Nathaniel Johnson | August 30, 2021
Shenzhen China’s Beach Scene.
The fast and rapidly growing city of Shenzhen China is quickly becoming not just a great place to find a job or start a business – but also a great place to vacation. This is because of its beautiful mountains, resorts, beaches and fast growing diversity. Now that we are getting back into the warm season, Shenzhen’s beaches are already seeing their share of visitors (despite the fluctuation of cold and hot days as summer has yet to fully come). If you find yourself new to Shenzhen and looking for a great beach to visit, it will usually take some asking around or checking online at beach listings as they are not as openly noticeable as a beach would be in the Western countries making them a bit hard to find.
Over Crowded Beaches in Shenzhen
Once you have found a beach, or come close to one in Shenzhen, you will quickly find that the traffic is bumper to bumper and practically at a stand still. If you find yourself in this situation, it’s best to park further away and end the rest of your journey by foot as it typically will take hours to cut through the traffic and get to the parking area only to find that there is nowhere to park (obviously due to the obscene amount of traffic). Many locals will go to the beach mid-week and stay away during the weekends, as the beaches tend to draw a bigger crowd then they are building to handle. Shenzhen’s Dameisha beach once turned up over 130,000 people for its May Day holiday and has once pushed up to 500,000 visitors making it reported by weather.com as #2 of the world most crowded beaches.
Shenzhen’s Dameisha Beach
Sheraton Resort Offers a Beach with Great Value High-End Dining
Luckily, a few great resorts have sectioned off beaches for their guests only – saving the headaches of the overcrowded beach and long traffic. One such resort is the Sheraton at Dameisha Beach. If you find yourself wanting to experience a relaxing isolated beach atmosphere combined with a high-end brunch – you owe it to yourself to give this resort a try.
Not Just any Brunch
The Sheraton Resort began offering a Sunday brunch six years ago in an effort to allow their guest to try their food, enjoy a great relaxing view of the ocean and have a time out at their peaceful beach. Brunch is a combination of breakfast and lunch started in London and adopted slowly around the world. It usually starts late afternoon and ends around 3:00 pm. That said, the brunch as the Sheraton kicks off at 11:30 AM and goes until 3:00 PM. The brunch consists of a combination of traditional Chinese and Western dishes presented in an array of beautiful presentations in a themed area. The theme for the brunch changes on occasion to had a new look and feel for its guests. To give a better view of the ocean scenery, Sheraton’s brunch was recently moved to the 2nd floor overlooking the enormous swimming pool and their peaceful beach. When you sit at a table and begin to enjoy your selection, you will have a sense of peace as you hear melodies from their live music team accompanied by a breath-taking view of the Ocean.
“It’s very relaxing sitting here and looking out at the Sea”
-DAISY HUANG – PR Manager
Sheraton’s brunch is an all you can eat style brunch consisting of an amazing array of fresh seafood including fresh Australian oysters, multiple traditional style stations, an elaborate dessert area, a hot dish area, a cold dish area and an artsy drink area equipped with fresh juices, wines, and cocktails. This also includes a batch of specifically chosen and cooked specialty dishes that are offered to its guests as well as prime cut meats such as a parma ham leg and braised abalone.
Our guests are usually families and friends – but most of them are people who are looking for fun, a nice view and a high standard of food. – Taylor Wong
Chinese Traditions Served by Skilled Chefs
When eating at the Sheraton, I personally noticed that the majority of its guests enjoying the Sunday brunch were local Chinese. This is due to the fact that this Brunch – although offering many Western-style dishes, has a strong Chinese influence on its overall array of choices. The Head Chef, Taylor Wong, has been a chef for 15 years and specializes in Eastern Chinese cooking (Shanghai style) as well as Western dishes. He keeps the hot and cold bar areas on a three-menu rotation to offer new choices to the regular guests.
My first choice when I came to sample the brunch was the fried goose liver station. This station featured a dedicated cook, raw choices of goose liver, toast and an array of topping choices. If you are a foie gras lover, you will quickly find that the price for the brunch is definitely worthwhile as goose liver runs on the expensive side and this is all you can eat. After trying this as my first choice, I would later try it again (four times). The goose liver is seared perfectly giving it a crunchy outside while keeping the soft and buttery texture inside. I was amazed at how well it was seasoned.
“Goose Liver” Prepared by Sheraton Dameisha Resort
Another traditional area I quickly noticed was a Peking Duck station. Peking Duck is a dish that has been served in China since the 1300s and is a staple food here in China. At the Sheraton, it is served very traditional style being hung in an oven along with roasted pork (another Chinese staple food) and is prepared on the spot by a dedicated cook. If you find yourself visiting China without having the privilege to try this dish, I would recommend you try it at a place like the Sheraton where you are certain to have the proper preparation and flavor. A good Peking duck will be prepared in a way where the skin is separated from the meat and cooked to a crispy texture while the meat is slow roasted and tender and the Sheraton chefs take high pride is keeping this traditional staple food served at the highest quality.
There is a sea urchin station, which can mix up your pick of sea urchin into fried rice. The Sea Urchins can be as fresh as just being collected hours before being served. There is also a traditional dumpling (jiaozi) station ran by dumpling chef Anna Bing from Sheraton Shenyang who came to help for March dumplings promotion. Jiaozi is another Chinese tradition that dates as far back as 225AD in the era of three kingdoms. It usually consists of minced meat mixed with finely chopped veggies wrapped in a piece of dough skin and boiled. Chef Anna’s creations bring a unique twist by adding juice to the dough mixture from purple cabbage, pumpkin, spinach or squid ink. This makes a colorful array of dumplings each with a unique flavor infused skin. Many forms of dumplings are available at this station including Italian ravioli.
