Newly opened and claiming to be a 'wedding banquet specialist' you can justifiably expect for the…read moreprices to be higher and the setting to be more elaborate than the average Chinese restaurant serving dim sum in Sheung Shui. True to form, the restaurant is more expensive, but the presentation from the tablecloth, seats, television screens, wall and ceiling decorations to the dishes upon which the food is served (apart from a couple of cracks on the teapots) are all pristine. The highlights of the food I tried were the pineapple/char siu bun combination which was done extremely well with the crusty pineapple topping and the soft bun encasing the roast pork filling; the fried mantou buns were perfectly crispy on the outside with just a delicately fried layer, a suitably soft interior and the light salad cream for a dip; and the salted fish with chicken fried rice was a pleasant surprise as I find most fried rice unoriginal but this offering was golden, tasty but not overdone and loaded with sufficient amounts of ingredients (spring onion, salted fish and chicken).  This is the only restaurant that I've seen so far in Sheung Shui that can offer a stage for a potential wedding banquet and can also do it with great style. However, after all it's achievements in creating grand surroundings, the restaurant fails to provide a befitting reception, with lack of a welcome and lack of an entrance; it would seem that as soon as you get into the lift and choose either of the 2 floors on which the restaurant is situated, you are simply flung into the mix, come what may. I even saw the staff themselves squabble over what their jobs entail as some say that they are only responsible for delivering dishes and not collecting them and henceforth complain amongst each other about certain staff not doing their job properly. I would be more critical of this behaviour except that I have come to expect this at traditional Chinese establishments as I have seen this type of scenario all too often in Hong Kong. Therefore with a pinch of salt, staff discrepancies and lack of welcome aside, I can at least reveal that this restaurant has on my visit served the best all-round quality of dim sum that I've ever had in Sheung Shui and in the most elaborate setting which all makes for a captivating dining experience.

My mum arranged to meet couple friends so one friend took us here. You need go up using the lift…read moreand then register for a table, they give you the order forms and a ticket number. Took 10 mins to get a table for 5. The place is decked out for weddings, the chairs have the covers which got caught under my shoes at times! Food was good, I quite liked the red plum jelly. It's a busy place and they can seat one person on a table with other single eaters, which is common in dim sum places I been to in the past.

This restaurant relies on locals who live nearby so unlike 90% of Hong Kong, the overall eating…read moreexperience is good. The best businesses are those that want you to come back. You can't say that about all the restaurants in the tourist areas.

Here is a Chinese Restaurant that has been around in the thick of Sheung Shui for years and years…read morebut I'm sad to say that from my latest 2 visits it is clear that the quality of food and the service has declined considerably. There were deficiencies in the food that were starkly apparent to me: the noodles were oily, lacking in flavour and variety of colour and lacking in ingredients; the fried fish and other dishes such as cheung fun that consisted of pieces of dim sum were placed hitherto on their plates with disregard to presentation; what was supposed to be a milky custard bun turned out to be bitty, dry and overcooked inside; the vegetarian cheung fun was very plain indeed, looking like a novice had prepared it and smothered it in soy sauce; the pig's foot, ginger and egg stew only contained one egg and very little ginger, the prawn wrapped in fried beancurd had minimal amounts of prawn and the mixed dumpling selection was possibly the most unattractive that I've ever seen as the Siew Long dumpling was more wrinkly skinned than I could ever have imagined, the Siu Mai dumpling was lopsided and demented, the Chiuchow dumpling had burst at the rim thereby spilling contents upon being picked up and the Taro bun had clearly been peeled away from another bun as a bit on the side was missing. During my first visit my table actually waited up to 30 minutes for a second order of dim sum that included 3 portions of buns, this demonstrated poor organisation as it strongly suggests that the order was not placed until chased up and of course no apology was offered. Then in my second visit the room in which my family were placed was chillingly cold as it was already a cold day and the restaurant had switched an air conditioning system on. When we asked to switch the air conditioning off we were told that it was already at its lowest level and had to be kept on or the place gets stuffy but the roomful of people were clearly dining in coats and hats and still cold; it took over 3 attempts and a lot of grovelling for the restaurant to finally switch the cold air off but only to turn it on again just about an hour later. Hence overall the service left much to be desired, even by typical haphazard Chinese standards, and although edible there was a distinct lack of care in the preparation and presentation of the food.

