Zhongzhen Roti

Review

Zhongzhen Roti sits at No. 204 Longdong Road, among the stalls at the entrance to Zhongzhen Market, and has been trading for about 30 years. Roti is a common street snack across Yunnan, Myanmar and Thailand, and here every step from kneading and stretching to frying happens in front of you, with the aroma reaching far down the street. Supertaste singled it out in a feature on Longgang's military village, and the queue stretches long during the rice-noodle festival.

The signature is butter with condensed milk: the dough is fried in house-made butter until crisp outside and flaky within, crunchier than a scallion pancake, with condensed milk that is sweet but not cloying. Other sweet flavours include butter and sugar, cinnamon sugar, peanut with condensed milk and chocolate with condensed milk; savoury options are curried peas and Thai basil chicken. The curried peas often sell out by late morning, and one diner says the chicken is weekend-only.

Fans love that it is freshly made, crisp and fragrant, and that watching the cook stretch the dough is half the fun; it makes a good breakfast or partner for a Thai milk tea. Critics find the portion small for the price, and some say butter and condensed milk is basically a scallion pancake without the scallions, nothing special; the long wait is hard on anyone in a hurry.

Sources differ on hours: online maps show Tuesday to Friday 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and weekends 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., while one guide lists 8 a.m. to noon and closures on Mondays and Thursdays, so check before going. No source gives exact prices; diners describe them as snack-level. There is no seating, takeaway only, and a paid car park opposite, so eat as you wander the market.

It suits anyone exploring Zhongzhen Market who wants something sweet or light, and travellers who love street food made on the spot. First-timers should get the butter and condensed milk; for savoury, come early to catch the curried peas. Two people can share one sweet and one savoury, then pick up a milk tea from a nearby Thai drinks stall.