Pinky Bakery Harbour City Pop-up (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

This October has been unexpectedly busy with a string of activities and events both at work and personal level. I was desperately needing a break from action and I finally got it from a Monday afternoon where there was no business meeting scheduled and no assignments due. Yes!



After a quick lunch in the heart of Tsim Sha Tsui, I ventured over to Harbour City, a place we used to visit so often during the pandemic but was rarely on our agenda in the past year or so. I was planning to enjoy a quick afternoon tea there where I suddenly bumped into Pinky Bakery's pop-up in front of City Super. In case you haven't heard of this artisan bakery like I did before, they are a specialist in bakery goods like homemade doughnuts, mochi bagels and muffins. During this current pop-up, they are showcasing some of their latest creations in the form of doughnuts.

After spending some time to decide what flavor to get, I held my doughnut firmly in my hand while I stepped outdoor to soak in the harbour view.

Black sesame doughnut – I felt like I am having a picnic here.

They have the making of a very nice black sesame doughnut here with some rich and runny black sesame paste (could be more runny if you ask me) in the middle and grated coconut sprinkled on top. The only thing missing was the texture of the dough which was more like a bread (baked) than a doughnut (fried) to me. That was the difference.

Hong Kong is such a beautiful city. I hope it continues to be beautiful.

Food Rating: 5.5/10

Price: $$$

Address: Shop 3001 (In front of City Super), 3-27 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui

Website: www.instagram.com/pinky__bakery/?hl=en

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

Dough Bros Pilkem Street Jordan (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Little nugget's English class has switched from weekdays to Saturday so instead of our crew, I was the one tasked with sending him to class (and bringing him back). I have to admit, it's almost impossible to kill 1.5 hours of spare time in Jordan these days, especially with the huge lineup in front of Australia Dairy Company (澳洲牛奶公司). But I managed to do so with the help of my new friends at a foot massage parlour I discovered this morning. $138 was a great bargain price to pay.

Anyways. While I was walking back to little one's classroom, I happened to run into Dough Bros Pizza and Doughnuts on Pilkem Street (庇利金街). Thought little guy would love to have a freshly made doughnut before his tennis class (as he won't have time for lunch in between. Poor kid!).

The doughnuts here were made to order so I hung around for a little while before they had it ready.

Strawberry doughnut – This was pretty nice but it looked noticeably smaller than the one I had a few years ago.

We finally managed to find a place to sit down so little one could fully enjoy his strawberry doughnut. 

This looked pretty spongy to me and the way the strawberry coulis was oozing out, just lovely!

This was the second or third time I bought things from a Dough Bros establishment and quite franking speaking, it's never a pleasant experience. I don't know if they taught it at their training but their cashiers were always putting up this face with zero expression (or emotion). It's like dealing with a robot. 

Food Rating: 5.5/10

Price: $$$

Address: Shop 1, G/F, Fu Lee Commercial Building, 14-20 Pilkem Street, Jordan, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Jordan

Tel: +852 2387-1202

Website: www.doughbroshk.com

Opening Hours: 11:00am - 10:30pm (Sun - Thu), 11:00am - 11:45pm (Fri - Sat)

Shake Shack Elements (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Following another hard-fought day at little nugget’s school (fighting the urge to fall asleep while waiting for him to finish his classes), it was time to finally get some rest. No, wait…..as he was dressing up as a McDonald’s Fries, he gave me a pat on the back, a signal that we were almost ready to leave home again. Where, you ask? Oh yeah, we’re meeting up with 5 other families for our Halloween party tonight. 👻🎃

Since our party venue was set at the West Kowloon Park near the M+ Museum complex, I knew I would have the chance to swing by Elements for a burger and milkshake from Shake Shack prior to our party.

Smoke Shack – I am starting to get a little bored with this burger now. Today, the applewood smoker bacon was way too crunchy and the spicy kick a bit over the top. 👎🏻

Salted caramel shake – Luckily, I got my caramel shake to wash everything down.

