Hidden Hong Kong-Luk Yu Tea House

Long time, no see!  I’m back to posting today and excited to share a Hidden Hong Kong post!  Although this particular place is not quite hidden, it is a definite must stop when visiting Hong Kong.  Stepping into the Luk Yu Tea House gives you a sense of old Hong Kong and when you sample their dim sum you understand why this tea house has been around since 1933.

Interesting Fact:  On November 30th, 2002, a businessman was killed sitting at his table in Luk Yu Tea House.  A mainland Chinese hitman calmly ate his breakfast, paid his bill, then walked up behind the man and shot in the back of the head before strolling out the door.  The hitman was hired by the Hong Kong triad.

More Hidden Hong Kong posts:

The Hong Kong Waffle
Sham Shui Po Markets
The Pineapple Bun

The tea house gets its name from the Tang Dynasty poet Lu Yu who wrote the “The Classic of Tea” which describes the history and culture of Chinese tea.  (Luk Yu is the Cantonese version of Lu Yu.)

After walking in the side door, we were greeted by a long staircase which led us to the second floor of the tea house.  The entire first floor is unofficially reserved for long-time customers showing appreciation for their loyalty.

The menu, which is printed on a “Chinese traditional calendar”, is difficult to decipher.  However, they will provide you with an English menu showing pictures of the food to help with ordering.

I loved the tea cups and saucers.

We decided to sample a variety of dishes and I even ordered off the menu and asked for an American favorite – Wonton Soup…it looked like brains, ha!

Staying with tradition, the food was served the way dim sum “used to be”…with the waiters carrying trays and pushing carts around the tea house.

The servers are all older men, some of whom have been working in the tea house for more than 40 years!

On the way out of the restaurant, I spotted some old brass spittoons preserved in the Luk Tu Tea House.  These were used as private rooms in the “olden days”…the aura of a lost age.

We finished the lunch with some egg tarts and some warm jasmine tea.  Another fun experience in Hong Kong!

Additional Information:

Luk Yu Tea House is located at 24-26 Stanley Street in the Central District of Hong Kong.  Dim sum is served from 7:00 am to 5:30pm; 7-9 am is rush hour.  There’s an evening menu available from 5:30pm until the tea house closes at 10.