Lin Heung Tea House
Tsang Chiu Ho Building,
160 Wellington St, Sheung Wan
Monday to Sunday: 6am - 11pm
Lin Heung was first founded in Guangzhou, China. At the beginning of the 20th century, there was a proliferation of tea houses in China. In 1926, two branches were opened in Hong Kong: one in Mong Kok, Kowloon and another in Central, Hong Kong Island. In 1980, Lin Heung Tea House moved to the current location and has been located there ever since.
We were brought to Lin Heung Tea House by our Malaysian hosts who have a soft spot for the traditional dim sum place and its bustling atmosphere. Packed to the brim with people waiting for a table and dim sum carts moving around, there's hardly any floor space, what more with tables almost back to back with overflowing patrons at each table.
Everything is self-service here from looking for a table to picking up baskets of dim sum. The waiters will provide you with cutlery, your order chit, serve you your tea and clear the table. So once you get your order chit, get going and look for a dim sum cart. They will stamp you chit based on what you take from them.
Rice Pots with Cured Meat and Steamed Chicken
The flavor of the meat had soaked into the rice during the steaming process, making the white rice flavorful without additional soy sauce. A simple dish with simply delicious ingredients.
The flavor of the meat had soaked into the rice during the steaming process, making the white rice flavorful without additional soy sauce. A simple dish with simply delicious ingredients.
Siew Mai
The siew mai may look boring and plain but the fillings are tasty with crunchy and bouncy prawns. These are the smallest siew mai I ate in Hong Kong though.
Pork and Vegetable Cheong Fun
The cheong fun is unlike those with prawn or char siew filling - these ones had a meat and vegetable filling which was nice for a change.
However, like every Hong Kong cheong fun, it was still too thick for our liking
Ma Lai Ko
The best ma lai ko we ate in Hong Kong was found here. Strong brown sugar flavor, less eggy, perfectly fluffy and bouncy without that sandy or crumbly texture we get in ma lai ko back home.
Cabbage Rolls
This may not be a common dim sum item but the Chinese cabbage roll with pork belly was delicious. Also in the roll was a piece of mushroom, fish maw and a perfectly cooked slice of yam which reminded me of a Hakka yam and pork belly dish
Fu Chuk Rolls
Even though we couldn't catch a cart with har gao, these fu chuk rolls with crunchy prawns more than made up for it.
Glutinous Rice in Lotus Leaf
Without any dark soy, the glutinous rice steamed in the lotus leaf is fragrant and tasty. With good quality rice, every grain was cooked perfectly accompanied by bits of pork and dried shrimp.
Without any dark soy, the glutinous rice steamed in the lotus leaf is fragrant and tasty. With good quality rice, every grain was cooked perfectly accompanied by bits of pork and dried shrimp.
Salted Egg Meat Balls
It may not look the prettiest but the meat balls made of what we believe was cuttlefish and fish mashed with salted egg yolk was delicious and unique.
Steamed Chicken Feet
Braised Pork Offal
I didn't touch the chicken feet and the offal dish but LC enjoyed the chicken feet while his mum liked the offal dish
These dim sum places are going to die out as the patrons opt for more comfortable and less hectic options (with Michelin stars) so best to pay them a visit while you still have the opportunity. The dim sum was pretty good and the atmosphere, nostalgic of the old days of Hong Kong.
Be warned that this place is small and every tiny little space is occupied by a piece of furniture or a person. We were a party of 5 sharing the table with another party of 4 so space was rather limited at the table. Stack the used baskets and the servers will clear them.. There will be a rush for everything but enjoy the atmosphere of what is quintessentially Hong Kong.
Reviews are available at Follow Me Foodie and Tastin HK, Lin Heung Tea House is also featured on CNN.