Sense 8 Tea House MixC World 譽八仙茶室 萬象天地店 (Shenzhen, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

It had been raining a little in Shenzhen this afternoon. Our pickleball game was partially rained out, so we headed back to MixC World (萬象天地) a bit earlier than planned. After a quick afternoon tea, our group went our separate ways. I managed to squeeze in some extra game time before meeting up again around dinner — around 5 pm as the locals like to eat early.

Like its sister restaurant, Sense 8 Cantonese Cuisine (譽八仙粤菜) at RAIL-IN (深圳灣睿印), Sense 8 Tea House (譽八仙茶室) is known for its luxurious, vintage Hong Kong tea-house vibe, classic dim sum, and polished Cantonese stir-fry dishes. The menu here is slightly different from the one at RAIL-IN, with fewer options (such as congee), but it generally stays true to the “Old Hong Kong” theme.

As usual, our visit to Sense 8 began with a few photos of the venue — plus some selfies. Jelloman, her mom, and her aunt (visiting from Australia) had never been here before, and not surprisingly, they absolutely loved the retro atmosphere.

Hong Kong-style roasted duck (明爐燒鴨) (¥68) — The same dish I ordered last time. This time it was just as tasty, with the tender, succulent flesh.

Hakka-style omelette with preserved radish (客家菜脯煎蛋) (¥48) — Not bad. The crunchy preserved radish really helped bring the dish together.

Fried rice noodles with sliced pork (豉油王炒生麵) (¥58) — The flavors from the superior soy sauce could have been more pronounced, but some of us actually liked that it was less oily than what you typically find in Hong Kong.

That was a pretty quick supper as we managed to finish everything in a little over 30 minutes.

As always, they did an awful job pacing tonight so we ended up taking the dishes one at a time (I like most dishes being served all at once). That’s always the drawback of eating here. It's not a great choice if you’re pressing for time. 

Food Rating: 5.8/10

Price: ¥¥¥

Address: Level 6, MixC World, Shennan Road, Nanshan, Shenzhen, China

深圳市南山区深南大道华润万象天地L6层

Closest Metro Station: Hi-Tech Park (高新园)

Tel: +86 (755) 2290-9501

Opening Hours: 10:00am - 2:30pm, 5:00pm - 9:00pm daily

Map: https://j.map.baidu.com/7e/yJ6

GE Flavor (Shenzhen, CHINA) ★★★★☆

GE BAKE is a highly regarded Japanese-style soufflé pancake and brunch spot in Shenzhen, and it’s gained solid momentum over the past few years. Now that they’ve built a loyal fanbase for their signature soufflé and western brunch items, it’s time to expand.

Enter GE Flavor — a brand new all-day-menu restaurant focused on comfort food, from salads and pasta to more classic, shareable plates.

Naturally, for their first location, they’ve chosen MixC World (萬象天地).

It was 3pm in the afternoon and the place was absolutely buzzing. Why am I not surprised?

Beef and fig salad with Balsamic glaze (牛肉無花果黑醋沙律) (¥78) — The beef fillet was really tender. I thought the fresh pink fig, corn, broad beans and balsamic dressing did a great job cutting through the richness.

Grilled ox tongue with sancho and scallion (山椒葱絲烤牛舌) (¥78) — The ox tongue had that melt-in-your-mouth texture, and it worked wonderfully with the extra heat from the sancho pepper (花山椒) aioli.

Chestnut Mont Blanc (栗子蒙布朗提拉米蘇) (¥56) — The reason why we were here in the first place.

I saw this on social media last week. In the clip, the server uses a special handheld squeezer to spray chestnut vermicelli all over the sponge cake — essentially what they call a tiramisu on the menu. Unfortunately for us, the spraying of chestnut was already done in the kitchen so we could only see the finished product.

The chestnut vermicelli itself was fine although it definitely wasn’t the creamy Tanba chestnut (丹波栗) from Japan. That said, it wasn’t the chestnut that bothered me. What really threw me off was the sponge cake at the bottom, which came with crushed nuts and dried fruit.

That was just weird to me. When was the last time you had fruit inside a tiramisu?

