8 Jun
Lin Heung Tea House@ Central, Hong Kong
For our travel itinerary, please click here. Continuing from Hong Kong Day 2 – Four Seasons Claypot Rice @ Temple Street
Day 3:
Hilly slopes are everywhere in Central but there is an easier way to get to Wellington Street where the famous Mak’s Noodles, Yung Kee Roasted Goose and Lin Heung Tea House is located. Take the Exit C of Central MTR Station, turn left and walk straight a couple of lanes until Queen Victoria Street, turn left and walk to the start of the Central-Mid-Levels Escalator. The Central-Mid-Levels Escalator travels down from 6:00 am to 10:00 am but go up from 10:30 am to midnight.
Dim Sum can be considered one of Hong Kong’s must try experiences. With thousands of “cha lou” (tea houses) around the island to be chosen from, Lin Heung, an 80 year old establishment top the list for its traditional setting and atmosphere.
It was a Saturday morning man so we thought why not getting up earlier for some yum cha experiences. We reached Lin Heung around 9am and man, the place was noisy, frenetic, and chaotic!While friends and families sits around the table enjoying their food, other people (like us) were standing around waiting for a seat.
Once seated, our teas came in an individual tea cup with lid shortly after the waiter asked for our choice of tea. He washed our cups in the first pouring of tea and poured the waste into an empty container nearby. To ask for a refill, just lift the lid off and the waiters will fill in some fresh hot water promptly.
What about the food? We summoned the waiter to have the cart brought by our table continuously but no one seemed to bother! So, before you include any famous tea house into your itinerary, you need to master the skill of survival first. Right after you step your foot into the battle ground, rush to the first vacant seat available and keep an ever watchful eyes at the entrance of the kitchen. Once the lady in that customary costume appeared with her metal trolleys, grab your dim sum card, run towards her and hijack her cart before it goes traversing between tables. And that’s what we did in a foreign land. (smile sheepishly)
Take a look at our battle goodies.
Steamed bean curd with chicken, fish maw and mushroom.
Siu mai with chinese sausages
Pork’s stomach siu mai
Cha xiu bao
Steamed raddish cake
Other than the oh-so-delicious pig’s stomach siu mai and steamed raddish cake, everything else was mediocre! Setting aside the nothing to shout about morsels, it was the experience that makes our visit worthwhile. The gregariousness and cheerful noise-making is all part of the Dim Sum experience after all. The total bill? HKD 88 – a small price to pay for an eye opening experience.
Lin Heung Tea House蓮香樓
G/F, 160-164 Wellington St,
Central Hong Kong
(852) 2544 4556
Open 6am to 11:30pm (closed bet. 4:30 to 5:30pm)
Posted by Round Up: 6D5N at Hong Kong & Macau | KAMPUNGBOYCITYGAL on June 8, 2009 at 11:00 am
[...] 3: 蓮香樓 Lin Heung Tea House @ Central, 陳意齋Chan Yi Zai @ Central, 泰昌餅家 Tai Cheong @ Central, 蘭芳園 Lan Fong Yuen @ [...]
Posted by Precious Pea on June 8, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Certainly not a place to dine in comfort…hahaha..you are rite..it’s like a battleground!!!
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Posted by sc on June 8, 2009 at 1:03 pm
hehe i recalled the fighting for dimsums time in the morning. scary s***! and not worth the effort i must say (the food). oh, but dinner time was better, no scuffling and nice homestyle dinner
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Posted by shadow on June 8, 2009 at 5:43 pm
lucky you!
i didnt manage to get a seat so we went back to the tsim tsai kee for a second treat.
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Posted by cumidanciki on June 9, 2009 at 11:51 am
one word… crowded!
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Posted by ai wei on June 9, 2009 at 5:45 pm
Hu-hu…. so many ppl up early to ‘yum zhou cha’?!
there is real lots of ppl le. i love DIM SUM!
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Posted by Simon Seow on June 9, 2009 at 6:39 pm
Ok. Ok. I pay RM 2000 for the Business Class ticket, you bring me here. LOL.
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Posted by J2Kfm on June 10, 2009 at 10:32 am
considered one of the cheapest in HK, I think.
other outlets tooooo damn expensive lah!
the pork stomach siu mai REALLY good hor? for someone who doesnt even like pig’s innards, you know it’s something.
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Posted by Leonard Loh on June 10, 2009 at 10:34 pm
I had it in Luk Yu Tea House in Stanley St instead. Better setting and ambience.
I love the pork stomach!
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Posted by taufulou on June 11, 2009 at 5:34 pm
my last trip there, miss the chance to eat the tim sum~
aiiii…
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Posted by jasmine on June 11, 2009 at 11:25 pm
yeah, more for the experience than the food for me too. next time, gonna try luk yu!
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Posted by wmw on June 12, 2009 at 2:09 am
Looks like I have to go to Hong Kong and Macau again….all these trips by bloggers
), calling out to me!
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Posted by hcpen on June 12, 2009 at 10:06 pm
i went there too..definitely not worth the trouble or reputation…the pig stomache siu mai was definitely something tasty and unique though…
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Posted by dragoncity on June 16, 2009 at 8:48 am
Wow.. this place is so… Hong Kong.
The last time I went there, didn’t manage to find these kind of restaurant. = (
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Posted by Tai Cheong Bakery & Chan Yi Zai @ Central, Hong Kong | KAMPUNGBOYCITYGAL on June 17, 2009 at 8:55 am
[...] For our travel itinerary, please click here. Continuing from Hong Kong Day 3 – Lin Heung Tea House @ Central [...]
Posted by gina on June 20, 2009 at 5:08 pm
HK dim dum different compared to malaysian dim sum. HK style is very plain…less spice…tasted more plain, not really appetising…while malaysian dim sum has a full blown taste…i prefer malaysian style…..its much more worth eating in malaysia than HK, though HK has made names all over
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Posted by World’s Cheapest Michelin Starred Restaurant-添好運 Tim Ho Wan Dim Sum Specialty Shop, HK | KAMPUNGBOYCITYGAL on December 1, 2009 at 5:03 pm
[...] Gourmands: Lin Heung Tea House, Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao (in Malaysia too), Oja Sopa De Fita Cheung Kei 祥记面家 [...]
Posted by Bright Soo on December 24, 2009 at 12:30 am
Hi, kBoy and cGal, it is indeed disappointing this dining experience didn’t hold up. Even more so considering I’ve been looking for a good place in HK to 飲茶 old style. I miss it when people still rolled the karts around yelling out the food names. (Interesting, this still is common practice in chinese dim sum restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area in US!) If you have another recommendation please let me know! I’m going there again in early January…
Thanks for a great site!
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kampungboycitygal Reply:
December 26th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
soo: u can try luk yu tea house at central (expensive) or lung king heen (michelin 3 star, very expensive). or u can refer to our Tim Ho Wan Dim Sum post, a michelin 1 star restaurant but very cheap
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Bright Soo Reply:
December 26th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
Yeah I did read your review of Tim Ho Wan, and I’m definitely going there! But I’m also looking for a traditional “karting” experience… Sounds like I’m outta luck? The expensive places I
m definitely NOT going. I don’t do expensive
Bright
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kampungboycitygal Reply:
December 27th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
i dun do expensive too haha. hmmmmmm i guess lin heung is good in terms of environment and ambiance