Chinese Cafés

Inside Mido Café

There is a type of local restaurant in Hong Kong called a 'cha chaan teng', which is a casual eatery that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. These places, sometimes also called cafés, serve a mix of Chinese food and Western-style Chinese food like sandwiches, borscht and macaroni noodles with ham. They also serve tea, of course, as the word 'cha' means tea.

You can find these restaurants in most parts of Hong Kong. Some of them have been around since the 1950s or so, which is pretty old for this city, and a few are rather famous because they have been featured in local television programs or films.

However, as an English speaker, your dining options are more limited because not all cha chaan tengs have English menus. For instance, to order from the café near my office, I need to go with a Cantonese speaker, unless I want an egg sandwich, fried rice or a milk tea (part of my limited Cantonese vocabulary). 

Mido Café in Yau Ma Tei is one of the famous cha chaan tengs, and I found out about it in an article in HK Magazine. It was actually listed as one of the 'Top 10 Most Romantic Spots' in Hong Kong, though I would choose to describe it as quaint or vintage instead.

Despite rather lackluster reviews on OpenRice, Mido Café piqued my interest and I thought it was worth a visit. The decor inside the restaurant is charmingly retro, and it does feel a bit like stepping back into an older Hong Kong.

The food, however, was not as tasty, nor were the portions as generous, as the cha chaan teng by my office. My baked pork chop with rice was good, but the sauce was not as tomatoey as I like it. The eggy rice underneath was quite nice, though. My hot milk tea, a local specialty, was delicious, as it is everywhere in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong style milk tea

Baked pork chop with eggy rice