Little one was all fired up at the party and he was his usual self running tirelessly around the park chasing his friends (and a poor grasshopper).

While the parents gathered around sharing the recent happenings at school, the kids were busy trick-or-treating. We hung around the park till late when we all seemed to suddenly realize that we got lots of ground to cover (like homework!) the next morning. It was time to clean up and retreat home.

Food Rating: 5/10

Price: $$$

Address: Shop 1005-1006, 1/F, Fire Zone, ELEMENTS, 1 Austin Road West, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Kowloon Station

Tel: +852 2719-8282

Website: www.shakeshack.com.hk

Opening Hours: 11:30am - 8:30pm (Mon - Thu), 11:00am - 10:00pm (Fri - Sun)

Semua Semua So Bar 蘇媽.蘇媽 So Bar (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

You know Halloween is just around the corner when an Asian café like Semua Semua So Bar (蘇媽.蘇媽 So Bar) is donning a Halloween costume.

I've been awfully busy at work these days and on the weekends, I am always tied up with little nugget so it's been a while since I last had a Malaysian pulled tea and kaya toast. I figured it was time to scratch that itch this afternoon.

Teh Tarik – In the past, I always had the iced version of this but as I get a little older, I am slowly starting to enjoy the warm and foamy version a little more.

Kaya toast with butter – Of course, this was what I came here for. The kaya and coconut flavors worked so well with the slippery butter. It was all good.

Tomorrow is Saturday and I have a full day of work shadowing little guy from morning to the afternoon, followed by our Halloween party at West Kowloon. Well, at least I got my 10 minutes of indulgence here. 

Food Rating: 6/10

Price: $$$

Address: G/F 10 Granville Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui

Tel: +852 2362-8020

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

I Sea Cream at Link CentralWalk 领展中心城店 (Shenzhen, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Little nugget's first trip to Shenzhen is drawing to a close but before we get set to take the rapid train back home, I promised him that he'd get his wish for an ice-cream, which would serve as a sweet ending to his first-ever journey to Mainland.



And it didn't take long for us to find an ice-cream shop at Link CentralWalk (領展中心城) (used to be called Yijing Central Walk 怡景中心城) where we were having supper.

Little one was having a tough time making up his mind. Hurry up, our train's leaving soon~!

He was so happy to get his hands on this crab ice-cream. No, it's not crab-flavored ice-cream but the scoop of vanilla ice-cream was decorated like a crab thanks to a couple of marshmallows and choco. 

Price: ¥¥

Address: Level 2, 3 Fuhua Road 1st, Futian, Shenzhen, China

Closest Metro Station: Convention & Exhibition Center station (會展中心)

Opening Hours: 10:00am - 10:00pm (Sun - Thu), 10:00am - 10:30pm (Fri - Sat)

Map: https://j.map.baidu.com/7d/Q6yK

碼頭見潮汕小海鮮 领展中心城店 (Shenzhen, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Little nugget is off to a playhouse at Link CentralWalk (领展中心城) just before dinner time so it's happy time for everyone concerned cuz we all get some free time to walk around the mall. Just when I thought I could enjoy the next hour all for myself, I got a text message from Jelloman giving me a secret mission to find our dinner venue for tonite. 

So, I circled around Link CentralWalk and managed to find this Chiu Chow restaurant by the name of 碼頭見潮汕小海鮮 领展中心城店.

When I dig a little deeper into the background of this restaurant, I realize that it's a newly opened branch of a Michelin recommended seafood restaurant according to a number of unconfirmed sources (from the Guangdong guide?). 

This is a place famous for its fresh seafood and they have these small stalls at the back for diners to handpick their own seafood or dishes freshly made from the open kitchen (like a food court!). But yours truly got a little tied up elsewhere, and by the time I arrived, somebody else already made the decision to order ahead of time (Oh no!)....... 😟😟😟

Deep-fried tofu (椒鹽豆腐) – A little chewy rather than crispy on the outside. The seasoning was totally missing from action.

