Baker & Spice Upperhills 深業上城店 (Shenzhen, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Baker & Spice is a fast-growing bakery in China, with over 60 branches nationwide. I first stumbled upon this brand while working in Shanghai, and nowadays, they have branches in Southern China including right here in Shenzhen.

Since we're staying at the Mandarin Oriental this time around, it was an easy trip downstairs to UpperHills (深業上城) for some of their freshly baked goods.

Apart from their croissants and doughnuts, they also serve simple salad and pasta dishes (and of course coffee) tailored to the Asian palate.

I had long been eyeing their berliners but never really had the chance to get my hands on one until today.

Vanilla Berliner (¥15) – This looked exactly like the custard cream doughnuts I’ve been getting from Bakehouse.

While its appearance was soft and fluffy, the reality was quite different. The dough, including the crust, was a little too crunchy for a doughnut, and even the vanilla custard cream was a tad too thick — even for a custard filling. Overall, it was decent but not something I'd go out of my way for again.

Food Rating: 5/10

Price: ¥¥¥

Address: Shop T3061, Level 3 Upperhills, 5001 Huanggang Road, Futian, Guangzhou, China

深圳市福田区皇岗路5001号深业上城L3层T3061号铺

Closest Metro Station: Donggualing (冬瓜岭)

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

Map: https://j.map.baidu.com/36/3FGk