So there you are having a blast eating your way around Hong Kong. The night comes and your sweet tooth is craving for something to munch on. Now before you decide to gorge yourself silly on yet another round of Hui Lau Shan, why not try something more local and traditional? And that something does not involve drenching shaved ice with sugary syrups.
Luk Lam Dessert at Sham Shui Po has been in business for almost half a century and they serve over 50 types of desserts – mostly Chinese styled ‘tong sui’, tapioca pearls with fruits, cakes and some self-made grass jellies and puddings. The glutinous rice dumplings with sugar and roasted peanuts (爽滑糖不甩) @ $14 are served warm and have a very likeable soft and chewy texture. I guess you could think of this as round-shaped ‘Muar Chee’ – simple, sweet, nutty and delicious.
The pumpkin and water chestnut soup @ $14 was highly recommended by the server. This is served chilled and it is actually not as thick and sweet as it looks. In fact it tastes very light, cooling and refreshing.
One of Luk Lam’s signature dessert – Tofu Pudding @ $18. There are other variants and flavors as well such as Mango Pudding, or the normal tofu pudding but topped with crushed Oreo. I am not sure why many HK reviewers are against ordering this dessert because we quite liked it. On the first bite, ‘Tau Fu Fah’ is the closest thing I could relate it to. Both of them share the same silky smooth attribute, but the tofu pudding is more dense and packs a stronger tofu flavor too.
The green and white signboard is the easiest way to locate this dessert shop. Even though the shop opens past midnight, my advice is not to come after 11pm because the area gets pretty dark and dodgy. Even though HK has lower crime rate than Malaysia, it is better to be safe than sorry.
Luk Lam Dessert 綠林甜品77-79 Un Chau Street, Sham Shui Po
Business hours: 4pm – 1.30am