International Dishes and Fresh Choices at Sheraton’s Sunday Brunch
Besides an array of Chinese traditional dishes, Sheraton’s brunch menu consists of a fresh sashimi and sushi bar with selections made by their own in-house sushi chef Bryan Yan. Bryan was been learning the art of sushi for six years and began studying under a Japanese Chef in Dongguan. He has been working at the Sheraton now two years and has great pride in his creations. On top of a beautiful array of sushi, there is also a sashimi station filled with cold cut fresh sashimi. Most guests will choose the salmon and mackerel sashimi. My favorite nigiri (or long sushi – not rolled) is the eel or “unagi.” Upon trying it, I must say that the chef understands the correct way of creating sushi as great care was given to the rice. The sushi alone makes this brunch a great bargain!
Fresh Sushi Station @ Sheraton Dameisha Beach Resort
Sheraton’s Brunch also features cold and warm dishes freshly made and available for your choosing. They offer fresh roast beef, smoked salmon, and parma ham as well as chef-driven dishes such as their mango and prawn salad. These dishes also bring an elevation to the overall dining experience by offering high-end meats and culinary masterpieces to the guests dining experience.
The number one sought after area at Sheraton’s Sunday Brunch is the fresh seafood station. This station consists of a diverse choice of fresh crabs, shrimp, oysters (both fresh from Australia and steamed), claims, mussels, sea snails and many others. In any culture, fresh ingredients are very important – and this station has a real quality selection. Looking around China at the popular seafood restaurants who over a fraction of the selection at a very high price, I can voucher that this station alone pays for the cost of the full brunch/beach experience.
While you are having your fill of an international array of foods, deserts, and drinks. Unique chef-driven entries are being walked around the eating area and offered to guests. In my first visit – after having my fill of what appeared to be a world tour of high-end dishes, I was shocked to be offered “Lobster Roasted with a Ginger garlic sauce.” This dish was amazing and extremely flavorful. Dishes like this are constantly being brought out from the kitchen and offered to guests on top of the already large collection of prime cuts, hot/cold dishes – and the list goes on.
Garlic Roasted Lobster from Sheraton Dameisha Beach Resort
Creative Drinks and Desserts at the Sheraton’s Sunday Brunch
When you first walk into Sheraton’s Brunch area, you will pass by a bar that has been covered in an artistic entourage of fresh juices, cocktails, sodas and wines. For the rate of 398RMB++, guests can enjoy all of the food as well as juices, soft drinks, beers, and cocktails. This is another reason why this brunch is affordable and a great deal. If you wish to also have a list of sparkling and house hotel wines added, it is an extra 60RMB. Since I am an advent juicer – I loved that there were a large number of juices available such as coconut, watermelon (served inside actual watermelons), cucumber, carrot and others for mixing.
Brunch Drink Station at Sheraton Dameisha Beach Resort
After you’ve had your fill of delicious food (or before), you want to head over to the dessert area ran by pastry chef Jason Zeng who has been creating traditional Chinese pastries for over twenty-one years. Jason is from the An Hui province of China and has been working with the Sheraton for eight years. Before working with the Sheraton, he has worked for the Shangri-La resort for six years as well as worked three years for the Hilton.
“Once you are familiar with the traditional, you can then be creative and add to it.”
-Jason Zeng
His signature creation is the Black Forest Cake or Back Forest Gateau. This is a traditional German dessert. While working for the Hilton, he made this dessert for a family who was visiting from Germany and was glad to see how much they were delighted at its taste – thus, he made this his signature dish. Once you walk over to the dessert area, you can immediately be put in a place of indecisive confusion. This is because all of the cakes and desserts are made to beautiful and artistic that you don’t really know which to try or you don’t want to ruin something that looks so creative. This was my dilemma at first until I tried my first pick and fell in love with the flavors. There is also a children’s dessert area for kids consisting of candy, macaroons, ice creams and many other sweet desserts.
It’s good to note that there is also a children’s menu for kids ages 3-12. This is a separate menu from the buffet, which includes the two best sellers: the kid’s pasta and U.F.O burger.
An Affordable Brunch with Great Perks
The Sheraton at Dameisha Beach truly offers an amazing wine and dining experience with their Sunday brunch. Another great perk is the casual and warming atmosphere made by hotel choices of music as well as a live singing and musician performance by Marco Antonio and his wife who has been performing at the Sheraton now four years. One would get the feel that most of the guests, would linger and enjoy the amazing creations – but most guests who come to enjoy the food also has their sights on the pool or the beach. The Sheraton has Shenzhen’s largest swimming pool boasting approximately 4,000 square meters located right in front of their peaceful beach area, which is directly beside the Dameisha public beach. This really gives you a sense of appreciation when you see the overcrowded public area to the right. This has made the Sheraton a great spot for weddings, birthdays and private events. In my point of view, the access to the beach and pool is more than worth the cost and the food is a huge perk and nothing shy of top class.
Guests don’t linger much, they come here, enjoy the food and then go out to the beach. Or to our pool which is the largest outside pool in the Shenzhen area.
Music by Marco Antonio and his Wife
Sunday Brunch time: 11:30-15:00
Price: RMB398+10%Service charge+6% VAT
Extra RMB60 for hotel wine
Booking phone number: 0755 – 8888 6688
Capri Italian Restaurant 卡普里意大利餐厅
Sheraton Dameisha Resort, Shenzhen 深圳大梅沙京基喜来登度假酒店
9 Yankui Road, Dameisha, Yantian, Shenzhen
深圳市盐田区大梅沙盐葵路（大梅沙段）9号