Finesse Patisserie (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

Finesse Patisserie is a highly regarded local dessert shop known for its elegant, handcrafted French pastries with a touch of local flair. It blends high-end techniques from Michelin-starred kitchens (like L’Envol) with innovative flavors. First launched in 2022, the brand has evolved from an online concept to a physical boutique on hilly St. Francis Street in May 2025.

While I fully expected to see some of the usual suspects such as Mont Blanc and mille-feuille here, I was pleasantly surprised to find desserts driven by seasonal ingredients like fig and pink pomelo this afternoon.

Finesse Patisserie doesn’t offer a wide variety of items, but what it lacks in range, it more than makes up for in its focus on high-quality ingredients, meticulous craftsmanship, and the balance between classic French tradition and modern innovation.

Pecan Speculoos ($78) – I was looking for something different, perhaps more towards the nutty variety than the usual fruity options, and this creation, with pecan praline, speculoos crémeux, and vanilla, fit the bill perfectly.

French desserts made with pecans don’t exactly grow on trees, so I decided to jump all over this one.

It was truly a nut lover’s dream. A crisp speculoos sablé base topped with layers of pecan nut cream and velvety speculoos crémeux. But what really tied everything together was the sea salt pecan praline with a surprisingly savory-sweet twist that cut through the richness of the dessert seamlessly.

Judging by the design and execution of this small dessert, you can really see the masterful craftsmanship behind the team. This one is definitely worth a return trip.

Food Rating: 7.2/10

Price: $$$$

Address: Shop B2, G/F, 9-11, St Francis Street, Wanchai, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Wanchai

Website: https://finesse-patisserie.com/

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 7:00pm (Wed - Sat), 12:00pm - 6:00pm (Sun)

Bakehouse Wanchai (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

It's been a while since I spoiled my little nugget with Bakehouse's sourdough egg tarts.

I was trying to see if they have any new creations, including a BBQ pork pie I saw Greg demonstrated on the social media. It’s obviously not a regular menu item — more like an off-menu special.

Sourdough Egg Tart ($12.5) – Still the best in the business, despite all the competitors trying to replicate the recipe.

The pastry was incredibly flaky and had a slight chewiness (in a good way), perfectly complementing the smooth and rich egg custard on top.

Food Rating: 7/10
Price: $$$
Address: G14 Tai Wong Street East, Wanchai, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Wanchai
Website: https://bakehouse.hk/

Opening Hours: 8:00am - 9:00pm daily

Santorini Greek Taverna QRE Plaza (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Work has kept me busy lately, so I really haven't had the chance to enjoy a full lunch for weeks. But today was the exception. With an important meeting in the afternoon (though no presentation from me), I finally had the chance to meet up with a good colleague of mine at QRE Plaza in Wanchai for a 1.5-hour lunch.

Santorini Greek Taverna is a name I'm familiar with thanks to my strolls in Soho, but I didn’t realize they had a branch in Wanchai as well.

Yes, I could definitely use a big salad like this. The garden leaves were nice and crisp, while the cherry tomatoes added a lovely acidity to the mix. The feta cheese on top was a nice touch, too.

This was even better than the salad, a nice bowl of penne tossed in a creamy sauce with chicken and mushrooms. A simple and hearty dish, done right.

I have to admit, I’m no fan of chocolate brownie cake. A little too rich and heavy for lunch, I’m afraid.



Still, it was nice to have a relaxing lunch for a change. I really don’t mind my solo meals at cha chaan tengs, but this was a refreshing change of pace for a Friday afternoon.

Food Rating: 5.8/10

Price: $$$

Address: 5/F, QRE Plaza, 202 Queen's Road East, Wan Chai , Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Wanchai

Tel: +852 2887-8700

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 3:00pm, 6:00pm - 12:00am (Tue - Sun)

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

Tao Tao Ju One Avenue 陶陶居 卓悦中心店 (Shenzhen, CHINA) ★★★★☆

We were supposed to spend the next weekend in Shanghai, but a few things popped up and I had to cancel the trip altogether. To make it up to myself and my team, I decided to treat us to a small getaway to Shenzhen instead.

