Cafeography
香港

Cafés in Hong Kong milk tea through a silk stocking

Silk-stocking milk tea on Gage Street, yuenyeung in Mong Kok bing sutts and pour-overs among the fabric and leather shops of Sham Shui Po.

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932Cafés listed
1Open by 6am
25Open past 10pm
34Specialty & roasters

Hong Kong's everyday coffee often comes mixed with tea. Yuenyeung (鴛鴦), named after the mandarin ducks that stand for a couple, is three parts coffee to seven parts milk tea, according to the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.1 The milk tea, 港式奶茶, is strong black tea pulled through a cotton bag and finished with evaporated milk; the stained bag gives it the name 絲襪奶茶, "silk-stocking milk tea".2 Residents drink about 2.5 million cups a day, by industry estimates.3

In August 2017 the milk tea making technique joined Hong Kong's first Representative List of intangible cultural heritage, one of 20 items.4 The drink belongs to the cha chaan teng (茶餐廳, "tea restaurant"), which grew in the 1950s and 1960s out of bing sutt (冰室, "ice rooms") and "soy sauce Western" restaurants.5 Bing sutts peaked in those decades; only a few dozen traditional ones survived into the 21st century.6 Lan Fong Yuen (蘭芳園), a Gage Street stall since 1952, claims to have invented the silk-stocking method.72

Espresso arrived late. Tea was the drink of choice and coffee was often instant until Pacific Coffee spread in the 1990s and Starbucks opened its first Hong Kong store in Exchange Square in 2000.8 An estimated 400 coffee shops opened in the first two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, and early specialty names such as Coco Espresso, Colour Brown, Urban Coffee Roaster, Cupping Room and Sensory Zero now run several branches each.8

Island side or Kowloon side

Hong Kong by area

Hong Kong is split into 18 districts, four of them on Hong Kong Island and five in Kowloon.11 Cafés are easier to place by neighborhood: on the Island, from the Sheung Wan lanes east through Central and Wan Chai to Tai Hang; across the harbor, from the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront north along Nathan Road to Mong Kok and Sham Shui Po.

Central, Soho & Lan Kwai Fong

Gage Street milk tea, espresso on Stanley Street and the escalator up to SoHo.

64 cafés

Sheung Wan

Cooked-food-centre milk tea below, PoHo espresso bars up the hill on Po Hing Fong.

71 cafés

Wan Chai

Cha chaan tengs on Spring Garden Lane, Star Street espresso and the trams of Johnston Road.

70 cafés

Causeway Bay, Tai Hang & Tin Hau

Dessert cafés on Haven Street, milk pudding on Lockhart Road and the tea stalls of Tai Hang.

99 cafés

Tsim Sha Tsui & Jordan

Roasters on Mody Road, cafés on Ashley and Hankow Roads, and coffee at M+.

83 cafés

Mong Kok & Yau Ma Tei

Bing sutts open to 23:00, dessert cafés open to midnight and the film café at Broadway Cinematheque.

141 cafés

Sham Shui Po

Pour-overs on Tai Nan Street, Colour Brown on Wong Chuk Street and cha chaan tengs on Castle Peak Road.

84 cafés

Kowloon City & Kai Tak

A 1932 medicine shop turned café, Nam Kok Road espresso and the new Kai Tak Mall.

71 cafés
Or start with what you need

Browse by mood and hour

夜間營業

Open late

Dessert to midnight in Mong Kok, Haven Street to 23:00, Kai Tak Mall to 22:00.

25 cafés
Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi on Ashley and Hankow Roads, up in PoHo and in Sai Ying Pun, plus free Wi-Fi.HK.

20 cafés
烘焙咖啡店

Bakery cafés

Egg tarts, pineapple buns and cake counters from Sai Ying Pun to Sham Shui Po.

18 cafés
精品咖啡

Specialty coffee

Roasters in Tsim Sha Tsui East, espresso on Stanley Street, a lab on Reclamation Street.

34 cafés
戶外座位

Outdoor seating

A dai pai dong on Mee Lun Street, a terrace on Mody Road, Min Fat Street brunch tables.

8 cafés

New in Hong Kong

Recently opened and recently added

Central, Soho & Lan Kwai Fong 64 cafés

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Sheung Wan 71 cafés

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Kennedy Town & Sai Ying Pun 71 cafés

Wan Chai 70 cafés

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Causeway Bay, Tai Hang & Tin Hau 99 cafés

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North Point & Quarry Bay 49 cafés

Tsim Sha Tsui & Jordan 83 cafés

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Mong Kok & Yau Ma Tei 141 cafés

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Sham Shui Po 84 cafés

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Kowloon City & Kai Tak 71 cafés

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Kowloon Bay & Kwun Tong 86 cafés

Aberdeen & Southern District 20 cafés

Chai Wan & Shau Kei Wan 12 cafés

Lam Tin & Yau Tong 6 cafés

Wong Tai Sin & Tsz Wan Shan 5 cafés

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Coffee chains in Hong Kong

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The Coffee Academïcs

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Flash Coffee

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Sensory Zero

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Black Sugar Coffee

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UCC Coffee Shop

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Before you sit down

How to order milk tea and coffee in Hong Kong

A cha chaan teng menu prices each drink twice, hot and cold, and the iced version costs a little more: in 2023 Lan Fong Yuen charged HK$20 for a hot milk tea and HK$22 for an iced one, and Kam Fung in Wan Chai HK$21 and HK$23.7 Ordering has its own shorthand. 走冰 (zau bing) means a cold drink without ice, 茶走 (cha zau) is milk tea made with condensed milk instead of evaporated milk, and 飛砂走奶 is tea or coffee with neither sugar nor milk.5

