Lin Heung Tea House

For a very long time, the Lin Heung Tea House of Sheung Wan was known for being a prime touristy restaurant that the Hong Kong locals do not go. Often touted as the “most traditional dim sum in Hong Kong,” the restaurant served its dim sum in the now-but all-disappeared dim sum carts and its aged staff would pour boiling water into your individual tea cups with a super long-beaked teapot.

I imagine that this was the practice until the restaurant temporarily closed in 2019. It reopened in 2020, but did not survive the COVID pandemic and closed in 2022 again. Having gone through quite a significant makeover, it again reopened its doors at the same location in Wellington Street this year.

I took an American friend on a tour in Central and thought of Lin Heung Tea House. There was some indecision there, because restaurants serving Cantonese dim sum are a dime a dozen in Sheung Wan. If Lin Heung Tea House was still serving the kinds of dim sum that I had when I took another friend there last time (more than 15 years ago), then on the basis of its terrible food quality I should not bring this friend there now.

Well, what a surprise. We went to a Lin Heung Tea House that has moved on with the times in major respects but retaining some of its iconic qualities. And food was honestly good.

The Corporate History of Lin Heung Tea House

Ling Heung Lou is a century-old brand name that originated in Guangzhou as a traditional Chinese confectionary. In Guangzhou, it was, and it still is, known for its lotus paste pastries. I have written about the Lin Heung of Guangzhou previously, please see more history here.

The very first Lin Heung Tea House made its debut in Hong Kong in 1927, as a branch of the Guangzhou Lin Heung. At its heyday, there were three Lin Heung restaurants in Hong Kong operating under its umbrella brand name, namely Lin Heung Tea House, Lin Heung Chaan and Lin Heung Kui.

Lin Heung in Hong Kong has always been the venue for traditional Cantonese food, including its classic pastries, dim sum and traditional Cantonese cuisine. The Wellington Street location used to serve cattle liver siu mai (steamed dumplings), which was really one of its kind even in Hong Kong.

The Guangzhou Lin Heung group business operated in the standard limited shareholding company structure until the founding of New China. The developing command economy in China had resulted in major ownership restructuring (as well as renaming) of the Lin Heung Lou in Guangzhou. Dividend payments from the Hong Kong restaurants stopped during those first decades of Communist rule in China.

As of 2024, at its reopening, Lin Heung Tea House is the only surviving Lin Heung brand restaurant in Hong Kong. Lin Heung Kui, which was established by the same Hong Kong owners in 2009, has remade itself into another brand name called Luk On Kui in May 2024.

In terms of history, the Lin Heung Tea House of Hong Kong will have reached its centennial in 2027. There are three more years to go for the current lease at 160 Wellington Street. Due to rezoning, the current venue, which has given home to Lin Heung Tea House since 1996, is expected to be surrendered then.

Lin Heung Tea House Today

Sources suggest that the current Lin Heung Tea House was reopened by former staff members with the investment of a supportive patron. It retains the trademark that has stood the test of a century’s worth of history, licensed by the previous group owner. However, this is, by and large, a new entity in terms of its ownership and operation.

As said before, the Lin Heung Tea House still serves the dim sums in dim sum carts that make their rounds throughout the restaurant.

If you want the tea served in the classic tea cups (a large cup with individual lids), then you would have to pay extra. As far as I could observe, Lin Heung Tea House is still more popular with the tourists than with the locals.

In terms of food selection, the standard repertoire of ha gow (steamed shrimp dumplines), siu mai (steamed pork dumplings), chicken wrapped in tofu skin, tan san (deep fried egg pastries) are available. We were truly amazed by the quality of its food, and prices were reasonable (a little over HK $100 per head). My American friend wanted to try the egg tarts and the puff pastry on the egg tarts did not disappoint.

It was still a venue hot with significant foot traffic but the horror of its wet floor in the past has been fully addressed. The place is cramped, surely, but it is clean and well-lit now.

Sources

The Wikipedia on Lin Heung Tea House (Chin).

HK01, Lin Heung Tea House Reopens (Chin).