After enjoying some game time early on, we moved along to Tao Tao Ju (陶陶居) at One Avenue (卓悦中心) for a late lunch.

It's always nice to return to a familiar gastronomic ground.

Signature Hong Kong style milk tea (招牌港式奶茶) (¥22) – There's no better way to start a meal here. I love the consistently strong and robust tea flavor—just the way I like it.

Pan-fried turnip cake (香煎蘿蔔糕) (¥26) – A simple dish done right. Perfectly pan-fried to a golden brown.

Little nugget's favorite here.

Tao Tao Ju jumbo prawn dumpling (陶陶居大蝦餃) (¥36) – Another must-have item at TTJ. Each dumpling was packed with the equivalent of three prawns. Plump and juicy.

Barbecued pork "snowballs" (叉燒雪花球) (¥30) – One's our latest favorites here.

Encased in a chewy glutinous rice skin flavored with kale was a savory mix of diced char siu and mushrooms, all tied together with a flavorful sweet-savory sauce.

Stir-fried broccoli with beef (西蘭花炒牛肉) (¥58) – Some protein for my meat-loving son.

Sweet and sour pork (冰鎮咕噜肉) (¥78) – I almost forgot that Tao Tao Ju is known for its signature sweet and sour pork. As we had never tried it before, I thought it was time to put it to the test.

The meat, coated in a crispy batter, remained warm and succulent inside. What stood out was the clever use of ice to induce a cold temperature twist. An interesting contrast in texture and flavor. Loved this~

After yet another satisfying lunch at TTJ, it was time to head over to Houhai for our hotel check-in.

Food Rating: 6.8/10

Price: ¥¥¥

Address:  Shop L233, East Zone, Level 2 One Avenue, Fuhua Road, Futian, Guangzhou, China

深圳市福田区福华路卓悦中心商场东区L233号铺

Closest Metro Station: Gangxia (岗厦)

Tel: +86 (755) 8299-8870

Opening Hours: 10:00am - 9:30pm daily

Map: https://j.map.baidu.com/39/WOi

Shan Xin Chaoshan Dessert Soup 汕心潮汕甜湯 (Shenzhen, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

We had a short but leisurely walk around Talent Park (人才公園), but since none of us wanted to stay too long under the sun, it didn’t take long before we returned indoors, under the roof of Shenzhen Bay MixC (深圳灣萬象城). In need of a place to sit down and rest our feet, we quickly spotted Shan Xin Chaoshan Dessert Soup (汕心潮汕甜湯), which wasn’t far from where we had just enjoyed our dim sum lunch.

To be brutally honest, I had no idea what a Chaoshan-style dessert soup looked like. Could it be similar to our Cantonese versions? I was eager to find out.

All the dessert soups came sealed, in case anyone wanted to take them home to enjoy later. But for us, having already found our seats inside the shop, we were going to enjoy ours on the spot.

As it turned out, the base of the sweet soup (銀耳湯) was primarily a clear, sweet broth with silver fungus. The sweetness was very subtle and not over the top like most dessert soups found in Hong Kong.

We were allowed to choose three to four ingredients to go with the sweet soup. I picked items like water chestnut, sweet taro (a big chunk of it), lotus root, and grass jelly. A very good combination for the autumn season. Very soothing to the palate.

For a complete list of available ingredients, please refer to the photo below.

Food Rating: 5.5/10

Price: ¥¥¥

Address: Shop B187a, Zone B, Level B1 Shenzhen Bay MixC, 3213 Keyuan South Road, Nanshan, Guangzhou, China

深圳市南山区粤海街道海珠社区科苑南路3213号深圳湾万象城B1层B区B187a号铺

Closest Metro Station: Houhai (后海)

Tel: +86 15900106344

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

Map: https://j.map.baidu.com/3f/CEGk

Black Tree Thai Tea & Coffee 泰茶 (Shenzhen, CHINA) ★★☆☆☆

For the second straight week, we found ourselves strolling around Shenzhen Bay MixC (深圳灣萬象城) after lunch. While some of us decided to head over to the nearby Talent Park (人才公園) for a leisurely walk, I had a bucket list item to check off myself.