Baked pork ribs with spring vegetables (排骨春菜煲) – I like to stay healthy with a lot of veggies at dinner time. Not bad.



Stir-fried noodles (潮式炒麵??) – I forgot to jot down the name of the dish but it tasted disappointingly similar to a noodle dish our helper always made for us at home. And the worst part of all, it's one that I absolutely would like to avoid at all cost. Not good.

Scallion pancake (蔥油餅) – The price of $18 was certainly very attractive. 

Chiu Chow oyster and seafood porridge (海鮮蠔仔粥) – Up until this point, we have yet to enjoy any seafood and this is a place that's touted for its seafood and Chiu Chow dishes. 

And just when I was raising my eyebrows, the oyster and seafood porridge finally arrived!

I tried to salvage our night by ordering a few famous Chiu Chow dishes including the Chiu Chow marinated goose but a number of these signature dishes were already sold out at 7pm.....

Chiu Chow oyster omelette (香煎蠔仔烙) – I did manage to order one of my favorite Chiu Chow dish, the oyster omelette. This was so yummy with the centre of gluey oysters perfectly sandwiched between the crispy crusts. Very very nice. 

Deep-fried handmade shrimp dumpling (手工蝦棗) – A little oily but the shrimp dumpling was so velvety with the delicate shrimp mousse nicely coated by the crispy batter.

It was a shame that we didn't get to try more seafood and/or Chiu Chow dishes. By the time we tried to look for some desserts, it was almost 8pm already; time to get on our horse cuz our train's leaving in 30 minutes. 

Food Rating: 4.5/10

Price: ¥¥

Address: Shop 008A G/F, 3 Fuhua Road 1st, Futian, Shenzhen, China

福华一路领展中心城G层008A铺

Closest Metro Station: Convention & Exhibition Center station (會展中心)

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

Luckin Coffee PAFC Mall South Tower 瑞幸咖啡 平安金融中心南塔店 (Shenzhen, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Originated in Beijing, Luckin Coffee (瑞幸咖啡) burst onto the Chinese coffee scene in 2017 and most recently hit 10,000 stores nationwide surpassing Starbucks as the largest coffee chain brand in one of the biggest coffee shop market in the world. The rapid growing Luckin has re-shaped the country's beverage market which was traditionally driven by its tea-drinking culture. One of the popular coffee chain's most successful launch in recent memory has to be its Moutai infused latte called Jiangxiang Latte (酱香拿铁). It's a new beverage with Kweichow Moutai, a Chinese liquor maker famed for its baijiu made from rice grains.

Not surprisingly, Jelloman has heard about this Jiangxiang Latte and she wanted a piece of the action.

I figured there must be a Luckin Coffee outlet near COCO Park so I decided to look it up in my online app. And the first (closest) location that showed up was one at Futian Ping An Finance Centre (福田區平安金融中心商場) right next door to COCO Park!

We had to go very deep into the food hall to find this Luckin outlet but it's well worth the search.

Jiangxiang Latte (酱香拿铁) – Our Moutai infused latte at last. It wasn't on the menu but our server was happy to make it for us.

Well, this tasted like a normal latte with the first couple of sips but as soon as it reached my throat, there was a slight burning sensation that suggested something strong was getting thru. A very interesting experience but I am not sure I am ready for it to be honest.

Price: ¥¥¥

Address: Level 1 PAFC, 5033 Yitian Road, Futian, Shenzhen, China

Closest Metro Station: Shopping Park station (購物公園)

Opening Hours: 10:00am - 8:00pm daily

Map: https://j.map.baidu.com/90/RAwK

Tea Well 葉外 COCO Park (Shenzhen, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Just a couple of hours following our Shanghainese lunch, Jelloman was already calling for an afternoon tea session. Since all of us have already heard about Tea Well (葉外)'s popular fruit infused tea but had yet to try it out personally, it was a no-brainer that we head straight down to Level Two of COCO Park to check it off our list.



