Lin Heung Tea House
Lin Heung Tea House is home to ancestral chaos and rare dim sum. The first Lin Heung Tea House was opened in Guangdong in 1889 and the three Hong Kong branches popped up in 1918. The only surviving location has been at its two-storey stoop on Wellington Street since 1996, and despite a closure scare earlier in the year, they are still chugging along.
We’ve brought many a visitor to Lin Heung, but nothing prepares you for the hectic dining experience until you’re right there with up to 300 other starving diners vying for just the seat (“Please let me find a seat soon, my empty stomach cannot provide much sustenance for me to stay standing much longer,” is the message potential customers convey through their eyes).
Lin Heung makes zero concessions for foreigners, so make sure to bring a Cantonese-speaking friend (or Google Translate) or have your best Charades act on. After you successfully find a homebase, get ready to fight over food as the waitstaff push out all your favourite morsels on old-school trolleys. Uncommon dishes are made common at Lin Heung, where you can find outdated recipes like Quail Eggs or Pork Liver Siu Mai, Steamed Chinese Sausage Rolls, and Steamed Chicken Buns come to life.
Once you snag yourself a steamer basket, the waitstaff will stamp your tally card which you use to pay at the end. Besides dim sum, Lin Heung is also known for its Winter Melon Soup, Stuffed Mud Carp, Steamed Goose Intestine in Egg Custard and the superb Eight-treasure Duck. Instead of tea in communal pots, diners must look after their own cups, and attempt to flag down a waiter to top up their cups with boiling water. Just remember to come early in the day, as dim sum runs out fast, and Lin Heung doesn’t open for dinner anymore.
Lin Heung Tea House, 160–164 Wellington Street, Central | (+852) 2544 4556