碼頭見潮汕小海鮮 領展中心城店 (Shenzhen, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

I thought I had all the time in the world to enjoy my supper tonight but what I didn’t factor in was the amount of time I would spend at the arcade centre. After sitting there for nearly 3 hours, it left me with very little time for my dinner before embarking on a journey back home.

This was my third visit to 碼頭見潮汕小海鮮, a Chiuchow style restaurant at Link CentralWalk (領展中心城) where I have been spending the majority of my time this afternoon.

Stir-fried late-flowering Chinese Cabbage (蒜蓉炒高腳菜心) (¥36) – Kicking things off for me were these late-flowering choy sum which were also known as "Long leg choy sum". They are currently in-season and only get harvested once a year.

I love the generous portion and the way they have shredded it, provided even stronger bite. Just a bit of garlic and lard already made this very very addictive. 

Marinated goose meat with supreme soy sauce (鹵水鵝肉) (¥56) – This was just OK. Perhaps a little more meat and skin would make me a happier camper.

The highlight of my getaway was this legendary card that I managed to collect following some hard work in the battles. I'm smiling all the way back to Hong Kong right now.

Food Rating: 5.6/10

Price: ¥¥

Address: Shop 008A, G/F Link CentralWalk, 3 Fuhua Road 1st, Futian, Shenzhen, China

深圳市福田区福华一路领展中心城G层008A铺

Closest Metro Station: Convention & Exhibition Center station (會展中心)

Opening Hours: 11:00am - 2:00pm, 5:00pm - 9:00pm daily

Bebe Donut One Avenue 卓悦中心店 (Shenzhen, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

One Avenue (卓悦中心) has long been recognized as a vibrant hub for new and enticing culinary ventures, particularly within Futian's dynamic food scene. Following the footsteps of new concepts such as The Roll’ING, the upscale shopping complex has recently welcomed Bebe Donut from Seoul into the fray.

I stumbled upon Bebe Donut while rushing to Tao Tao Ju (陶陶居) for my late lunch and thought the name rang a bell. But it wasn’t until later that I ran over my old photos from my Korean trip and finally realized what I have just missed.

Bebe Donut is best known for its freshly baked donuts and funky flavors, both of which were on full display this afternoon right in front of my eyes. First, there was the tray of freshly baked pumpkin doughnuts straight from the oven.

And some savory flavors highlighted by this one with shrimp, bell peppers and onion.

But I was eyeing the sweet ones all the way and of course without hesitation, I immediately went behind the long lineup with a copy of their menu in my hand.

The staff was carefully organizing the sweet doughnuts including their popular Mont Blanc, pistachio and blueberry yoghurt flavors.

A few for those of us with a sweet tooth at home.

Pumpkin Mont Blanc (法式蒙布朗栗子粒) (¥13.9) – A seasonal item made with in-season chestnuts. I like this mainly because of the choux pastry which has been flavored with pumpkin subsequently making the chestnut purée a little less sweet.

Full of Blueberry Yoghurt (整粒整粒藍莓酸奶) (¥13.9) – The texture of this was a little more like a baked bun rather than a doughnut and little nugget complained about the centre of blueberry yoghurt. “Isn’t doughnut supposed to be sweet?”, he asked....😂😂

Italian Pistachio Yoghurt (意大利開心果酸奶) (¥13.9) – Similar texture to the previous blueberry yoghurt doughnut but with fillings of pistachio yoghurt. Meh...

I shared the same feeling with my little one that it would have been a little tastier if it was creamy pistachio custard in the middle instead of yoghurt. Yeah, I’m a purist when it comes to doughnuts. 🍩

Would there be a second visit, you ask? Well, it depends on whether they have more new and interesting flavors coming our way!

Food Rating: 5.5/10

Price: ¥¥¥

Address:  Shop B1112A, East Zone, Level B1 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

Closest Metro Station: Gangxia (岗厦)

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

Map: https://j.map.baidu.com/9c/jw-i

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

I am taking the afternoon off today and guess where I am going to spend it.....Shenzhen!

After quickly storming through the immigration on both sides of the border, I hopped onto the rapid train and began my journey up north. My first destination was trendy One Avenue Shopping Complex (卓悦中心), just a stone's throw from Gangxia station (岗厦).



I have been a fan of Nanshan's Golden Tao Tao Ju (金牌陶陶居) for quite some time now but since I would be spending the majority of my time near Futian this afternoon, this branch of Tao Tao Ju would be a much more convenient choice for me.

Signature Hong Kong style milk tea (招牌港式奶茶) (¥22) – The first thing I noticed about this Tao Tao Ju was that the prices were slightly less than what Golden Tao Tao Ju was charging. Take this milk tea for example, well it was a dollar less.

As usual, the tea was pretty strong the way I like it and it wasn't overly sweet.

Tao Tao Ju jumbo prawn dumpling (陶陶居大蝦餃) (¥36) – In case you're wondering, this was three dollars cheaper than Golden Tao Tao Ju.

One of my favorite prawn dumplings in Shenzhen and it's not entirely due to its size.

Steamed 5+ Rushan oysters (5+ 乳山生𧐢) (¥12 each) – Rushan oysters from Shandong are best known for their silky and meaty texture. They are offering a special price of ¥12 per piece here. Not a bad deal at all.

I chose to steam them with fresh garlic. So yummy~

Stir-fried rice rolls with beef offal (牛雜啫珍珠腸) (¥36) – My family has been head over heels on their stir-fried rice rolls with beef briskets (牛腩啫珍珠腸) lately but this version with beef offal was new to the dim sum menu.

The beef tripe was pretty flavorful so not surprisingly, it meshed well with the rice flour rolls.

As always, Tao Tao Ju never disappoints! Jot this one down, it's much closer than the branch at MixC World so I can see us coming here very often down the road.

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

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