Food Rating: 5.7/10

Price: ¥¥¥

Address: G/F Tower C, China Resources Land Tower, No. 9668 Shennan Road, Nanshan, Shenzhen, China

深圳市南山区深南大道9668号华润置地大厦C座

Closest Metro Station: Hi-Tech Park (高新园)

Tel: +86 18026962030

Opening Hours: 9:00am - 10:00pm (Mon - Thu), 9:00am - 10:30pm (Fri - Sun)

Map: https://j.map.baidu.com/14/H8pM

Cha of Yulian MixC World 裕蓮茶樓 萬象天地店 (Shenzhen, CHINA) ★★★★☆

After enjoying a few rounds of Chun Tian Tea Company (椿田熟成茶行)’s Golden Brick Silk Stocking Milk Tea (金磚絲襪奶茶) back in April, I started to feel a little bored. The Ceylon tea flavor was definitely pronounced, but it has a pretty similar fragrance to the ones you can find locally in Hong Kong. To satisfy my ever-changing palate, I wanted something different — something more unique.

And I found it this afternoon when we stumbled upon MixC World (萬象天地), the upscale shopping complex in Nanshan district that we haven’t visited in months. The place? Cha of Yulian (裕蓮茶樓) — a tea house we usually stopped by for egg tarts, but never really took the time to explore their popular milk teas, which are especially known for their aromatic tea base.

Cha of Yulian is highly celebrated for its signature He Ding Black Tea (鶴頂紅茶). It is renowned for its rich flavor profile that starts with a sweet, candied-fruit-like aroma, that transitions into a subtle woody note, and finishes with light floral and fruity undertones.

Amber Milk Tea with Tea Ice (特濃茶鑽琥珀奶) — This uses the He Ding Black Tea as a heavy-tea base, topped with a special tea-infused ice block. Even as the ice melts, the milk tea stays incredibly rich and bold. It doesn’t end up getting watered down.

I just love how deep and robust the tea flavors are, especially with those delicate floral and fruity undertones.

 

Food Rating: 7/10

Price: ¥¥¥

Address: Shop B107, Level B1, MixC World, Shennan Road, Nanshan, Shenzhen, China

深圳市南山区深南大道华润万象天地B1层 B107号铺

Closest Metro Station: Hi-Tech Park (高新园)

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

Map: https://j.map.baidu.com/fd/P1ri

Yakitori Tsukada 燒鳥塚田 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

We had such a good time dining at Yakitori Tsukada (燒鳥塚田) last time that I told myself I’d return again — eventually. But of course, “eventually” turned into today, and this time I came as a solo diner after meeting up with my hair stylist.

Tucked away on the ground floor of Grand Centre (格蘭中心), Yakitori Tsukada offers both regular tables and a counter setup for guests. As is usually the case when I’m dining at a yakitori restaurant, I went straight for the bar table.

Rice bowl with minced chicken and egg omelette ($128) — I spotted this during our visit back in February and it stayed on my radar. Unfortunately, it’s only available at lunch, so I knew I had to come back for it at some point.

When it arrived, I did exactly what the dish seemed to ask for — mixing the egg yolk with the minced chicken patty and the egg omelette, enjoying every ingredient together with a spoonful of rice. 

And as expected, the yolk soaked in beautifully, turning the rice into something rich and satisfying.

The egg omelette was, again, wonderfully succulent.

But the same could not be said about the minced chicken patty. It was way too smooth, with hardly any texture almost like having a purée. It could have been so much more enjoyable with a little more bite, perhaps with the addition of something like soft bones or water chestnut for the contrasting texture. Those elements were sorely missing here.

I didn’t get to try any of their skewers today. The seasonal items like grilled firefly had my attention but I was simply too full to take on more food at this point.

Food Rating: 6/10

Price: $$$$

Address: G/F, 8 Humphreys Avenue, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui

Tel: +852 2688-6773

Website: https://instagram.com/yakitoritsukada_hk

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 2:30pm, 5:00pm  -11:00pm daily

Doughman Bakery & Coffee LCK (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

Dubai chocolate — the viral, high-end confection loved for its velvety pistachio–tahini center and crunchy, toasted kataifi — has swept the internet and the world by storm since it first surged in popularity in late 2023.

It hasn’t stayed limited to the original bar, either. Across Asia, there have been countless “Dubai chocolate” variations, each one featuring that signature pistachio–tahini pairing in a fresh, unique format.

I bet it’s been around for a while, but I only finally noticed this chocolate pistachio crispies croissant at my neighborhood bakery tonight — Doughman Bakery & Coffee. Of course, I wasted no time bringing one home as a late-night snack.

