THE MEDIA OFTEN implies that Hong Kong has lost many or most of its restaurants – while in fact it has a record number of eateries. It’s the fact that they come and go so fast that causes people to make the mistake. Yet there’s one place which has been open for more than a century. Welcome to the Lin Heung Tea House (蓮香樓) in Hong Kong’s Central district.
It originally started operation on Queen’s Road Central in the 1920s before being relocated to its present location on Wellington Street in the 1980s.
The tea house is widely-known for serving authentic dim sum of a type which are rarely seen in other venues, thus pulling a crowd.
It’s also one of the few which still serve dim sum to customers in an old-fashioned way – old ladies push carts with a stack of bamboo steamers full of delicacies.
NOSTALGIC DECORATION
Having stepped into Lin Heung Tea House, customers delve into Hong Kong’s old tea restaurant ambiance: check out the wooden bird cages, Chinese calligraphy and natural landscape paintings.
Staff still use steel pots to fill water into teapots for customers. Customers share tables – another old tradition. This can feel awkward if you are not used to it, but patrons expect this now, and strike up conversations.
And many people will be glad to hear that you do NOT order by scanning a QR code and using your mobile phone. Nope – you talk to the ladies wheeling trollies around, the old-fashioned way.
MUST-TRY DIM SUM
As well as specialities, the restaurant also has the classics, such as shrimp dumplings, siu mai, which is a steamed dumpling made with pork, shrimp, mushrooms, and steamed rice rolls served with soy sauce, barbecue pork buns, or cha siu bao, and many others. All dim sum dishes are hand-made with fresh ingredients.
Other signature dim sum include Chinese steamed sponge cake (香滑馬拉糕), which is fluffy and moist with sweet flavour, and pork liver siu mai (豬膶燒賣). A small piece of flash-fried liver is draped over the shrimp and pork-filled dumpling, which combines a complex flavor with a smooth texture.
For dessert, baked lotus seed paste pudding with sago (蓮蓉西米布甸) is superb in the tea house. On top of smooth lotus seed paste, customers can add bit of milk and butter to make the pudding creamier and sweeter.
STUNNING COMEBACK
In the past few years, Lin Heung Tea House has been hit by dwindling business. Having closed in February 2019, several employees took over the restaurant’s business for a short period of time.
The teahouse suffered a setback in 2022 in the Covid-19 pandemic after its reopening in March in 2020.
Still, the owners of the tea house have decided to make a stunning comeback again in its original location in April this year, keeping the entirety of its classic dim sum menu to satisfy old and new customers.
The Lin Heung Tea House is one of the must-visit spots in town for savouring authentic dim sum.
Image at the top from Hong Kong Tourism Board