Tiffany Restaurant 名寶石餐廳 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

It wasn’t an easy decision, but we finally said goodbye to our family apartment after  it has served us for 40+ years. I was there for more than half of it. Now that it’s gone, I can only hope mom finds comfort in being a little closer to me and little nugget. I hope she settled into our peaceful, cozy neighborhood.

And interestingly enough, we’re back in mom’s old area this afternoon for little nugget’s lessons. For nostalgia’s sake, I decided to go back to Tiffany Restaurant (名寶石餐廳) for our late lunch. It felt like the perfect little detour — a trip down memory lane.

As far as I could remember, Tiffany Restaurant used to be called “Ruby Restaurant” (紅寶石餐廳). Back then, the group had a few branches across Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. Dad used to love visiting the one near our home. He wasn’t the kind of man who splurged on fancy meals often, so we mostly came on special occasions.

I had a strange feeling the moment we walked in this afternoon. Everything looked the same — the decor, the menu, even the familiar faces from the service team. But deep down, I could feel something different inside me. This no longer felt like our “hood”.

The tea tasted just as strong as it did twenty years ago. It was that particular kind of boldness you don’t normally get from a Hong Kong-style soy sauce western restaurant.

I ordered the deep-fried grouper fillet like I always do. Even though Tiffany Restaurant is a Hong Kong-style soy sauce western restaurant, they always seemed to use high-quality ingredients. Maybe that’s why the old patrons keep coming back. 

The thick slice of grouper fillet was again pretty delicious again — crispy on the outside, tender and satisfying within. Newer generations of soy sauce western restaurants probably wouldn’t bother with produce like this, at these kinds of prices.

And just as we were settling in, this guy arrived in time for dessert.

I don’t know when I’ll get the chance to visit again. But I truly hope they’ll keep thriving so we can return from time to time, and let a little nostalgia find us once more.

Food Rating: 5.7/10
Price: $$$
Address: 148 Prince Edward Road West, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Prince Edward
Tel: +852 2381-1516

Opening Hours: 8:00am - 11:30pm daily

Melt in July 七月柿 Express (Shenzhen, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Located at the entrance of trendy Pink Street (粉紅大街) at Shenzhen Bay MixC (深圳灣萬象城), Melt in July Express (七月柿, literally means "July Persimmon") is a popular East-meets-West fusion restaurant with an intriguing food and dessert menu. Unfortunately, despite having it on my radar for quite some time, I’ve never gotten around to crossing it off my list.

But today, I finally had the perfect opportunity especially since I had a pickleball game scheduled at a nearby community centre.

As planned, the moment we finished our match, we headed straight to Shenzhen Bay MixC to satisfy our snack attack.

Under the same group behind Melt in July Farmhouse (七月柿 蕃茄食堂) which is known for its healthy eating, Melt in July 七月柿 Express’ food and dessert menu goes beyond just East-meets-West dishes. There are also comfort-food options that blend local flavors with a modern Korean twist. All in all, there are always more to this than meeting the eye.

Since we were all a little hungry after the game, we started with a quick savory bite.

Slow-stewed beef brisket pita burger (慢燉牛筋腩皮塔堡) (¥55) — The burger was made with pita bread, which adds a hint of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern flair. 

Inside, there were succulent beef brisket, purple onion, and cabbage, all brought together with a Mediterranean-style sauce. Not bad.

Matcha tiramisu (抹茶提拉米蘇) (¥48) — The menu mentioned fermented bean curd (腐乳) as an ingredient, but it hardly registered it in the flavors. Instead, there was a sharp burst of soy-bean notes (“beany!”), paired with matcha and of course, coffee. Texture-wise, it was spot on. Soft, fluffy, and properly enjoyable.

Roasted long-jing tea Basque cheesecake (龍井焙茶巴斯克) (¥36) — This was a pretty ordinary Basque cheesecake, topped with a scoop of hojicha ice cream. Interestingly, the ice cream was decorated with long-jing tea leaves, adding a distinct tea aroma to the mix.

However, personally, I thought the flavors from the cheesecake, ice cream, and tea leaves didn’t quite come together as a complete package.

As usual, we grabbed some bread after our afternoon tea before heading off to our next event (a foot massage). It was a busy afternoon for us in Shenzhen, but everyone needed this after a pretty eventful work week. 

Food Rating: 5.8/10

Price: ¥¥¥

Address: Shop B1-38, Pink Street, Shenzhen Bay MixC, 3213 Keyuan South Road, Nanshan district, Guangzhou, China

深圳市南山区深圳湾万象城B区粉红大街B1层B1-38号铺

Closest Metro Station: Houhai (后海)

Tel: +86 19128337786

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

Map: https://j.map.baidu.com/57/94BM

Rivet Coffee (Shenzhen, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

I’m spending a lazy Friday afternoon in Futian, around the perimeter of the rapid train station. After grabbing a quick bite at Sister Wah Beef Brisket (華姐清湯腩), I headed over to Ping An Financial Centre (PAFC) to check out a few places including Rivet Coffee, which I’ve never had the pleasure of visiting before.

Perched on the 6th floor of PAFC, Rivet Coffee operates as part of Obsidian Bar, a premium lifestyle and luxury dining concept that focuses on modern gastronomy and high-end exclusivity.

Rivet Coffee is a daytime coffee shop and café that also functions as a tea salon, with a small selection of French pastries.

There’s also a bakery side to their business, although the variety was fairly limited to say the least

Opera cake (¥65) — I had a bit of spare time before my spa appointment, so I decided to sit down and enjoy a slice of cake.

The opera cake wasn’t on my original list, but because of the small selection they had here, I ended up getting a slice of the French classic for my sweet treat.

I heard that, to achieve perfection with an authentic opera cake, they have to make sure each of the distinct layers is precisely stacked with the proper dimensions and, of course, that the flavors of each layer had to be flawless.

Up close, it looked a little rough. And once I took my first bite, I quickly realized the flavors just weren’t right. Some ingredients were obviously missing, and the proportions between the layers probably didn’t match the classic recipe. But it was a nice try.

That was all the time I had for my sweet craving. Time to head over to One Avenue for my spa appointment.

Food Rating: 5.8/10

Price: ¥¥¥¥

Address: Shop SL401-402, Level 4 PAFC, 5033 Yitian Road, Futian, Shenzhen, China

深圳市福田区福田街道福安社区益田路5033号平安金融中心SL401-402 号铺

Closest Metro Station: Shopping Park (購物公園)

Tel: +86 (755) 2266-3041

Opening Hours: 11:30am - 6:30pm daily

Map: https://j.map.baidu.com/94/ulCM