I have to admit, this was a little heavy as a late-night snack. And the fact that the centre of the croissant was completely filled rich pistachio ganache and toasted kataifi made it even indulgent!

That said, for someone who absolutely loves chocolate and pistachio, this was a perfect take on Dubai chocolate. It has truly transformed an ordinary croissant into something far more luxurious.

Food Rating: 6.8/10

Price: $$$

Address: G/F 10 Cheung Yi Street, Cheung Lung Industrial Building, Cheung Sha Wan, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Lai Chi Kok

Tel: +852 3741-0111

Opening Hours: 7:30am - 8:00pm (Mon - Fri), 8:30am - 8:30pm (Sat), 9:00am - 8:30pm (Sat)

Nomi Ramen 野見拉麵 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

There will be some major changes in my mom’s life in the next little while. After making it official tonight, I left her place pondering what my own life might look like walking the road along with her.

I still haven’t had dinner, so I decided to walk a little further than I usually do for a bite. That took me to the edge of Sham Shui Po, where I had one ramen spot pinned on my map — Nomi Ramen (野見拉麵).

Around 8:30pm-ish, I wasn’t expecting a crowd but the local-grown ramen place under scaffolding was still buzzing. That's a surprise considering some ramen shops are already closing by this hour.

I ended up standing in line for about 15 minutes before I found a seat at the counter.

Chicken paitan noodle (雞白湯拉麵) ($98) — This looked very similar to the one at Ginza Kagari (銀座篝拉麵), which was a pretty good sign.

The chicken broth arrived lukewarm, but it had clearly been whipped right before serving—creating a smooth, velvety layer of fine bubbles, almost cappuccino-style.

As a fan of awa-kei (bubble-style/foam-style, 泡系) ramen, I love how the broth has been whipped before serving, creating a top layer of fine bubbles for the noodles to cling onto.

The broth itself was creamy and collagen-rich, yet unlike many chicken paitan bowls, it was light rather than deeply savory.

The corn was crunchy and wonderfully fresh.

The marinated soft-boiled egg was executed perfectly.

The pork chashu was made with kurobuta pork so not surprisingly, it was exquisitely tender with a luxurious, soft mouthfeel.

The chicken chashu cut into this small circular shape, was super-tender as well.

Overall, this was one of the better chicken paitan ramens I’ve had from a local-grown ramen shop. They’ve got all the makings of a very strong tori paitan (雞白湯) specialist. The only improvement I could think of, was perhaps the umami-rich flavors of chicken that was somewhat missing (or a bit light).

Food Rating: 6.1/10

Price: $$$

Address: G/F, 6 Cedar Street, Prince Edward, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Prince Edward

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 4:00pm, 6:00pm - 10:30pm (Mon - Sat)

Cova Pasticceria & Confetteria Festival Walk 又一城店 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

Mom’s birthday falls on a public holiday this year, so we can finally give her a proper celebration on her special day. She’s a total sucker for anything with chestnut so the plan was to get her a chestnut cake. But summer is not really chestnut season making this a bit of a challenge.

With only a handful of cake shops offering chestnut birthday cakes these days, the choices were pretty slim. In the end, I decided to go with the Chestnut Harvest Cake from Cova Pasticceria & Confetteria.

This came with chestnut purée and fresh cream layered into three sponge-cake layers, then finished with chestnut cream, Italian imported marrons glacés, and little pistachio bites on top. It turned out to be a bit sweeter than I expected. But I thought different layers of the cake comes together beautifully and gives a satisfying, well-balanced mouthfeel that’s made everyone very happy.

Little nugget got his first taste of the longevity peach (壽包) this month. This was his second crack at it this week and he couldn’t be happier! 

Food Rating: 6.1/10

Price: $$$

Address: Shop LG1-10-11, LG1/F, Festival Walk, 80 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Kowloon Tong

Tel: +852 2265-8678

Opening Hours: 11:00am - 8:30pm daily

Oi Sweet by Oi Man Sang (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Oi Man Sang (愛文生) is one of Hong Kong’s oldest and most beloved dai pai dongs (open-air street food stalls) and it has been serving up its signature flavors in Sham Shui Po since 1956. It’s particularly famous for the bold, high-heat “wok hei” it delivers.

In recent years, the stall has also earned global attention after Baek Jong-won, the celebrated South Korean chef and restaurateur, featured Oi Man Sang on his popular food-travel show. He praised the owners’ wok skills and spotlighted several of their standout dishes.

