Hong Kong has no shortage of gelato bars and soft-serve chains, yet the most talked-about frozen treat in the New Territories comes from a dried-fruit shop that never set out to sell ice cream at all. Chestnut King’s (皇甘栗鮮炒乾果專門店) in Tai Po started life as a specialist nut roaster, and the ice cream happened almost by accident: owner Eddie began folding his freshly roasted nuts into a Hokkaido milk base to attract younger customers. The experiment worked. On weekends, the queue now stretches down the pavement, and a second branch has opened in Mong Kok to meet demand.
What Makes Chestnut King’s Ice Cream Different
Most commercial ice cream relies on flavouring extracts and artificial colour. Chestnut King’s takes the opposite approach. Every batch starts with whole nuts, roasted on site until fragrant, then crushed and folded directly into a base made with Hokkaido 3.5 milk. The result is a texture and depth of flavour that mass-produced ice cream simply cannot replicate. You can see and taste the nut fragments in every scoop, and the sweetness is restrained, letting the natural character of the ingredient come through.
The pistachio is the runaway bestseller. Each spoonful is packed with visible green pistachio pieces, and the flavour leans savoury rather than candy-sweet. The chestnut soft serve is equally impressive: made with premium Qianxi chestnuts (遷西栗子) sourced from the Yanshan mountain range near Tianjin, it delivers a smooth, earthy sweetness that tastes like biting into a freshly roasted nut. Eddie chose Qianxi chestnuts specifically because they have thinner shells and a lower defect rate, with the mineral-rich mountain soil giving them a distinctive depth.
The Full Flavour Range
Chestnut King’s rotates more than 20 flavours, split between scooped ice cream and soft serve. The staples, pistachio and chestnut, are available year-round. Beyond those, the menu ventures into territory you will not find at any chain. The preserved plum (話梅) is a local favourite, delivering a sweet-sour punch that works surprisingly well frozen. The tangerine peel (陳皮) flavour channels the herbal, slightly bitter notes of aged dried peel, a nod to the shop’s traditional Cantonese pantry heritage.
Other rotating options include durian (for the brave), ginger, almond, banana, pomegranate, and cashew. Weekend-only specials occasionally appear, so the selection changes depending on when you visit. If the preserved plum is available, do not skip it. It is unlike anything you will find elsewhere in Hong Kong.
From Nut Shop to Neighbourhood Icon
Chestnut King’s has been operating in Tai Po for over a decade. Eddie built the business roasting and selling chestnuts, dried fruits, and preserved snacks. The shop name, 皇甘栗 (literally “Royal Sweet Chestnuts”), reflects that origin. The ice cream line came later, born from Eddie’s idea to use the same high-quality nuts and dried ingredients in a format that would appeal to a younger audience. Food bloggers and social media did the rest, turning a quiet neighbourhood nut shop into a destination.
The original shop was on Fu Shin Street before relocating to its current spot on Po Heung Street, still in the heart of Tai Po’s old market district. The Mong Kok branch opened to serve the Kowloon crowd, but regulars say the Tai Po original is the better experience: quieter, with Eddie often behind the counter, and a neighbourhood feel that Mong Kok cannot match.
What to Order on Your First Visit
For a first visit, start with the pistachio, the chestnut soft serve, and one wildcard flavour from whatever is on rotation that day. A single soft serve costs around HK$28, while scooped flavours run HK$30 to HK$50 depending on size. Double and triple scoops are available if you want to sample more widely. The shop also sells its core products (roasted chestnuts, dried fruits, preserved plums, tangerine peel) by weight, making it easy to grab snacks for the MTR ride home.
Portions are generous for the price, and the quality-to-cost ratio is hard to beat anywhere in Hong Kong. Compared to the HK$50-plus single scoops at Central gelato shops, Chestnut King’s delivers a more distinctive product at nearly half the price.
How to Get There
The Tai Po branch is a 9-minute walk from MTR Tai Wo Station, Exit A. Head south along Po Heung Street into the old market area. The shop is on the ground floor of Wah Lok House. If you are combining the visit with a broader Tai Po food crawl, pair it with Leung Bei’s soy sauce chicken and Sweet Bon Bon’s Hakka rice cakes, both within walking distance. Save the ice cream for last, a sweet finish after the savoury stops.
Weekend afternoons are the busiest, with queues of 10 to 15 minutes common. Weekday mornings are the quietest time to visit. If you are travelling from further away, the Yuen Long food trail is another New Territories food destination worth combining into a full day trip.
Quick Info
| Chinese Name | 皇甘栗鮮炒乾果專門店 |
| Address | 大埔寶鄉街51號華樂樓地下B號舖 Shop B, G/F, Wah Lok House, 51 Po Heung Street, Tai Po 📍 Google Maps |
| Nearest MTR | East Rail Line to Tai Wo (大窩口), Exit A, 9 min walk |
| Hours | Daily 09:00 to 18:00 |
| Phone | 2638 2788 |
| Price | HK$28-50 per serving |
| Must-Order | Pistachio (開心果), Chestnut soft serve (栗子), Preserved plum (話梅) |
| Payment | AlipayHK, Alipay, Cash |
