Dessert Trail❤️😋for the sweet to🦷th
As Mary Poppins used to sing: “Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.”. None of us need to take medicine (thanks to constantly being ultra-vigilant on germs and viruses), but some sugar every now and then never hurts.
Our three Localhood musketeers: Ania, Falguni and Winnie with the help of their families went for a sweet tour in our neighbourhood and tried some delicious desserts❤️💯. Now we are sharing with you their experiences and giving recommendation for what are the must-haves😊.
1. Yi Ga 宜加 –Chinese Dessert Shop:
Location: G/F 51 Belcher’s Street, Kennedy Town
This is a Chinese dessert shop that also serves some simple Cantonese cha chaan teng style food. Price range is $30 for a dessert, around $50 for a main dish. We shared three desserts and each one of us had a different favourite one.
For Ania, the purple glutinous rice, beans and tapioca with watermelon was unexpectedly light and tasted delicious! Watermelon made it very fresh and not too sweet. Ask them to skip the coconut milk mixed with condensed milk if you are lactose-intolerant. The good thing about Chinese desserts are that they are mostly gluten-free, since the main ingredients are made from tapioca or soy bean.
Pictured: Watermelon with purple glutinous rice dessert
Fresh mango, grass jelly and soft tofu dessert was super tasty, very light and refreshing. Ania’s Eastern European palate was positively surprised with a sophisticated taste of the black jelly (grass jelly). Mitchie liked it so much he almost didn’t want to share with us. From Chinese medicine perspective, grass jelly can soothe a sore throat and promotes weight loss and digestive health. It is slightly bitter and has a consistency of jelly without the sweetness. Perfect for pairing with tofu and sweet mango. Note that we had this dessert tailor-made. Originally, it came with brown sugar tapioca pearl balls (like the ones you find in bubble tea) but we asked to switch to grass jelly topping without extra charge.
Pictured: Fresh mango with soft tofu dessert with grass jelly topping
Multi fruit drink with watermelon, melon, mango and tapioca pearl balls. Very light and refreshing, ideal for summer Hong Kong heat. Winnie didn’t like this drink as it wasn’t a juice but rather lots of cut fruits suspended in syrupy water and more sugar in the form of tapioca pearl balls. 😉
Overall, Ania and Falguni enjoyed the Chinese desserts while Winnie would recommend trying the Holland 100% Dessert shop 😋💯5 minutes’ walk away instead. They have fresh durian with purple rice desserts (an acquired taste) and glutinous rice balls in sweet potato dessert soup which are must-trys.
2. Holland 100% Dessert Café
Address: 1/F Holland Street, Kennedy Town
Opening hours: 7:30 pm-12:30 am every day
3. Street sponge cake shop 麦蛋糕
Address: Belcher’s Street, between Holland Street and Sands Street
The sponge cakes smelt divine! There was cheesecake and plain sponge and also a matcha one. Definitely worth stopping by to buy and take home for afternoon tea. They go in different sizes, you need to ask how big you want. It smells freshly baked in the shop and you sometimes see people lining up for these cakes in Wanchai. It’s a chain that has branches all over Hong Kong. They must be doing something right if they can open so many branches just focusing on sponge cakes and cheesecakes. Buy when you and your family feel hungry as the smallest size still looks quite big (can cut into four pieces in the smallest size).
4. Dessert Cafe in South Lane
Address: No. 16A2, South Lane (facing Westwood Mall near the kids’ shoe shop in Kennedy Town)
This dessert cafe is a hidden gem in South Lane. The soufflé was completely worth the 30 minute wait - soft and fluffy with an orange flavour. Better order 3 if you want 2, you’ll want more after you’ve eaten one! It just looks big but it’s so melt-in-your-mouth and cloud-like that the kids couldn’t get enough of it.
The tapioca and taro pudding was warm and the textures went very well together.
The mango wrapped in rice flour roll, a cold dish, was made with fresh mango, the perfect blend of sweet and tangy. However, it was pre-made and served in a plastic take-out box from the fridge, so it felt a bit of a let-down at $30-ish. Baby Elena didn’t like this mango rice flour roll and she immediately had a sour face and shivered her shoulders upon trying a bite.
Many more items on the menu here that we were then too full to sample but will definitely be going back. Highly recommended. Come in late afternoon rather than at night. Probably the peak hour is after 8 pm as strict rules on seating and ordering apply after 8pm.
5. SHARI SHARI Kakigori House 氷屋
Address: 47 Staunton St, SoHo
It is a Japanese shaved ice desserts place and it is really amazing. We tried mint chocolate shaved ice. Wow! Refreshing, soft and smooth and yet full of flavour. Even the whipped cream on top was delicious. Goes well with coffee😉.
That's it from our side. We had a field day trying out all those delicious desserts. Hope you satiate your sweet tooth with these sweet nothings as we did ❤️😋. Do share any other recommendations that you may have by writing to us: info@localhood.org and we'll publish them with our article on our social media or in our next News letter.