On your next trip to Hong Kong make sure you make a detour to Shanghai Street. If you love cooking, and baking you will want to come here. Just a small section of Shanghai Street in the Yau Ma Tei area is all you need to explore. The shops are next to each other so you could easily do this in just an hour or 2, just browsing the shops and taking in how much this place has to offer. Purchases here are affordable and there is so much to choose from. You can find anything from inexpensive kitchenware for the home to equipment for the catering business. Ranging from local staples, such as traditional thick chopping boards, chopsticks to bamboo dim sum baskets can be found here, to catering equipment like pots, pans, woks, ladles, sieves, and food processing machinery. Even if you don’t really need anything, you won’t be leaving here empty handed. Window shopping is not an option. Lets start shopping!
To get here you need to take the Kwung Tong and Tseun Wan lines to Yau Ma Tei MTR station. Exit exit B2. Walk straight on until you get to the crossing. You need to cross over to your left. There is a huge apartment block across the road with parts of it sitting on 2 pillars, and just behind it is a tiny building that looks slightly out of place.
The first shop you will come to is Man Kee Chopping Board. The name doesn’t sound quite appetising but the products will! As the name suggests, they sell chopping boards. These huge tree trunk chopping boards! Usually used in restaurant kitchens, these chopping boards are made to last. They need to be heavy and withstand the amount of years of chopping and scraping done to it. I remember when I was a kid, my parents used to have one in our home kitchen! Man Kee has a few stores on this road. The other is more catered for the restaurants with more specialised/industrial equipment.
If you ever wondered where to buy traditional wooden Mooncake moulds and Chinese egg tart cases, well you are in for a huge surprise. Kitchen gadgets are usually well stocked and you probably find what you want. The prices are good but do shop around for better bargains.
Just 2 doors away is I Love Cake. Very popular for the locals and tourists. This is the only store that sells flour and other sort after baking ingredients. They have Minion moulds, HelloKitty cake pans, sandwich cutters, and all sorts of cute baking utensils and cookie cutters. If you want Russian flower piping nozzles. I wouldn’t recommend getting them from here. They are a bit more expensive compared to where I got mine from. The shop is no long there but it is in the Dragon Centre is you want to explore.
Walking further down the road you will find even more silicone moulds, egg waffle pans. The egg tart trays are really cheap. Around $10-$12 for 10. The lady tells me the plastic mould (White) are heat resistant and can be steamed. I’m not going to find out. If you are after there fish moulds, Man Kee does them. There are so many designs and sizes to choose from.
If you are after catering equipment they have a shop that caters a professional range further down the road. My friend comes here to buy the mesh for her tofu/soya milk processing machine back in the U.K.
You can find metal, wooden, plastic or bamboo kitchen utensils.
Never buy from the first shop you pop into. Always shop around because there are other shops that sell similar if not the same products. Egg waffle pans can be found in a few stores along the road. Prices vary from depending on the size and make. Starting price from around $120.
If you are after cake cases or packaging, you can always cross the road to find this stuff. I bought my friends Mooncake cases and boxes from here. They also do the mini forks and those moisture absorbing packets. If you are into baking and want to sell some of your goodies, you can always find something suitable for your needs here. If not, you can always shop for ideas.
If you are after fancy display items like bamboo boats for sushi, and tofu buckets for desserts, then look no further.
Shanghai Street is also where a lot of Chinese people come to buy alters or shrines for their homes.
I remember there is a store selling Lap Yuk, Lap Ap and Lap Cherng (Chinese preserved meats) along this road, as well as a stationery shop. Around the back of the street is a fruit market. In the summer you can see people peeling orange/mandarin peels to dry in the sun. I was well surprised seeing it spread out on cardboard to be dried and just left on the pavement and anywhere the sun is shining! The fruit market is just around the corner from Shek Lung Street towards Reclamation Street.
OPENING HOURS: MON-FRI 10AM-7PM, SATURDAY 10AM-6PM, SUNDAY CLOSED.
Try to avoid coming here during the Lunar New Year celebration or special festival dates. Most shops will be closed for a few days to 1 week.
I hope you have enjoyed looking at the products as much as I have. I have visited Hong Kong numerous times and never knew of this place. I even remember booking a hotel around the corner from here and I even manage to miss this street. You can imagine the awe when I came here in 2015. Everything I ever wanted for my cooking and baking needs are all in one place. There was one thing I didn’t manage to find though, the spiral potato peeler!
There is so much shopping to do in Hong Kong. If you haven’t checked out my other Hong Kong guides, pop over and have a look. It might help you on your next visit.
See you next time.
Shan x