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

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 

All Day Chicken Lab Tsuen Wan 全日雞實驗所 荃灣店 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

All Day Chicken Lab (全日雞實驗所) is a highly popular Singaporean restaurant chain in Hong Kong known for its Hainanese chicken (海南雞). It first gained fame in Sham Shui Po thanks to its signature "thermal immersion cooker" technique, which carefully controls the water temperature to give the chicken a silky, melt-in-your-mouth texture. It was voted No. 1 "Hainanese Chicken Rice" by some local food groups one year.

The restaurant operates a few branches across Hong Kong but I have never come across any one of them until my co-worker told me about them this afternoon. Thanks to my love for Singaporean food, I decided to give it a try.

I ordered the Hainanese chicken set (溫泉雞套餐), featuring their Hainan chicken cooked using the onsen technique, accompanied by steamed rice (no, I didn’t order the fragrant rice), soup, and the usual condiments (chili sauce, shredded ginger, etc.).

The chicken breast was seriously tender without being too soft. Unlike some other Hainanese chicken joints, the flesh was flavorful and didn’t have that rubbery feel. Of course, the portion could’ve been a little bigger but considering the price, it’s a fair deal.

Their kaya toast has also been getting rave reviews, so I was curious how it stacks up against others in the market. Without hesitation, my co-worker and I ordered one to share.

This was quite decent. The crispy, thin toast reminded me of the style of Singapore’s Ya Kun (亞坤) but it really needs more kaya jam.

Food Rating: 5.3/10

Price: $$$

Address: G/F, 16 Shiu Wo Street, Tsuen Wan, NT, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Tsuen Wan

Tel: +852 6277-7845

Opening Hours: 11:30am - 10:00pm daily