Runyuan Siji — Restaurant in Shenzhen

润园四季椰子鸡 or Seasons Coconut Chicken Hot Pot is a restaurant chain that is famous for their coconut chicken hot pot (as their name suggests). This particular franchise is located on Levels 3 and 4 of the INTOWN Shopping Centre in Futian, Shenzhen. Whist we took a Didi (ride hail) from Futian Port, it is easily accessible from Lines 1/10 (Gangxia) or Line 4 (Hui Zhan Zhong Xin) mass transit stations.

The restaurant has three big sections on Level 3 and another section on Level 4, so there is plenty of seating. As we arrived on a Saturday afternoon (around 3pm), there was no wait for a two person table. The restuarant was still fairly full so we were seated in the outside area within the mall.

The service was good, but obviously the staff spoke predominantly Mandarin or Cantonese. Their menu is digital (accessible on WeChat via QR code), and has images.You order and pay via the WeChat app, as with most restaurants in China nowadays.

We ordered their signature coconut chicken hotpot - which is the base for the hotpot, with raw beef, chinese vegetables, beef balls, beancurd, corn, lotus root and black/white fungus (mu er), amongst other things. For drinks, we ordered their 3 for 2 deal, with mango pomelo sago drink, red plum lemon tea and lemon tea. The hotpot base was very fragrant and sweet, predominantly from the sea coconut and half chicken. The beef definitely wasn't premium, but was value for money. The highlight was deinitely the chicken, but be careful not to leave it in the pot for too long as it will get tough and chewy.

We definitely over-ordered and ended up paying around RMB470, which was an absolute bargain. Will definitely recommend this joint to friends...

Season Coconut Chicken (润园四季) is the most illustrious chain brand for coconut chicken (椰子鸡). Even though Shenzhen is not a place of mass coconut cultivation, this cuisine actually originated here and spreaded nationwide so far.

Ironically, far from people's expectation, this most famous restaurant actually use synthetic "coconut juice" rather than real juice whilst this is already an open secret! Well, in China you can't be too fussy. Synthetical doesn't mean harmful, right?

Anyway, this is a must-try for any visitors to Shenzhen. Expect other gluttonous clients having been waiting for 1-2 hours when you come here and join the line! Otherwise, try some...

Coconut natural sweetness together with fresh chicken meat really make good combination 😋 Their service is...