iEat To To Kui

In Qing dynasty, a clever man named Huang Chengbo noticed that there weren't any tea house restaurants here, so he took it upon himself to open one. He named it Pou Tou Kui, after his wife, Pou Tou (Pou Tou Kui is translated by the accent of cantonese). However, just when his business started flourishing, Boss Huang died unexpectedly, and the shop had to close down. In 2015, investors saw potential in reopening Huang's shop, and so it happened. Some of its best-known snacks are Perigord truffle siu mai (steamed pork dumplings), durian crisp, and walnut buns.

When To To Kui first opened its doors, dozens of young monks were hired to head to Longjiu Spring in the Baiyun Mountain to fetch the purest water for the restaurant to boil tea with. Back then, To To Kui had a large water vat and a stove right at the entrance of the tea hall. Water was always boiling to serve the steady flow of guests a fresh cuppa.

To To Kui has been making Cantonese-style moon cakes for 100 years. The most famous and popular of all is To To Kui Excellent Moon, an incredibly indulgent cake with a thin and fluffy crust dreamed up in the late Qing Dynasty. Both salty and sweet, its filling is a mix of more than 20 (!) ingredients, including ham, roasted duck, shrimp, peanut kernels, shiitake mushrooms, lotus seeds, and egg yolks.