I love the elegant simplicity of this clean and sleek space. Very inviting.

On display were a few of their pastries highlighted by the signature persimmon tea cake and fig tea cake. 

Some of the tea set came with this high glass bottle and special glassware. Very elegant.

To get things started, we scanned the code printed on the table to bring up the drink and cake menu on our mobile devices.

Then this.....an assortment of sub-menus with a brief description of each drink.

Followed by the cakes.....

Some of us decided to try the tea served in their signature glassware.

But I was more interested in their fruit infused tea myself so I decided to share this mango infused Oolong tea with Jelloman. The tea obviously came with a hint of zesty lemon. Pretty refreshing.

The second tea we ordered was persimmon infused red tea. Each of these tea sets came with a small tea pairing on the side.

For desserts, mom had her eyes on this Mandarin Mont Blanc cake (柑橘栗子蛋糕) since we walked through those doors but disappointingly, she reported that the chestnut flavors didn't really register. Perhaps, the mandarin was way too overpowering?

I had their Rose melon cake (玫瑰蜜瓜小種蛋糕) myself. 

There was a layer of sponge cake that was infused with Lapsang souchong (小種紅茶) or Zhengshan xiaozhong, a black tea consisting of Camellia sinensis leaves that were smoke-dried over a pinewood fire. So, some nice smokiness there along with the crunch from the crushed almonds and melon cubes. By far the best of the three cakes we tried this afternoon.

Jelloman had the pistachio white peach cake (開心果 白桃) which was a little disappointing.

Underneath the pistachio cream and pistachio flavored sponge cake was a piece of white peach compote which was a little hard and dry (like a dried apricot). There was just not enough exciting textures in this to make it appealing for the palate.

I thought we all enjoyed our fruit infused tea and the vibe was certainly worth coming back for but they have got to do something about their cakes.

Food Rating: 5/10

Price: ¥¥¥¥

Address: Level 2, COCO Park, 268 Fuhua Road 3, Futian, Shenzhen, China

Closest Metro Station: Shopping Park station (購物公園)

Opening Hours: 10:00am - 10:30pm (Mon - Fri), 10:00am - 11:00pm (Sat - Sun)

Map: https://j.map.baidu.com/37/vaff

The Qiantang Tidal 錢塘潮 COCO Park (Shenzhen, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Before this trip to Futian, I have heard through the grapevines that 星河 COCO Park boasts a total of over 100 restaurants in the premise. I didn't count myself but I thought I saw about half of that amount here this afternoon. Jelloman was counting on the fact we would find a Chiu Chow restaurant for lunch as there were at least a few of them out here. However, as we all know, even the most perfect plan doesn't always pan out. So, I was tasked with finding an alternative, in a spacious shopping mall that I've never been before. That sounds like a plan to me.

I managed to find The Qiantang Tidal (錢塘潮) on the top level of the shopping complex. It was an upscale Shanghainese restaurant with a really dark interior.

I'd imagine it's impossible to read in such dark surroundings but no problem for this little kid right there.

Glutinous rice lotus root (西湖藕韵) – The first starter for us was a cold dish of lotus root stuffed with glutinous rice and finished off with a sweet and tangy sauce made with osmanthus (桂花). I like the crunchiness of the lotus root but thought it was a tad too sweet for a starter to kick off the meal (dessert okay).

Vegetarian goose (靈隱素齋鵝) – The crispy bean curd skins were pretty nice, working well with the strips of carrots in the middle.

Ham duck soup with dried bamboo shoot (火腿筍干老鴨湯) – This was really rich in flavor and I like the dried bamboo shoot that was both crunchy and chewy at the same time. Even after three bowls of this, I was still thinking about getting my fourth.

Crispy chicken with black truffle (黑松露脆皮雞) – A little small in size, almost like a spring chicken but everyone was happy about the fact that it's already deboned. Little nugget was so happy with the crispy skins and for his old man, the flesh was the star thanks to its nice, tender texture.