Bon Appétit’s “Street Eats” further amplified its reputation. In a web-series episode hosted by chef Lucas Sin, Oi Man Sang was officially labeled an “unmissable” stop for travelers visiting Hong Kong.

I’ve ordered take-away from the stall on a numerous occasions but have never actually eaten there on the spot. So this weekend, I decided to stop by for a quick look. Though my visit wasn’t really about the dai pai dong. It was about its sweet little sister next door.

The owners of Oi Man Sang have recently opened a modern dessert shop called Oi Sweet. It features a small menu of seven items, each inspired by nostalgic Hong Kong flavors, but prepared with Western-style cooking techniques.

While my friends have been raving over Oi Sweet’s banana cookie sago pudding (香蕉曲奇西米焗布甸) from their social media posts, I wasn’t in the mood for something that heavy this afternoon. After spending the day walking around Hong Kong in the scorching heat, a cold, frosty treat felt exactly like what the doctor ordered.

Sea salt white sesame soft serve (海鹽白芝麻雪糕) ($35) — The soft serve came with a caramelized white sesame crisp, adding a nice crunchy contrast to the creamy texture. 

I really enjoyed the richness of the white sesame, and I thought the crunchy sesame tuile played its role beautifully. The sea salt actually didn't really stand out much which was fine for me.

Oi Man Sang’s dai pai dong wasn’t open this early. After only trying their food as take-away, I’m now planning to come back for a proper sit-down meal. I’ve never eaten at a dai pai dong before, so this will be a first for both me and little nugget.

Food Rating: 6.1/10

Price: $$$

Address: G/F, 225-227 Lai Chi Kok Road, Sham Shui Po, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Sham Shui Po

Tel: +852 6553-2061

Opening Hours: 1:15pm - 11:00pm daily

Friendship Market Admiralty Station (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

Friendship Market is a popular modern Western bakery brand in Hong Kong. As I’ve been told by my personal assistant (AI), it’s a vibrant spin-off of Fresh Fresh Bakery, an online cake shop known for its 3D cakes and handmade cookies though I couldn’t find the exact connection from the web (except from IG).

With branches in areas like Tsim Sha Tsui and Lohas Park, Friendship Market has built a reputation for its cute, trendy aesthetic, playful packaging, and innovative, on-trend baked goods — plus the convenient locations.

This afternoon, while strolling along the island side, I finished my Basque cheesecake at JOM and was on my way home… but the cute mini donuts (and mochi pudding) here suddenly caught my eyes at its Admiralty Station counter.

They're calling them "lava" donuts!

Mini pistachio donut ($12) — I always thought the traditional donuts are a little too big for my appetite so this was perfect. 

More than bite-sized, the pillowy, brioche-like choux has a crisp crust that hugs the hidden centre of a rich and runny pistachio custard — so smooth and satisfying. With this size, I think can finish it in about 3–4 bites.

And honestly, $12 is a pretty good price too. These days, it feels like you can’t really do much with $12 anymore!

Food Rating: 6.8/10

Price: $$$

Address: Shop 26-27, Admiralty MTR Station, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Admiralty

Tel: +852 5583-8981

Website: https://www.instagram.com/friendshipmarket_am/

Opening Hours: 7:00am - 9:00pm daily

JOMO Wanchai (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

I’m just finishing up my blog post on the top Basque cheesecakes in town. After a quick lunch with mom in Mong Kok, I decided to cross the harbor for a taste of another slice of the city’s beloved burnt cheesecake.

JOMO (“Joy Of Missing Out”) in Wan Chai is known for its signature Basque burnt cheesecake featuring a smooth, almost custardy core and a caramelized, bittersweet outer crust. The idea here is to balance the rich, velvety texture with creaminess and that perfect melt-in-your-mouth finish.

I thought the cake was rich and deeply aromatic without being overly sweet, and there’s also just enough acidity along with the bittersweet crust to keep everything nicely balanced.

I also liked the size. It’s slightly smaller than a typical cheesecake, so I didn’t have to “walk it off” the way I usually do!

Food Rating: 6.6/10

Price: $$$

Address: G/F, 23 Queen's Road East, Wanchai, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Wanchai

Tel: +852 3488-5122

Website: https://www.jomocnc.com/

Opening Hours: 8:00am - 5:00pm (Mon - Fri), 9:00am - 6:00pm (Sat - Sun)