One thing's for sure: I really like the vibe here.

Food Rating: 6.1/10

Price: ¥¥¥

Address: Shop L2-2118, L2 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L2层L2-2118号铺

Closest Metro Station: Shopping Park (購物公園)

Tel: +86 15361633102

Opening Hours: 11:00am - 2:00pm, 5:00pm - 10:00pm daily

Map: https://j.map.baidu.com/cc/QoPi

Kai Kai Dessert Mong Kok 佳佳甜品 旺角店 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

It became pretty obvious that none of us wanted to go home early. So, after settling the bill at Mirai (蕾), we decided to get ourselves something sweet. Kai Kai Dessert (佳佳甜品) wasn't exactly on top of my list after my last list there but it was the only dessert place we could recall in Mongkok.

Taro and sago with coconut milk (芋頭椰汁西米露) – I haven’t had this iconic dessert, one I grew up with, in decades. Honestly, it's not that hard to make. Still, not bad.

I was feuding with one of J.E.R.K.'s members (no surprise who) tonight so as soon as I finished my dessert, it was time to call it the night. 

Food Rating: 5.6/10

Price: $$$

Address: Shop 2, G/F, 1 Fa Yuen Street, Mong Kok, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Mong Kok

Tel: +852 2601-0661

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 1:00am daily