Topic
Discover the unique history and culture of Hong Kong’s cha chaan tengs, local diners where delicious food and drinks with international influences thrive.
- In Vancouver, Canada, a Hong Kong-style cafe offers former Hongkongers a taste of home – think barbecue pork, pineapple buns, instant noodles and egg tarts
- Its owner has the DNA to run a cha chaan teng – her father opened one in Hong Kong in the 1960s and brought it to Canada in the 1980s. She continues his legacy
Since 2016, Sydney’s Hong Kong Bing Sutt has been serving dishes such as claypot rice and fish ball noodles. To migrants from the city it offers a reminder of home, to others a slice of its culture.
Ngan Lung Cafe in Lei Yue Mun Fishing Village boasts signature local fare, and owner knows most by name, tailoring dishes to suit customers.
Hong Kong-style tea cafes in Australia, with their neon, shop signs, even a replica minibus and tram, and above all their food and drinks, offer comfort to homesick migrants – and something different for the locals.
With its Hong Kong diner menu, including silky milk tea, and details such as orange wheat pattern takeaway cups, Hoko Cafe, in East London, is a place for exiles and others to connect with the Chinese city’s culture.
If you order takeaway milk tea in Hong Kong, you will probably get it in the ubiquitous ‘wheat pattern’ paper cup. The design has inspired artists and homesick Hongkongers, but where did it originate?
The cha chaan teng, or Hong Kong-style cafe, is a definitive food experience in the city. In the wake of the pandemic, we look at the cafes that didn’t make it, and others that are determined to keep on serving.
Maria Lee, the founder of The Rosedale Hotel Group, shares her favourite Hong Kong restaurants – including a cha chaan teng she has frequented for 50 years and a place that serves her favourite congee.
From Happy Cake Shop to Jumbo Floating Restaurant, a number of classic food outlets have buckled under pressure amid the pandemic.
Mido Cafe, a 72-year-old cha chaan teng in Yau Ma Tei, announced the news in an ambiguous note posted outside its premises. Many shared their grief on social media at the loss of a ‘Hong Kong icon’.
Born as a way to provide affordable Western food, cha chaan teng in Hong Kong have become a vital part of the city’s culture.
Super strong, drawn through a silk stocking four times, served with a splash of evaporated milk, the traditional drink with colonial roots has been energising Hongkongers of all types since the second world war