Forget ice cream and tiramisu, rekindle your love for local food at these popular spots for Cantonese desserts in Hong Kong
Much like the city’s cha chaan tengs and traditional bakeries, local dessert shops are an essential part of Hong Kong’s culinary heritage. For those born and raised here, feasting on local desserts (aka tong sui in Cantonese) is a must-have food ritual enjoyed with friends and family after dinner; while for foreigners, those delicious desserts, which combine the flavours and techniques of Chinese and Western cuisine, are a delightful way to experience Hong Kong’s unique “East-meets-West" identity.
From famous neighbourhood spots to Michelin-starred establishments, we’ve rounded up the best places for Cantonese desserts to sate your sweet tooth below. Offering refreshing mango pomelo sago, classic sesame soup, tofu pudding, glutinous rice balls (or tong yuen) and more, these Hong Kong dessert spots are sure to please every palate.
1. Ming Kee (明記咖啡糖水小食)
A favourite stomping ground for neighbourhood locals, the eatery has a solid reputation for offering Cantonese desserts since its opening ten years ago. It can be dizzying for first-timers deciding what to try from their extensive menu, but we can’t recommend the decadent mango sago with glutinous rice balls and mango ice cream; and shaved ice with fresh fruits enough.
If you’ve got a penchant for traditional desserts, their nourishing papaya and snow fungus sweet soup, black sesame sweet soup and mini glutinous rice balls with ginger soup are must-tries.
Ming Kee Dessert, 114 Sai Wan Ho Street, Sai Wan Ho, Hong Kong, +852 2560 1150