Ho Shing 1947

Review

Ho Shing 1947 traces back to Ho Shing, a rice cake shop that has traded for 70 years at Nanmen Market and is known for traditional Jiangsu-Zhejiang pastries. After the third generation took over, they opened this new shop on Dihua Street Section 1; the 1947 in the name is the year the original shop was founded. The new shop turns the traditional hand-pressed steamed rice cake into small, refined pieces, mixes old shophouse features with modern design, and offers space for tea and cakes.

The signature is the steamed rice cake made the old way, soft and fluffy with generous fillings, in new flavours such as osmanthus sesame and purple sweet potato with maple and black beans. There are also steamed cakes, strip cakes, buns, egg-yolk pastries, flaky pastries and other Jiangnan snacks, with eight-treasure rice added around Lunar New Year. Order to eat in and staff steam your cakes on the spot and serve a small cup of hot tea; the cute shapes are very photogenic.

Fans praise the low sweetness and fresh rice aroma, the cosy experience of hot steamed cakes with tea, and friendly staff, plus a wide choice of sweet and savoury flavours; some single out the tieguanyin and osmanthus cakes. Complaints mostly say prices are high for the small size, the texture is a little grainy, and it is good rather than amazing; seating is limited and on weekends you wait for cakes to be reheated.

None of the articles we found listed individual prices, so check the shop's notices before you go. Hours vary between sources: one roundup lists 11:00–19:00 and closed Mondays, while recent map data shows 10:00–18:00 daily, so confirm before visiting. The shop is midway along Dihua Street Section 1, walkable from Daqiaotou or Beimen MRT stations; the lanes are narrow and parking is difficult.

It suits anyone strolling Dihua Street who wants to sit down for tea and a snack, or to give older relatives Jiangnan-style pastries. First-timers can pick two or three different steamed rice cakes to compare in-store, then buy a gift box of their favourite; before Lunar New Year, take a look at the eight-treasure rice too.