Cheung Hing Coffee Shop 祥興咖啡室
The culture of Hong Kong can pretty much be encapsulated in three words: cha chaan teng 茶餐廳. The concept is ingrained into every single person who grew up or lived here. Something about their uniquely uniform rundown pastel interiors, hard wooden booths, plastic-covered tables with a million menus slotted underneath, the constant yelling of orders from impatient waiters, and the warm delicious scents of butter and MSG create an undying loyalty and cult following from their patrons.
The nitty gritty lifestyle of fast-paced efficiency has naturally resulted in the service style of our local tea houses – get in and get out, no time for frills, but we will feed you well. Open from morning till night, different crowds come into the eatery at various points of the day – rugged construction workers for breakfast, office employees for lunch, and the Asian aunties and uncles for tea. You’ll find an elegant woman toting a Hermès Birkin, sitting at the same table as a tired grandpa with holes in his shirt. No matter your economic background, everyone has their own set of memories and sense of attachment to their neighbourhood spot.
Asking the question, “Where’s the best cha chaan teng?” is like a war cry. Anyone who hears you will have their own opinion and be willing to defend their loyalty at any cost. My mother used to go to Cheung Hing Coffee Shop 祥興咖啡室 in Happy Valley, getting her fix of Hong Kong-style milk tea with carnation milk and two sugars. When I was born, this became my childhood locale, teetering around as a toddler getting my Macaroni in Soup with Ham and Egg 火腿蛋通粉. Now that I’m in my adult years, I can say with full confidence that nothing has changed.
The queues may have gotten longer outside with their celebrity status coming from the likes of Tony Leung 梁朝偉 and Jacky Cheung 張學友, and the rivaling “New Cheung Hing” next door (rumour has it that there was a family feud involved), but I stand by my steadfast favourite.
If you ask me what’s so special about their soup macaroni, I have no answer for you; other than the blissful nostalgia that runs through my body as I take in spoonfuls of my childhood comfort food. Put into a bowl some soft curved tubes of pasta that would make any Italian roll their eyes, add a broth that clearly has so much flavour yet no specific flavour at all, some low-cost slices of ham, and two golden crispy-edged fried eggs to top it off and you get complete magic.
I will say, however, that my more advanced palate now would pick up a few extra items for lunch. Cheung Hing is Hong Kong famous for their Pineapple Buns 菠蘿包. A pillowy soft white bread rests underneath a crunchy sweet craquelin made heavily of butter and sugar, and with absolutely no relation to pineapples at all other than for its appearance. What makes theirs stand out is the light cloudlike bread and heavenly crust of perfect thickness that simply melts away when you take a bite.
My more recent appreciation of Kaya Toast 咖央多 began here as well. For those of you who are feeling a little more adventurous, they also have a French toast counterpart 咖央西多 on the menu. The first time I tried kaya opened a whole new world for me. The caramelised coconut-y pandan jam takes the best characteristics of all the spreads on the market. Nutty, thick, smooth, and sweet without being at all overpowering, it makes the perfect pairing with toasted bread, whether you want it battered or not.
As for whether I side with milk tea or yin yeung 鴛鴦 on this citywide debate, the unabashed coffee lover in me pretty much settles it every time.
Cha chaan tengs represent the blending of Western and Chinese cultures in a way that was accessible to all at a time when the British ruled over Hong Kong. Adding milk into tea was the classic example which further developed into a distinctive blend of milk tea and coffee to create the now classic Yin Yeung.
The best way to describe these local “tea restaurants” as direct translation likes to call them is the best of both worlds. An amalgamation of all the cultural influences that have come to Hong Kong over the years has led to not only this one iconic emblem but hundreds all across the city. And while the foodie in me cannot wait to explore each one and what they have to offer, there is nothing quite like sitting in easy familiarity, yin yeung on the table next to my bowl of hot macaroni and kaya toast.