Fan Lou Huaqiang North 蘩樓 华強北店 (Shenzhen, CHINA) ★★★★☆

Little nugget (and of course, Jelloman) spent the night in Shenzhen with two other families he grew up with. With peak season in full swing at work, I didn’t join them for the overnight stay, but decided to meet up for dim sum lunch the next morning.

It's been a while since our last visit to Fan Lou (蘩樓) in Huaqiang North (華強北) so the plan was to grab a ticket remotely two hours in advance to avoid the potential two-hour wait. Turned out that was the wisest decision I’ve made in a while.

The kids were thrilled to snag a table under a little "pavilion (亭)" but were rather shy when I flashed my camera at them.

Traditional handcrafted youtiao (傳統手工炸油條) (¥19) – Jelloman wanted this to start off the meal and she got her wish. It was soft and fluffy, but not quite on the level of Tao Tao Ju's version, which remains unmatched for its paper-thin, almost ethereal texture.

Fan Lou’s signature shrimp dumplings with asparagus (蘩樓露筍蝦餃皇) (¥36) – These were solid but once again, it’s hard not to compare them with the jumbo shrimp dumplings at TTJ which were often filled generously with diced shrimp and shrimp mousse. 

Pan-fried turnip cake with Chinese preserved meat (臘味香煎蘿蔔糕) (¥19) – Not bad with an abundance of Chinese preserved meat adding to the nice texture and flavor.

Red rice flour roll with crispy prawn (香脆明蝦紅米腸) (¥33) – I thought this was easily one of the best dim sum this afternoon. Each bite-sized roll was packed with crispy prawn giving it a satisfying crunch almost like a spring roll in disguise.

Steamed rice flour roll platter (蘩樓四色腸粉皇) (¥36) – A sampler of four different fillings: barbecued pork, minced beef, shrimp and vegetables. Just love the vegetarian one the most with thin strips of mushroom, carrot and more with the sweet soy sauce.

Sea urchin shrimp dumplings with squid-ink (鳳眼海膽墨魚餃) (¥36) – Visually striking, thanks to the ocean-blue wrapper but flavor-wise, it underdelivered. Despite having sea urchin, shrimp and squid ink all under a small package, the dumpling failed to flash a ton of umami-rich flavors.

Strawberry crystal jelly (水晶經典草莓果) (¥26) – Everyone at the table was raving about the presentation like a little edible jewel. 💎

Crispy coffee pancake with Chinese chives (脆皮咖啡韭菜盒) (¥29) – Some of us were obviously still starving so we decided to order another round of dim sum after the first. This was one dim sum that really stood out with its creativity and execution.

The coffee-flavored pancake was layered with diced shrimp, shrimp mousse and Chinese chives

I am usually not a fan of chives but its earthy flavor blended surprisingly well with the coffee and seafood — an unexpected harmony of flavors.

Some of us who were dining at Fan Lou for the first time were so happy to finally cross this dim sum institution off their list. For us who have dined here on a number of occasions, the food remained consistent and satisfying but the pacing of the meal left something to be desired. Dishes came out far too slowly, stretching a two-hour meal into something that felt much longer. Add another 30 minutes of wait time, and it really put a dent in the overall experience.

Speaking of getting a ticket remotely, in case you’re interested in knowing more, here is how it works:

(1) Simply go to the Dianping (大众点评) app:
Type Fan Lou (蘩樓) in the textbox and click "Search".

(2) They have a number of locations in Shenzhen. Scroll down to click the location you desire (in this case, its Huaqiang North one as shown).

(3) Click "Lineup" to bring up the pop-up menu.

(4) Select the number of guests. You will be given a ticket number.

If you have subscribed for status updates, you’ll receive periodic notifications about your queue progress. Just a heads-up: if your number is skipped by more than five places, your ticket will expire and you’ll need to start all over again. Good luck!

Food Rating: 6/10

Price: ¥¥¥

Address: 1/F, Huali Decorations Building, 118 Zhenhua Road, Futian, Guangzhou, China

深圳市福田区振华路118号华丽装饰大厦1楼

Closest Metro Station: Huaqiang North (华强北)

Tel: +86 (755) 8320-6939

Opening Hours: 9:00am - 4:00pm, 5:00pm - 9:30pm daily

Map: https://j.map.baidu.com/2e/Ekf