Butterfly Dream 蝴蝶夢 華僑城歡樂海岸店 (Shenzhen, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

We are spending another day in Shenzhen today. This time around, we will be joining up with two other families from little nugget’s primary schoolmates.

Our destination has been set a few days ago and it’s going to be at OCT Harbour (歡樂海岸), a large shopping and entertainment hub near Shenzhen Bay. After taking the rapid train at West Kowloon, we crossed the border into Futian (福田口岸) before making an easy transit onto the local subway line (Line 11, airport line). That looks easier than I thought! And three stations later, we already made it to Shenzhen Bay Park (深圳灣公園).

Following a few rounds of go-cart, it was time for lunch and we have planned a small surprise party for one of the kids whose birthday is coming up very soon. 🎂

Butterfly Dream Gourmet Music Coffee Bar (蝴蝶夢音樂 · 美食 · coffee · bar) is our lunch venue this afternoon and it’s a jack of all trades with different Chinese and Asian flavors.

They have live music too and we decided to sit just next to the stage to soak up the vibe.

Sichuan-style fish fillet with pickled vegetables (酸菜魚) – I’m no fan of acidity so it is my first time having this popular Chinese dish from Sichuan.

I have to admit, this tasted a lot better than I expected. The silky fish fillet came with some mild acidity from the broth and there was the spicy kick for a well-rounded finish.

Baby cabbage in vegetable broth (蟲草花娃娃菜) – For $30 or so each, we decided to order there different vegetable dishes and this was the only one I managed to take a picture of. Just love the generous portion, and the vegetable broth with a touch of Yunnan ham really helped to tie everything together.

Sautéed assorted wild mushrooms from Yunnan (燒汁雲南野山菌) – Very lovely bite from the mushrooms and the barbecue sauce was spot on.

Deep-fried cuttlefish balls (台灣炸花枝丸) – Decent.

Poached squid (白灼魷魚) – Very tender and a touch of sweet soy and wasabi already made this pretty tasty.

Scrambled eggs with tomatoes and chives (蕃茄蔥香炒蛋) – This is how all scrambled eggs should look like (unlike the way our helper made it!). A little runny and melt in the mouth.

Crispy rice in fragrant prawn bisque (貴妃蝦香泡飯) – One of the few sub-par dishes this afternoon. The prawn bisque was a little salty and artificial.

Of course, we decided not to order dessert knowing that a birthday cake would be coming. Thanks to the crew from Meituan (美團), the cake was delivered right on time and coupled with the timely arrangement of live music to deliver the “Happy Birthday” song, it was a real pleasant surprise to the birthday boy.

That was a very BIG lunch with super BIG portions! But the boyz are going to need that energy cuz we have planned a challenge for the three of them, one that would really test their strength and endurance. 💪🏻💪🏻

Food Rating: 5/10

Price: ¥¥¥

Address: House 14, 8 Baishi Road East, Nanshan District, Shenzhen, China

深圳南山区白石路东8号欢乐海岸曲水湾14栋

Closest Metro Station: Shenzhen Bay Park (深圳灣公園)

Tel: +86 (755) 8654-1185

Opening Hours: 11:00am - 2:00am daily

Map: https://j.map.baidu.com/cb/5Zf