The yard 苑裡

🔱 The Yard 苑里 🔱

A rare café and gastropub in Songgang, Shenzhen, quite possibly the only one in the area.

I came that day for dinner, and before leaving, the staff gave me a hand-brewed coffee experience voucher, which happened to be taking place the next day, so I decided to join and also tried some cocktail mixing XD

For dinner, I ordered the couple’s set menu (598 CNY):
The smoked salmon salad as an appetizer was refreshing and perfect for stimulating the appetite.
There were two main dishes: one was the Australian steak, and the other was pan-seared cod.
🎖️ The steak was cooked to perfection, and the stone plate retained heat to a certain degree, allowing us to choose to dip it in salt for the original flavor, or drizzle some black pepper sauce over it.
🎖️ The pan-seared cod was paired with a special butter lemon sauce, which I really enjoyed.

🎖️ Additionally, there was a piece of baked croissant, crispy and flaky, spread with butter, and it tasted amazing.
🎖️ There was also a bottle of sweet wine paired with the set menu, which was a nice accompaniment for the meal. I drank quite a bit of it, but unfortunately, I accidentally broke the bottle on the way home... so sad.

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I would like to specifically highlight their hand-brewed coffee experience event the next day.
The session was led by one of the restaurant's partners who has been in the coffee foreign trade business for many years and knows a lot about coffee.

🎖️ The coffee we brewed that day was called "Oiran," having fruity and acidic flavors. To make it easier for beginners, the brewing method used was the "one knife flow."
Since it was my first time hand brewing coffee, my control of the water flow was pretty poor, so the taste of mine was definitely different from the teacher’s...
But it was really interesting, and I chatted with the owner for an entire afternoon. I also tried my hand at their cocktail DIY.

Overall, it’s a great place, and I hope that next time I come to Songgang on a business trip, this restaurant will still be around XD