Melt in July 七月柿 Express (Shenzhen, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Located at the entrance of trendy Pink Street (粉紅大街) at Shenzhen Bay MixC (深圳灣萬象城), Melt in July Express (七月柿, literally means "July Persimmon") is a popular East-meets-West fusion restaurant with an intriguing food and dessert menu. Unfortunately, despite having it on my radar for quite some time, I’ve never gotten around to crossing it off my list.

But today, I finally had the perfect opportunity especially since I had a pickleball game scheduled at a nearby community centre.

As planned, the moment we finished our match, we headed straight to Shenzhen Bay MixC to satisfy our snack attack.

Under the same group behind Melt in July Farmhouse (七月柿 蕃茄食堂) which is known for its healthy eating, Melt in July 七月柿 Express’ food and dessert menu goes beyond just East-meets-West dishes. There are also comfort-food options that blend local flavors with a modern Korean twist. All in all, there are always more to this than meeting the eye.

Since we were all a little hungry after the game, we started with a quick savory bite.

Slow-stewed beef brisket pita burger (慢燉牛筋腩皮塔堡) (¥55) — The burger was made with pita bread, which adds a hint of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern flair. 

Inside, there were succulent beef brisket, purple onion, and cabbage, all brought together with a Mediterranean-style sauce. Not bad.

Matcha tiramisu (抹茶提拉米蘇) (¥48) — The menu mentioned fermented bean curd (腐乳) as an ingredient, but it hardly registered it in the flavors. Instead, there was a sharp burst of soy-bean notes (“beany!”), paired with matcha and of course, coffee. Texture-wise, it was spot on. Soft, fluffy, and properly enjoyable.

Roasted long-jing tea Basque cheesecake (龍井焙茶巴斯克) (¥36) — This was a pretty ordinary Basque cheesecake, topped with a scoop of hojicha ice cream. Interestingly, the ice cream was decorated with long-jing tea leaves, adding a distinct tea aroma to the mix.

However, personally, I thought the flavors from the cheesecake, ice cream, and tea leaves didn’t quite come together as a complete package.

As usual, we grabbed some bread after our afternoon tea before heading off to our next event (a foot massage). It was a busy afternoon for us in Shenzhen, but everyone needed this after a pretty eventful work week. 

Food Rating: 5.8/10

Price: ¥¥¥

Address: Shop B1-38, Pink Street, Shenzhen Bay MixC, 3213 Keyuan South Road, Nanshan district, Guangzhou, China

深圳市南山区深圳湾万象城B区粉红大街B1层B1-38号铺

Closest Metro Station: Houhai (后海)

Tel: +86 19128337786

Opening Hours: 11:00am - 10:30pm daily

Map: https://j.map.baidu.com/57/94BM