Steamed meat balls (黑金獅子頭) – I was the one in favor of ordering this because of its unusual color of black.

I was under the impression that its black color came from squid ink but the flavors certainly didn't suggest that was the case. 

Fried shrimps with tea (龍井蝦仁) – Pretty decent but I thought it arrived a little late when everybody was ready to throw in the white towel already.

Colorful glutinous rice with nuts (堅果多彩糯米飯) – I thought this was a dessert but our server reminded us that it was just another main dish like fried rice. I love the mild sweetness in this one and the fact that each layer got its own distinctive flavor (and texture when it comes to the base of purple rice).

Fried rice with beef (和牛炒飯) – This came really really late and I already threw in my towel. Did enjoy a small bowl of it just for the heck of it and thought it was a tad too salty for my liking.

There were some pretty nicely decorated dishes served up here this afternoon. The duck soup and glutinous rice tower were the clear winners here, while other dishes like the black lion's head also warranted an encore if we ever come back for another meal. The total damage, you ask? Well, it worked out to be around 125RMB per head. The price line was fair for a typical meal in Hong Kong for six but it certainly doesn't match what people have been saying about Shenzhen's dining scene. Perhaps, we've been looking at the wrong places. Should've gone to the street vendors instead.

Food Rating: 5.5/10

Price: ¥¥¥¥

Address: Level 4, COCO Park, 268 Fuhua Road 3, Futian, Shenzhen, China

Closest Metro Station: Shopping Park station (購物公園)

Tel: +86 (755) 8359-2526

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

Map: https://j.map.baidu.com/57/lMXJ

BAMU Boulangerie Macau 八目烘焙 COCO Park (Shenzhen, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

We were aiming to hit a home run with a last-minute trip to Shanghai over the long weekend but the tickets from our mileage claim didn't provide very good value (due to poor departure and return time). At the end, we decided to back pedal a bit and switch to Plan B – a day trip to Shenzhen, or more especially Futian (福田).  

It's been a long time since we last visited Futian and news had it that it has become one of the most modernized cities in Mainland China just behind Beijing and Shanghai. And now with the rapid train, it's going to be a whole new experience not only for us but our folks and little nugget alike. 

 

We didn't want to venture too far away from the rapid train station in central Futian so we were happy to make 福田星河 COCO Park our first and perhaps only destination of this trip.

Interestingly, the first shop we stopped by at COCO Park was BAMU Boulangerie Macau (八目烘焙咖啡), a bakery and coffee shop originated from Macau. It was on my radar screen for our last Macau trip but due to the tight schedule, we were unable to squeeze it in. This time around, I was all too happy to scratch this itch.

The bakery shop was advertised as a French boulangerie with signature items including croissants (in different flavors), danish pastries and financiers. 

For a bakery shop from Macau, of course they won't miss their pastel de nata, or Portuguese egg tarts for the world.

Jelloman had her sight set on these croissants with truffle/mushroom or cheese/ham.

Pastel de nata (焦糖酥皮蛋撻) (¥12) – The egg custard was fine but I expected the crust to be a lot more flaky and buttery.

Croissant with truffle and mushrooms (黑松露蘑菇可頌) (¥20) – To the contrary, the croissant was way too flaky according to Jelloman, and the thick slab of truffle cream was a little over the top.

Pecan cream cinnamon roll (碧根果奶油肉桂卷) (¥20) – Mom loves pecans so this was a no-brainer for her. Thought the roasted pecans provided some nice, crunchy texture to the cinnamon roll.

Everybody was thrilled to get this first official meal out of the way quickly. Okay, it's not really a meal but more like a snack; nevertheless it was a solid experience and we were all feeling good about the bright start to our first journey to Shenzhen together.

Food Rating: 5/10

Price: ¥¥¥

Address: Level L1S, Shop 106-107, COCO Park, 268 Fuhua Road 3, Futian, Shenzhen, China

Closest Metro Station: Shopping Park station (購物公園)

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

Map: https://j.map.baidu.com/02/ADMJ