Expect speed rather than lingering. A sitting usually lasts 10 to 20 minutes and food arrives in about five; at busy times staff will ask you to share a table, known as daap toi (搭枱).5 Lunch and dinner sets usually include soup and a drink, and the weak "clear tea" poured when you sit down is something some regulars use to rinse their chopsticks.5

Restaurants often add a 10% service charge, but tipping isn't expected at cha chaan tengs; coffee shops may keep a tip jar, which you can ignore if you're short of change.9 At a specialty café a cup usually costs HK$30–60, a price baristas tie to high rents rather than beans, since green coffee enters Hong Kong duty-free.8 A HK$30 latte counted as a competitive price in April 2026.10

What coffee costs in Hong Kong

DrinkTypical price
港式奶茶 (熱)
Hot milk tea		HK$16–22
Ten cha chaan tengs and stalls, 2023
凍奶茶
Iced milk tea		HK$17–24
Same shops, 2023
奶茶
Milk tea, typical cup		about HK$20
Industry estimate, August 2024
樽仔凍奶茶
Bottled iced milk tea		HK$17
瑞記咖啡, Sheung Wan cooked food centre, 2023
精品咖啡
Specialty coffee		HK$30–60
Independent specialty cafés, 2025

Milk tea prices are from Yahoo Food's October 2023 round-up of ten cha chaan tengs and tea stalls, where iced cost HK$1–3 more than hot; the SCMP put a typical cup at roughly HK$20 in August 2024.73 The specialty range is the one Zolima CityMag reported in April 2025.8

Sources

  1. Yuenyeung (drink), Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  2. Hong Kong–style milk tea, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  3. Milk tea time: how Hongkongers are taking the drink to new heights to preserve tradition, South China Morning Post (August 10, 2024), accessed October 2026
  4. First Representative List of Hong Kong intangible cultural heritage announced, news.gov.hk (August 14, 2017), accessed October 2026
  5. Cha chaan teng, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  6. Bing sutt, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  7. 【奶茶推介】香港十大茶餐廳港式奶茶, Yahoo Food Hong Kong (updated October 30, 2023), accessed October 2026
  8. What's Behind the Rise of Specialty Coffee in Hong Kong?, Zolima CityMag (April 10, 2025), accessed October 2026
  9. Everything you need to know about tipping culture in Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific (May 30, 2024), accessed October 2026
  10. 5 new cafes and coffee shops to try in Hong Kong in April 2026, South China Morning Post (April 1, 2026), accessed October 2026
  11. Districts of Hong Kong, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
FAQ

Cafés in Hong Kong: common questions

How much does milk tea cost in Hong Kong?

In a 2023 round-up of ten cha chaan tengs and tea stalls, a hot Hong Kong-style milk tea cost HK$16–22 and an iced one HK$17–24, usually HK$1–3 more than hot. The South China Morning Post put a typical cup at roughly HK$20 in August 2024. A cup at a specialty coffee bar usually costs HK$30–60.

Which neighborhood of Hong Kong has the most cafés?

Mong Kok & Yau Ma Tei and Causeway Bay, Tai Hang & Tin Hau have the most cafés, followed by Kowloon Bay & Kwun Tong. Mong Kok is on the Kowloon side, where old cha chaan tengs and newer espresso bars share the same streets. On the Island, Causeway Bay leads, Sheung Wan and Wan Chai follow almost level, and Central comes close behind.

What is yuenyeung in Hong Kong?

Yuenyeung (鴛鴦) is coffee mixed with Hong Kong-style milk tea, served hot or iced. The Leisure and Cultural Services Department gives the mix as three parts coffee to seven parts milk tea. The name refers to mandarin ducks, which appear in pairs and stand for a couple in Chinese culture. Order it hot or iced; at a cha chaan teng the iced version usually costs a little more.

How do you order a cold drink without ice in a Hong Kong cha chaan teng?

Say 走冰 (zau bing), which means a cold drink without ice. Other common shorthand: 茶走 (cha zau) is milk tea made with condensed milk instead of evaporated milk, and 飛砂走奶 is tea or coffee with neither sugar nor milk. Cold drinks usually cost a little more than hot ones; in 2023 the difference was HK$1–3 at well-known cha chaan tengs.

Do you tip in Hong Kong cafés and cha chaan tengs?

Tipping is not expected at cha chaan tengs. Many Hong Kong restaurants add a 10% service charge to the bill, so check it before leaving anything. Coffee shops may have a tip jar, but tipping there is optional. At a cha chaan teng, expect a quick sitting of 10 to 20 minutes and, at busy times, to share a table.

Is Hong Kong milk tea intangible cultural heritage?

Yes. The Hong Kong-style milk tea making technique was one of 20 items on the first Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Hong Kong, announced in August 2017. The tea is brewed through a cotton bag, nicknamed a silk stocking for its stained color, and finished with evaporated milk. Industry estimates put consumption at 2.5 million cups a day.

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