Laurel Restaurant @ Shen Zhen, China

Since my aunt lived an hour by train away from Shen Zhen, she brought me shopping there one day. Amidst the many good quality (and some not so good quality) knock offs, nestled a little Chinese restaurant at the 6th floor frequently patronised by many a Hongkie when around that area. Since I had not had any Dim Sum since my visit, I was pretty interested and intrigued by the offerings they had.

The place was utter chaos with a waiting list dragging to over an hour. We got in through 'connections' and waited for only ten minutes.

Clean white pots and bowls. And contrary to my visit to that part of the world many years before, not a chip in sight.

We were offered condiments that was quite different from Hong Kong and Malaysia. I didn't eat any of it, as I preferred my Dim Sum to be as it is. I finished the peanuts though. It was crunchy and fresh.

First time ever, I had a tea called Shou Mei. It wasn't a very strong tea and it was lightly scented. The taste of the tea lingered for a long time on your tongue.

The first thing to come was the Siew Mai. It was huge and filled with prawns and meat. There was a perfect balance of seafood and pork. Everything was juicy with the meat deliciously tender.

We ordered this by mistake. It was just pastry with sprinkled sugar. It was dry and really wasn't that good.

Har Gao. Succulent prawns. It was only prawns. 

Fung Chao, stewed chicken's feet. This one was a little too oily.

Siew Long Bao. Eaten hot and steaming, the soup scalded but was extremely sweet.

A classic Hong Kong dish, Char Leong. The Yao Tiu was crispy and prepared fresh. Delicious.