Black Tree Thai Tea & Coffee (泰茶) had been on my to-do list since our last visit to the mall, and I wasn’t about to let the chance slip away this afternoon.

Judging by the number of orders in the queue, it seems to be a pretty popular spot for Thai milk tea and coffee these days.

The daily special was banana-infused Thai milk tea (😒😒), but as adventurous as I felt today, I wasn’t about to let my stomach take that obvious beating. Instead, I went for the original Thai milk tea. Honestly speaking this was pretty watery, and that usually strong tea flavor just didn’t come through at all.

We also tried a small cup of Thai milk tea ice cream. That was definitely better — but then again, it’s not hard to find good Thai milk tea ice cream in Hong Kong.

All in all, not a great experience. I left wondering why there was such a long line for such a mediocre drink.

Food Rating: 4.1/10

Price: ¥¥¥

Address: Zone A, Level B1 Shenzhen Bay MixC, 3213 Keyuan South Road, Nanshan, Guangzhou, China

深圳市南山区粤海街道海珠社区科苑南路3213号深圳湾万象城B1层A区

Closest Metro Station: Houhai (后海)

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

Map: https://j.map.baidu.com/93/nL2k

Tao Tao Ju Premium Shenzhen Bay MixC 陶陶居 · 臻品 深圳灣萬象城二期店 (Shenzhen, CHINA) ★★★★☆

My sister is back, and ever since her last visit 11 months ago, she’s been longing for her first-ever trip to Shenzhen. So, after letting her settle in for a few days, I started gathering a small group for a weekend tour.

I decided to take her to one of the most popular shopping malls in town — Shenzhen Bay MixC (深圳灣萬象城). And as usual, no trip to Shenzhen would be complete without a dim sum lunch at Tao Tao Ju (陶陶居).

Signature Hong Kong style milk tea (招牌港式奶茶) (¥22) – As always, I kicked things off with some caffeine first.

Shunde-style Crispy milk curd (順德炸牛奶) (¥33) – These crispy tubes filled with milk curds were, once again, very tasty.

Jumbo-sized Guangzhou-style youtiao (安心廣式大油條) (¥16) – Of course, my sister wanted to try the Guangzhou-style youtiao, and she was impressed with the soft, flaky texture.

Stir-fried rice rolls with beef briskets (牛腩啫珍珠腸) (¥36) – The sauce was always the key here tying the rice rolls and beef briskets together nicely.

Barbecued pork "snowballs" (叉燒雪花球) (¥30) – This new item definitely caught everyone’s attention.

Little nugget ended up having all three of the glutinous rice balls!

Steamed 5+ Rushan oysters with garlic (蒜茸蒸 5+乳山生𧐢) (¥12 each) – The Rushan oysters were, once again, very fatty. My only complaint was the sparse amount of diced garlic. Ideally, the oysters should be buried under a mountain of garlic!

Steamed scallops from Dalian (蒜茸蒸大連元貝) (¥29 each) – Didn't get the chance to try it myself but little one reported that it was pretty delicious.

Steamed minced scallop and sea urchin dumpling in chicken stock (雞湯玉帶金魚餃) (¥39) – The sea urchin didn’t really register, but the minced scallop and shrimp blended nicely with the rich chicken stock.

Tao Tao Ju jumbo prawn dumpling (陶陶居大蝦餃) (¥36) – A must-do at TTJ.

Sizzling stir-fried lettuce in clay pot (啫啫生菜煲) (¥52) – Some sizzling hot lettuce to wrap things up.

Once again, Tao Tao Ju delivered with its usual consistency. The parade of delicately prepared dim sum reinforced its status as the gold standard for dim sum in town.

Food Rating: 6.9/10

Price: ¥¥¥

Address: Shop B190, Zone B, Level B1 Shenzhen Bay MixC, 3213 Keyuan South Road, Nanshan, Guangzhou, China

深圳市南山区粤海街道海珠社区科苑南路3213号深圳湾万象城B1层B区B190号铺

Closest Metro Station: Houhai (后海)

Tel: +86 (755) 8382-8865

Opening Hours: 9:00am - 9:30pm daily

Map: https://j.map.baidu.com/f3/WcIk