So Kee Coffee & Milk Tea 蘇記咖啡、奶茶 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

So Kee Coffee & Milk Tea (蘇記咖啡、奶茶) is a highly popular traditional Hong Kong–style stall located on the 2nd floor of the Tai Po Hui Market and Cooked Food Centre (大埔墟街市及熟食中心). It’s a favorite with locals for its exceptionally smooth milk tea and its robust ginger soup beef macaroni.

My team and I are in Tai Po for some business engagement and decided to stop by So Kee for its signature milk tea.

Once we found a table in the corner, we finally got served our iced milk tea. It was made from a custom blend of several tea leaves, and the result was incredibly silky and aromatic. Unfortunately, there wasn’t quite enough condensed milk to deliver that perfect creamy finish.

Still, it was a great moment — just enough time to enjoy a sip of tea before we got back to work.

Food Rating: 5.5/10

Price: $$

Address: Shop CFS37, 2/F, Tai Po Hui Market and Cooked Food Centre, 8 Heung Sze Wui Street, Tai Po, NT, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Tai Po Market

Opening Hours: 7:00am - 2:30pm (Tue - Sun)

Bakehouse Bakery & Restaurant Shatin (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

I have a few business errands to take care of in Tai Po today, and I’m meeting up with the team for car pooling at the New Town Plaza Shopping Centre (沙田新城市廣場). With a bit of spare time left, I thought I’d pop over to Bakehouse to grab a small treat.

One of these days, I really need to sit down for a proper meal here but for now, I’ll settle for a chocolate hazelnut doughnut ($42). This was incredibly pillowy, and the generous portion of chocolate hazelnut custard left me totally stuffed well after our lunch hours. It was sooo good!

I have to admit, I hate going to this vendor’s place. A visit once a year is my absolute maximum tolerable limit. 

Food Rating: 7/10

Price: $$$

Address: Shop 247, 2/F, New Town Plaza Phase I, 18-19 Sha Tin Centre Street, Shatin, Hong Kong

Closest Train Station: Shatin

Website: https://www.bakehouse.hk/locations#Shatin

Opening Hours: 8:00am - 9:00pm (Mon - Thu), 8:00am - 9:30pm (Fri - Sun)

Sense 8 Cantonese Cuisine RAIL IN 譽八仙粤菜 深圳灣睿印店 (Shenzhen, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Sense 8 Cantonese Cuisine (譽八仙粤菜) is a Cantonese restaurant known for its luxurious, vintage Hong Kong tea-house vibe, classic dim sum, and polished Cantonese stir-fry dishes. The brand currently runs two locations in Nanshan District, Shenzhen — MixC (萬象天地) and this one at Shenzhen Bay RAIL-IN (深圳灣睿印).

I’ve always wanted to try the MixC branch, but since they don’t use any online ticketing system, weekend waits can easily run an hour or more making it basically impossible to go for lunch. The RAIL-IN branch delivers the same retro décor and a similar menu, and it’s much easier to get seated. I wasn’t planning to have dinner in Shenzhen tonight but an accident had me traveling all the way back from Futian Station, thus the opportunity presented itself to finally cross it off my list.

I have to admit, I don’t always love this so-called “vintage Hong Kong” aesthetic. It’s a little too dark as a Chinese restaurant. 

Congee with lean meat and century egg (皮蛋瘦肉粥) (¥38) — Tonight, I wasn’t feeling great both mentally and physically so I went with a congee to start off the meal. 

The congee came with incredible sweetness, working wonderfully with slices of pork and century egg. Not a bad start at all.

Hong Kong style roasted duck (明爐港式燒鴨) (¥68) — My second dish took a while to arrive and almost put me in danger of missing my train back home.

I thought for a smaller duck, it was pretty meaty (I like meaty) and it meshed beautifully with the meat sauce. I left enough for little nugget’s midnight snack for tonight.

RAIL-IN wasn’t very busy — at least judging by the foot traffic but what I liked most was its seamless connection to two metro stations: Hongshuwan (紅樹灣) and Hongshuwan South (紅樹灣南) via Line 2, 9, and 11. That convenience is the real beauty of the place.

Food Rating: 6.4/10

Price: ¥¥¥

Address: Shop L315-2, Level 3, RAIL-IN Mall, Nanshan district, Guangzhou, China

深圳市南山区深圳湾睿印3层L315-2店铺

Closest Metro Station: Hongshuwan (紅樹灣) / Hongshuwan South (紅樹灣南)

Tel: +86 15361898720

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

Map: https://j.map.baidu.com/f6/vHoM