Floating in clouds and desserts high above Shenzhen.
Our experience
Whereas high tea is not a strong point in NYC, it most certainly is in many parts of Asia. As part of our “Best High Tea in China” series, we recently ventured again across the border to Shenzhen. Whereas our last high tea experience in Shenzhen was on ground-level at the Ritz Carlton hotel near Futian District, this time round, we visited the lounge area on the 33rd floor of the Grand Hyatt hotel near LuoWu District. The airy space was graced by soaring glass windows that afforded a spectacular vantage point of part of Shenzhen city and the northern boundaries of Hong Kong’s mountain region.
During our visit, the Grand Hyatt’s afternoon tea service was served by way of a traditional circular-shaped Chinese teak wood stand, and a large wooden platter inlaid with pebbles and mini cakes to resemble a veritable dessert garden. Unlike many afternoon teas that we have attended, special attention had clearly been bestowed to the savoury portion of the Grand Hyatt’s afternon tea. No boring ribbon sandwiches or bone cold savoury components here. 🙂 Instead, there were four dim sum bites: a bright neon pink shrimp and caviar dumpling shaped like a flower, an equally neon orange dumpling resembling a gold ingot filled with steamed fish maw and water chestnut, a mooncake-like shortcrust pastry bite topped with cherries and blueberries, and the absolute highlight, a stunning pastry of yellow-orange-pink ombre flakes delicately covering a heart of chunky beef.
As a palate cleanser between savoury and sweet sections of the afternoon tea, there was an elegant porcelain bowl of double-boiled bird’s nest floating alongside lily bulb and soft peach slices in rock sugar syrup, and a generous crystal platter of summer berries and the most perfectly spherical green grapes that we have ever seen. This was followed by three desserts, two of which were crafted in the “not too sweet” flavour profile typical of Chinese (and Asian) desserts generally. We can’t pick which was our favourite — perhaps, the miniature tart topped with tiny peach cubes and piped with jasmine cream at its rim, or the short white cylinder of lychee mousse infused with oolong tea tones — they were both exquisite. A rich coffee-chocolate mousse crafted to resemble a plump cherry provided a decadent epilogue to our afternoon tea session at the Grand Hyatt.
Our verdict
Just as the Labubu toy that exploded this year 2025 exemplifies a soft footprint of Chinese soft power, ripple effects — no, waves — are certainly also apparent in the global culinary landscape as well. If New York’s Duo Cafe and QM Dessert Bar high teas evoked and memorialized China’s historical tea culture, and Hong Kong’s Tomacado Cafe imagined its future, then London’s Pan-Pacific Hotel, Shenzhen’s Ritz Carlton Hotel, and now Shenzhen’s Grand Hyatt Hotel are all glittering facets of a hidden jewel that is the burgeoning modern Chinese dessert landscape. We can’t wait to visit more Chinese-style afternoon teas in 2026 – happy upcoming New Year all!
Dessert adventure checklist
- ☑ Dessert destination: Grand Hyatt Hotel, 1881 Baoan Nan Road, Luohu District, Shenzhen, China.
- ☑ Budget: $$-$$$ (Approx CNY 400 for 2 persons, plus service tax; approv USD $55-60 for 2 people).
- Check Dianping app for discount voucher. (via Dianping app)
- ☑ Sweet irresistibles: High Tea.
- ☑ Must-eat: Modern Chinese desserts.
- ☑ The short and sweet story: Floating in clouds and desserts high about Shenzhen.
Dessert Correspondents 