As much as I longed for a trace of familiarity in China, in Hong Kong I felt at home in simple coffee shops and cafes like this one (the Mido in Kowloon). I didn’t hang out in the traditional expat spots like Lan Kwai Fong very much. And when I went clubbing in Wanchai, it was usually with locals.
In these no-frills coffee shops, you can sit for hours and no one bothers you. If it’s a popular place, though, especially during lunch or dinner, eager diners will hover over you while you finish eating so as to secure your seat just as you begin to stand up.
I got used to that quickly and even practiced this custom, especially in the university canteens.
My favorite drinks in Hong Kong coffee shops were hot lemon tea (ningmung tsa) and iced red bean milk (hungdau bing). But if you just asked for tea (tsa), it would often come with evaporated or condensed milk, a custom adapted from the British. Although I don’t usually take lemon in my tea, I ordered ningmung tsa because I didn’t care for that heavy milk in my tea (although I loved it in the red bean drink!).
well in my day it was like walking into the present!! there was one on the corner of argyle / sai yeung choi streets – opposite the gala cinema. it had a jukebox and one afternoon a friend and i sat there playing lennon’s ‘come together’ over and over and drinking bottles of coke through straws as we diligently tried to write down the lyrics in the back of a school exercise book 😉 some of the patrons were more than slightly annoyed after the fifth play….in hindsight, it might have been cheaper to just buy the record – but then i wouldn’t have the story to tell all these forty years later
I love it! But even in the early 70s, those places had been around for a decade or so, right? I’m not even sure I can sing a line of “Come Together”. I know the melody and chorus, but the rest is a jumble in my mind!
i know this place, near jordan temple. these coffee/tea shops were called ‘cha chaan tengs’ – wonderful for that great hong kong snack invention – ‘milk tea tray’, served with a thick wedge of white toast slathered with a secret topping (peanut butter and…?). they also created a tea and coffee hybrid, not so nice (imho). fresh milk was scarce and expensive (not many cows) that’s why they used tinned evaporated or condensed milk as a substitute – also on the yukky side 🙁
Thanks so much! I indulged in a deep fried peanut butter french toast every once in a while. That coffee and tea mixture doesn’t sound so good, I agree. What I liked best about those coffee/tea shops was the decor from decades earlier. It was like walking into the past.