We had a late change of heart about our lunch venue after discovering it would take two hours to get a table at Dagefan (大鴿飯). Thankfully, we were already well-positioned in the CBD of Futian, where good restaurants are never in short supply.
I was once again tasked with finding an alternative, and since I happened to be strolling around PA Mall (平安金融中心) at the time, I decided to find our replacement there.
We ended up sitting down at Blossom Palaces (花悅庭), also known as Huayueting, a restaurant renowned for its Beijing fruitwood roast duck, although its menu also features a fusion of Jiangsu and Zhejiang cuisine (江浙菜).
Preserved egg, minced pork and tofu sandwich (皮蛋肉燥豆腐三文治) (¥52) – I thought this would be an interesting starter to kick off the meal with. Since some of us didn’t like spicy food, I have asked the chili and chili oil to be removed.
Most of us were pretty happy with the contrasting temperature. The cold slices of tofu were matched up nicely against the lukewarm minced pork and preserved egg. That said, the dish didn’t quite deliver the wow factor I was hoping for (perhaps with the extra kick it would).
Mini shrimp dumplings (一口鮮蝦餃) (¥42) – Since we haven’t had Cantonese dim sum for a while, I was thinking that little nugget would be interested in some har gow this afternoon. Turned out I was wrong. This was OK but after enjoying the jumbo shrimp dumplings from Tao Tao Ju the last two years, it’s difficult to go back to the bite-sized version. 😅😅
Traditional fruit wood roast duck (傳統北京果木烤鴨) (Half: ¥159) – Of course we had to try their signature fruit wood roast duck this afternoon.
The duck was served with the usual condiments like cucumber strips, scallions, sugar and hoisin (but no hawthorn jelly and melon strips). There was a faint fruitwood fragrance as advertised, though not quite as pronounced as what you’d get at Duck de King (金鴨季) or Jingwei Zhang (京味張).
The pancakes came in a container to keep them warm. That was a pretty nice touch.
The duck skin was crispy (as it should be), but the slices were a bit too small for my liking, and I generally prefer the skin served with the meat. Here, we barely got a small chunk of meat attached to the skin.
Soya bean milk cubes with cheese (芝士果籽豆方) (¥58) – Very nice presentation. The subtle nuttiness of the soya milk worked surprisingly well with the cheese and the small “caviar” pearls.
Stir-fried baby choy sum (蒜蓉炒菜心苗) (¥58) – Some crunchy greens to balance out the richness of the duck and fried rice.
Fried rice with egg white and conpoy (瑤柱脆米蛋白炒飯) (¥68) – Very generous portion. The texture of the fried rice was pretty satisfying. It was a nice way to round out the meal.
Would Dagefan have been the better choice for lunch today? Hard to say for sure. But one thing’s certain — it’ll probably be a while before I return to Blossom Palaces, as none of the dishes truly stood out this afternoon. While the meal was pleasant enough, it lacked the kind of memorable flavors that would draw me back anytime soon.
Food Rating: 5.8/10
Price: ¥¥¥
Address: Shop 406, Level 4 PA Mall North Tower, 5033 Yitian Road, Futian, Shenzhen, China
深圳市福田区平安金融中心PA Mall 北塔裙楼L4层406铺
Closest Metro Station: Shopping Park (購物公園)
Tel: +86 (755) 8252-1822
Opening Hours: 11:00am - 2:30pm, 5:00pm - 10:00pm daily
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