Mukmeem 木棉 醉心粵味 COCO Park店 (Shenzhen, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

For months, my friends have been raving about Mukmeem (木棉 醉心粵味), a contemporary Cantonese restaurant with branches in most major shopping malls in Shenzhen. I don’t usually go for Cantonese cuisine when dining in SZ (except for dim sum), but while I was at COCO Park counting down the time for my rapid train ride back to West Kowloon, this seemed like a convenient and appealing option thanks to its proximity. Time to give it a try?

This is right next to The Qiantang Tidal (錢塘潮), where I had my first-ever dining experience in Futian two years ago!

Stir-fried choy sum with lard (豬油渣炒菜心) (¥48) – Who could say no to lard? This came in a very generous portion as always seems to be the case with vegetable dishes in SZ. Just nice crunch.

“First Love” sweet and sour pork (初戀咕嚕肉) (¥88) – I had trouble relating “First Love” to sweet and sour pork, to be honest; just reading the name off the menu gave me goosebumps. Still, I decided to order it since it’s their signature dish.

The pork was nicely coated with a thin layer of batter, giving it extra texture and flavor. I could see why everyone around me had ordered this. That said, I thought it didn’t quite measure up to Tao Tao Ju’s signature version mainly because of the temperature. What I like most about TTJ’s take is how it's hot and juicy on the inside while kept cool on the outside with ice. This version, while satisfying, didn’t quite have that same wow factor.

I was also puzzled by the green apple 🍏 was it just decoration? Luckily, my server solved the mystery for me. There was something sweet hidden inside, he said. Turned out to be vanilla with apple compote. A nice touch!

That should do it for my first trip to Shenzhen in 2026. I mistakenly bought ticket to Shenzhen North rather than Futian but still managed to accomplish what I set out to do.

Food Rating: 5.9/10

Price: ¥¥¥

Address: Shop L4-002, L4 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L4层L4-002号铺

Closest Metro Station: Shopping Park (購物公園)

Tel: +86 8321-9713

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

Map: https://j.map.baidu.com/e3/ihcJ

Australia Dairy Company 澳洲牛奶公司 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

For whatever reason, I’ve only been taking Thursdays off from work lately. And since that happens to be the regular day off for Australia Dairy Company (澳洲牛奶公司), I haven’t been able to visit during my scheduled holidays.

Good thing today’s a Friday.

I decided to take the afternoon off and head to Shenzhen. With some extra time before my train departure, I thought I should swing by this tourist hotspot in Jordan for lunch. To my pleasant surprise, the wait wasn’t long at all.

The iced milk tea was, again, delightfully creamy—something I can always count on here! 👍🏻

Noodle soup with barbecued pork — something to keep me going as I spend the afternoon playing my favorite games in SZ. This was pretty decent.

The butter toast remains one of the best I’ve had at any local cha chaan teng (茶餐廳). Crispy, and reliably satisfying.

One thing that always adds to the dining experience here is the interaction with the staff. Interestingly, I felt that service has improved quite a lot — perhaps ever since they received a wave of attention on social media a few years back.

Food Rating: 6/10
Price: $$$
Address: G/F, 47-49 Parkes Street, Jordan, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Jordan
Tel: +852 2730-1356
Opening Hours: 7:30am - 10:00pm (Fri - Wed)

Tokachi Milky K11 Musea (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Initially, I didn’t have any New Year’s Eve celebration planned but with my sister leaving in a few weeks, I had a last-minute change of heart. So, I booked a random restaurant at K11 Musea, and we ended up enjoying a lovely family gathering there. That marked the perfect close to a wonderful 2025 and set us up for a remarkable 2026.

Afterwards, we took a stroll and enjoyed some fresh air outside on the promenade.

Back inside the shopping mall, little nugget spotted Tokachi Milky, a soft serve shop from Hokkaido that he had previously discovered in SoHo and decided he wanted one last sweet treat before the year came to an end!

Tokachi Soft Serve ($42) – Old dad just wanted to keep it simple. The soft serve was rich and milky, exactly what you'd expect from Hokkaido. We wouldn’t settle for anything less.

Strawberry dip ($50) – Not long ago over dinner, I gently suggested to little nugget that he consider getting fit and shedding a few pounds in the new year. Obviously, he wasn’t listening.

The soft serve was dipped in a rich, strawberry sauce, and from what I’ve heard from this kid, it was very nice and sweet. Just look at his smile.....

I guess getting fit could wait another day. Now that’s a wrap for 2025. 2026 here we come!!! 

Food Rating: 6/10

Price: $$$

Address: Shop 008 & 008A, G/F, K11 Musea, Victoria Dockside, 18 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: East Tsim Sha Tsui

Opening Hours: 11:00am - 9:00pm (Sun - Thu), 11:00am - 10:00pm (Fri - Sat)