Five years in this vibrant young cosmopolitan city of Shenzhen, Taotao Ju has established itself as one of the best Cantonese restaurants in town. And recently, they started to go up-market by upgrading some of the restaurants to cater to fine dining concepts.
Taotao Ju is a very old (140 years old) and respected name in Cantonese cuisine. The calligraphy in the signboard was written by the Qing dynasty scholar and revolutionary Kang Youwei. So it is interesting to see if an old dog has new tricks.
The tableware featured the kapok trees 木棉花. People in Guangzhou have long grown kapok trees, using its cotton to make clothes and its flowers as medicine. Cantonese consider they have a strong spirit which pushes it to grow high into the sunlight. In 1982, kapok flowers were chosen to become the official flower of Guangzhou.
Over the years, this particular restaurant has been our “private kitchen” as it is really close to our place in Shenzhen. They offer a separate menu for home delivery and we used them often at home. We even used the same chandelier for our dining room.
The current menu offers some classic Cantonese dishes for sharing, and a lot more single portions for lone diners. Once we got our order in, I ordered a highly recommended drink – 鹹檸七 7-Up with Salted Lime. The salty-tangy lime balanced the sweetness of the soft-drink.
顺德凉拌鱼皮 Shunde Fish Skin Salad
Shunde Fish Skin Salad is a famous, refreshing Cantonese cold dish known for its unique crunchy/chewy texture from boiled fish skin mixed with fresh julienned veggies (carrot, cucumber, radish) and aromatic toppings like peanuts, ginger, scallions, all tossed in a savoury, tangy dressing, offering a delightful contrast of textures and flavours. The important thing about this salad is for it to be moist and not wet, crisp and not soggy, so everything must be tossed a la minute.
淮杞花胶炖竹丝鸡 Double-Boiled Chinese Yam Fish Maw Black-Bone Chicken Soup
Cantonese are well-known for their soup, especially these double-boiled soups. Black-bone chicken 竹丝鸡 is the cornerstone of many of these nutritious soups, and combined with Chinese medicinal herbs like Chinese yam (淮山, remedy for hot flashes associated with menopause; postmenopausal vaginal dryness; premenstrual syndrome; gallbladder problems; rheumatoid arthritis; menstrual disorders; osteoporosis; fatigue), wolf berries (枸杞, good for eye sights) and enhanced with fish maw (for collagen). This soup is so good for women.
干炒牛河 Stir-Fry Beef Rice Noodles
Beef used was Australian, though not wagyu, was very tender and juicy. The rice noodles had wokhei and was not too oily, but it lacked the crisp that I liked with this dish. It could do with more soy sauce though.
浓鸡汤鱼肚浸菠菜 Fish Maw and Spinach in Thick Chicken Broth
The chicken broth was milky white from boiling the chicken bones for a long time to extract maximum flavours from the carcasses. The deep fried fish maw became spongy from soaking up all these broth. The blanched spinach was just swimming in the pool.
鲍汁鱼肚扣米线 Braised Fish Maw in Abalone Sauce with Fine Rice Vermicelli
Darling doesn’t like beef rice noodles, so she ordered a different noodle dish. They offer for a limited time only a special one-person portion of the braised fish maw with rice vermicelli. The sauce was rich and sticky with collagen from the abalone and fish maw. Just nice for one person with very small appetite.
陶陶居百年烧鹅 Signature Roast Goose
Dining in Taotao Ju, one needs to order their famous poultry dishes. And top of the pops is their Signature Roast Goose that has been on their menu for over 100 years. The goose meat is moist and tender. Every bite has the distinct marinade and spices that they used for the goose. And the skin is crispy even though it was the wettest version of roast goose that I have tasted.
雪蛤炖木瓜 Stewed Papaya with Hashima
This is Darling’s favourite dessert, and she never fails to order it whenever we see it in the menu. Hashima is dried snow frog fats and believed to be a wonderful source of collagen. You have the option to add the amount of syrup and coconut milk according to your tastes.
Taotao Ju Shenzhen 陶陶居酒家 (卓越中心店)
Shop L233, East Zone, Level 2 One Avenue, Fuhua 3rd Road, Futian, Guangzhou, China深圳福华路卓越中心东区二楼
Tel : +86 (0755) 8299 8870/71
Visited Oct 2025
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