Dominic Li may have opened Dessert Kitchen in 2006, but it wasn’t until a few years later that the Hong Kong-born Australian restaurateur expanded from a repertoire of traditional Chinese desserts to the vivid fusion dishes that have become his signature. That includes ice-cream ramen, blueberry seaweed balls and a signature dish called Purple In Love, which pairs grape seaweed balls and grape shaved ice with mini rice balls, grapes and taro mochi ice-cream.
Now with locations in Hong Kong, Australia, Canada and Thailand, Dessert Kitchen offers toppings such as mango, rockmelon and matcha rice balls, plus bright-blue noodles made from seaweed. “Seaweed is kind of like gelatin, but more natural,” says Li. “We have menus to localise people’s tastes [in different countries]. But mainly we’re selling ice-creams. That’s our speciality.” Another standout menu item is the Japadog, a hotdog encased in traditional Hong Hong-style egg waffle and made savoury with onion, mustard and barbeque sauce.
That adventurous verve makes Li a visible leader in desserts today, but he credits his upbringing in the food industry; his family owns a Chinese restaurant chain in Hong Kong and China. Now he bounces between his shops in New York, the Philippines, Canada, Australia and Hong Kong, and can see that Australians have grown more open to interesting, fusion-based desserts recently. “Nowadays Australians are more compatible with everything, unlike 10 or 20 years ago,” he says. “There are so many overseas brands coming to Australia, it seems that Aussies are very capable of trying new things.”
As for Hong Kong, where Li was raised until relocating to Australia at age eight, the city’s dessert culture still looms large for him. “Dessert is part of daily meals for Hong Kong people,” he says. “There are more than 100 dessert shops in Hong Kong, mainly selling traditional Chinese desserts, [but] Korean, Japanese and Taiwanese desserts are becoming more common.” Spanning all those facets, Li takes us through five of the best dessert chains or shops in Hong Kong, whether they’re preserving the delectable past or boldly reinventing sweets.
Honeymoon Dessert
An enduringly popular chain, Honeymoon Dessert has been around for nearly 25 years, now with six stores on Hong Kong Island alone, plus others in China, Singapore and Canada. “It’s one of the top dessert chains now in Hong Kong,” says Li. “They have durian pancakes and sweet soup, which are their signatures.” Historically a Cantonese specialty called tong shui, which translates to “sugar water”, sweet soup is a touchstone for traditional Chinese desserts. And if durian’s reputation as the world’s smelliest fruit puts you off trying it, Honeymoon Dessert also serves the less intimidating mango pancakes.
Multiple locations
Jia Jia Dessert
A word-of-mouth institution for decades, Jia Jia even has a Michelin star. “They mainly sell Chinese sweet soup,” Li says. “Like almond or walnut soup, with rice balls with sesame filling. It’s very traditional – they keep it as it is.” Served warm, other sweet soups include barley bean curd, sweet potato with ginger and black sesame. This is stubbornly old school and draws a lot of tourists for its comprehensive cross-section of delectable dishes.
27 Ning Po Street, Yau Ma Tei
Hui Lau Shan
Australians might know this one already, since there’s now a location on Elizabeth Street in Melbourne’s CBD. Hui Lau Shan specialises in desserts made with fresh Carabao mangoes imported from the Philippines, ranging from sago pudding and crystal jelly to “chewy balls” and coconut noodles. “They serve mango shaved ice and sweet soup as well,” says Li. “They mainly focus on cold desserts, unlike Jia Jia. They’re expanding a lot, all around the world.” Beyond desserts, Hui Lau Shan is also known for its herbal tea and herbal jelly.
Multiple locations
Mammy Pancake
Another Michelin-starred favourite, with three locations around Hong Kong, Mammy specialises in Hong Kong-style egg waffles (or “egg puffs”), an enduring street food that’s not just made with eggs in the batter but actually features round, egg-like indentations on its surface rather than the Belgian-style square ones. It’s totally different – more crispy and crunchy,” Li says. “Egg waffles have been a very popular Hong Kong street food for a long time. They claim to have the best [at Mammy].” The regular varieties span coffee, chocolate chip, banana, matcha and even “double cheese”, while more adventurous spin-offs involve pork floss, seaweed and salted egg yolk.
Multiple locations
Lady M
Another robust chain with plenty of locations around Hong Kong and Macau – including Hong Kong International Airport – Lady M is actually from New York. Its speciality is the light, cream-laced Mille Crêpe Cake, so named for its would-be “thousand” layers of crepes, and available in such varieties as strawberry, matcha (green tea), banana and Earl Grey. “They are doing very well in Hong Kong,” says Li. “They also sell coffee and tea.” As a bonus to the indulgent taste itself, these colour-saturated, eye-popping creations are ideal for Instagram.
Multiple locations
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