Like a garden, the Chiuchow Garden restaurant can look impressive from a distance, but when you…read morelook closer there may be some unsightly weeds and other aspects that need tending to. From the outset the restaurant looks inviting with the escalator to the sixth floor of the shopping centre conveniently leading to the restaurant's own reception desk. As you enter you can see the restaurant branding proudly displayed on the walls, on the tablecloths and on the china. The table tops are set out with precision and a touch of class as 2 pairs of chopsticks (one for eating with and one for picking up food) are laid on a chopsticks holder per person and the teapots are tall and metal, as if reminiscent of British-afternoon-tea-style dining. Having available at each table enough copies of the menu per person (plus with accurate English descriptions of each dish) was also a nice touch and not one that you'll see at other establishments that serve dim sum.  However, in practice iron teapots do not conserve heat as well as the traditional Chinese porcelain teapots so the tea gets cold quicker and although service at Hong Kong Chinese restaurants is already notoriously bad here the service is blatantly deficient - on my first visit, a lady from the table beside us kept going to and fro from her table with their teapots to refill them with water herself whilst we found ourselves putting used plates onto the floor to make room on our table as there was apparently no waiter to remove them, then on the second visit the waitress tending to our table was visibly strained, setting up the table was delayed, dishes were slow to arrive and at least two table-fulls of people beside us were complaining amongst themselves about the service and staring at the staff. Meanwhile the floral carpet is stained and there were no television screens at this restaurant, no music nor variable lighting to create any atmosphere and at my second visit the table was uncomfortably close to passers-by or people queuing for a table. Onto the food..during my 2 visits I have seen 15 different dishes and the only ones I find worthy of recommending is the lotus cake (which did indeed comprise of succulent pork, prawn and lotus within a suitably thin and lightly crispy layer), the Chiuchow steamed dumplings which are packed and tasty and the pan-fried Chiuchow dumplings stuffed with taro puree which look appealing and serve well as a miniature soft, smooth dessert. The steamed glutinous rice packets wrapped in lotus leaf are small portions but include flavoursome ingredients such as salty egg, so that they briefly pack a punch.  Unfortunately other dishes that I saw exhibited much room for improvement...The Prawn Cheung Fun was disappointing  on both occasions that I tried it as the prawns taste tough and flavourless and are not well wrapped or adhered to the cheung fun as they detach and fall away from the cheung fun upon being picked up with chopsticks. The Vegetarian Cheung Fun was too thick, hardened on the outside and flavourless.The Black Bean Chicken Legs were shiny with oil and overpowering in flavour. The squid, beef tripe and lettuce dish was bulked up with lettuce with very little squid, the squid was difficult to bite into, was not cut up into smaller pieces nor was it sliced to enable the squid to curl up and soften more easily and the beef tripe was also too chunky and flavourless. The steamed preserved meat and glutinous rice buns were filled well but too dark and lacking variety of ingredients and colour. The pineapple buns were discerningly bright in (what can only be assumed to be) artificial yellow colour. The pre-meal snack consists of a small dish of pickled vegetables for which there is a charge as stated in small print at the bottom of the menu and meanwhile the tea charge is more than at other restaurants. In short, Chiuchow Garden seems to set itself up for high standards but is actually below par in service and in many of its offerings. Even though Chiuchow Garden appears to have good potential, I believe it has very much fallen short of its promise.

Tonight, Saturday, after 2030, buy 4 get 1 free. Hotpot all you can eat and drink (beer and many…read moreother drinks). 10 pax., $133 per head. Great value, reasonable food.

Guong Shing Bing Sutt is a classic HK coffee shop located in Sheung Shui. It was a pit-stop in our…read morecycling tour across eastern New Territories. Along a small side street, we managed to find some "parking" for our bikes but were told by the shop staff to not block the entrance. The shop was continuously busy, with a steady flow of people coming in and out, even mid-afternoon. One step inside and it feels like you've been transported to old HK. The interior has been well preserved, with the vintage yet familiar white and green floor tiling, old wall fans in each corner, and handwritten menus framed on the shop walls. It is truly a rare gem that must be protected at all costs! When it comes to ordering, you better be familiar with the HK chachaanteng classics - iced milk tea or lemon tea, pineapple bun with butter, french toast, or how about macaroni with ham? There didn't seem to be an English menu available, so we had to decipher the Chinese menu on the walls to our best ability. 1. Pineapple bun with butter: good carb-loaded snack, but didn't quite hit the spot for the best boluo yau 菠蘿油. 2. Macaroni soup with beef: might not look like mucj but tastes soo good! It came out steaming hot with tender slices of beef. It healed my soul. 3. Scrambled egg and corned beef sandwich: holy moly, this is the endgame sandwich. Who would've expected it'd be here in Sheung Shui!? It tastes like heaven in your mouth, well-flavored egg and beef sitting in between slices of buttered bread. Mmmm! 4. Cold lemon tea: a classic drink but the tea was not as strong as I'd hope; it was a bit diluted. The staff were super friendly and not pushy at all (like at other CCTs in HK). One of the ladies even complimented me on my photo of the pineapple bun, haha. I will definitely return to try other items on the menu and go for the milk tea next time!