Lin Heung Tea House's Reviews

Lin Heung Tea House 蓮香樓
English Address : 160-164 Wellington Street Central
Chinese Address : 中環威靈頓街160-164號
Map : Display Map
Phone No. : 2544 4556 (Add to Contacts)
Categories : Guangdong | Dim Sum Restaurant | Soup | Dim Sum | Group Dining
Spending : $41-$100
Overall Score : 3.4
443 smile face

vs 114 ok face

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Other Information

Signature Dishes: Malay Cake
Opening Hours: 星期一至日： 06:00-23:00
Payment Method: Visa、Master、Cash
Alcoholic Drinks: Yes
10% Service Charge: Yes
Phone Reservation: Yes

Gourmet Reviews

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Local fare
2013-01-05
ninjajacq (2 Review(s))

We had a booking but still waited for a table to be free. It's a bit of a chaotic scene waiting for a table on the stairs surrounded by other hungry people so best come with someone who's been here before or a local. Dishes were traditional and service typically efficient. We had a duck that had been ore ordered the night before. It was deboned and stuffed. It was our first trip to a local HK tea house and a good experience.

Table Wait Time: 20 Minutes
Spending per Head: HKD200 (Dinner)
Rating : Taste3 Environment2 Service3 Hygiene3 Value for Money3

Food at the Historic Lin Heung Tea House
2012-09-04
supersupergirl (2534 Review(s))

With history as far back as Yung Kee, Lin Heung Tea House is on the other side of Central close to Sheung Wan.

I was so surprised to see that there are so many reviews on this place so here is my review too.

I just expected it to be an ordinary Chinese restaurant so I never intended to go.
Although there was one time I was standing at the entrance thinking to go in or not but I ended up trying something else.

The restaurant is slightly different in the daytime and evening, in the daytime they serve dimsums and in the night time they serve Chinese dishes.
The Chinese tea however seems fun in the daytime because from the photos on OpenRice, it shows two cups, one full of tea leaves with a lid and another cup for you to pour the tea in similar to the ones you see on old Chinese Television programmes.

I did not read the reviews on OpenRice so I was not sure about the food prices, but it turned out quite economical around $100 per person, however some foods which expats and tourists are bound to pick were quite expensive such as the Lemon chicken which costs $100.

But since there were so many reviews and expats eating there, the food seemed assuring.

Although I looked at the menu, I did not know what to order so I left it to a local and luckily they knew exactly what to order.
Personally Lemon chicken would be my pick, but it was slightly over priced so I thought it would be better off trying new and more traditional items which I would not know to order.

The tea was White Peony, which was quite nice because usually the common choices are Jasmine, Iron Buddha and Oolong.

It seems that this place specialises in Lotus paste too and part of the name for this restaurant means Fragrance of Lotus.
At the entrance they seem to have a stall possible selling mooncakes/Lotus related pastries which I did not pay attention to at the time.
Edging away from the food topic, they also had these tin pots which I am guessing they used for Phelgm???
So either the air pollution must be bad years ago or the locals here have over productive glands for phelgm LOL !!
I can imagine this quote being posted on the DLopenricer blog.
Anyway back to food!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Fried prawn rolls wrapped in beancurd sheets:

This was really nice, the oil had been drained off after deep frying and the bean curd was really flaky and delicate.
When you eat them they make a noise.
Inside the beancurd rolls were fresh whole prawns that had taste and didnt need extra MSG. Overall the prawn rolls were full of flavour they tasted nice with or without the worcester sauce.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Shark lips with lettuce
When it came, I thought they were fish maw but they were shark lips, when I knew they were lips I was expecting them to be soft like gelatin, but the texture was interesting, it was similar to cartilage, but apparently they contain alot of collagen.
The lettuce beneath it soaked up the gravy so it was delicious.
But since sharks are so much bigger than fish, it probably explains why the texture is like cartilage.
I would definately order this again.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Supplementary Information：
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Price: $1xx
Service: OK
Yummy factor: OK
MSG levels: None
Napkins provided: No
Toilets: Yes
Noise levels: Quite noisy
Glass of water provided: Tea is provided
English Menu: Yes
Air Conditioning: Yes
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Rating : Taste3 Environment3 Service3 Hygiene3 Value for Money3

Worst Dim Sum Experience Ever
2012-07-11
BK3333 (Non-member)

After trying many great dim sums in HK (like One Dim Sum, Dao Xiang), i was definitely expecting another amazing experience in Lin Heung Tea House. On the contrary, i got the worst experience and i will never patronise this place again.

The place was packed when i was there but i got a seat immediately as a group just left. After observing that there are no waiters to take orders and i have to appraoch the dim sum carts to get my food, i quickly made my way towards the carts (i have no issue with this as we do have a few restaurants adopting this format of food serving too in Singapore). However, i was disappointed with the choices that were available. Whatever is avail are definitely not appetising at all. What's left are some buns, chicken feet and some strange looking dumplings were available. Well, i did came at the off-peak hour at around 2 plus so i took it in stride and took some of the dim sums back to my table to try.

However, the food is AWFUL!! the chicken feet is cold and tastless, which leaves me to wonder if it was even cooked in the first place. The buns were cold as well so it was not appealing to me. I made a second attempt to get more food but came up disapppointed again (a lady cut queue to snatch the last siew mai from me! anyway, the siew mai does not appealing too, maybe it was better this way). The rest of the food was just as bad.

Then, i realised that there are some food items that i can order so i decided to give it a try, in case the bad food was due to the limited food choices remaining on the carts. However, the crispy pigeon which i ordered was even worse. It was again cold and it was so salty. It really felt like leftover food which was cooked by some amatur apprentice. the fried mee with prawns was the only decent food as it was the only dish that was still warm.

On top of that, the place was a dirty mess. I know that this place has a long tradition and it pride itself in staying true to the authentic cha lok feeling, but the place could do with better cleanliness. It was a scary experience and i don't dare to look at the place too much, as i am afraid of what i may find. Before you say that i am a cleanliness freak, let me explain that i have eaten at Sheng Xiang Yuen (Da Pai Dang) a stall on the streets with tentage above and i have no issues with that.

Lastly, the service was bad and it made me feel like they were trying to get us to leave the place as soon as possible.

Supplementary Information：
Anyway, i just want to post this review to warn all of you of the experience so that other people do not have to go through what i went. The experience could be much better if i went during lunch or break hours but i will never have a chance to find out for myself as i will never step into this restaurant ever again!

Recommended Dish(es): nothing worth trying
Date of Visit: 2012-07-09
Table Wait Time: 0 Minutes
Spending per Head: HKD60 (Lunch)
Rating : Taste1 Environment1 Service1 Hygiene1 Value for Money2

Classic DimSum restaurant with 80 years of history
2012-07-06
DixonW (152 Review(s))

蓮香樓 is a name that everyone familiar with, it has been serving dim sum and nostalgic traditional Cantonese cuisine for over 80 years. More importantly, not many places in Hong Kong serve Chazhong tea.

Lunch time is always full with diners dying for dim sum, there’s a long queue every day. The reason for that its clear, it offers outstanding food at an affordable price. Dinner services have less diners and certain dishes need to be book in advance.

Cuisine: Chinese
Food rating: 4/10*
Service: 4/10
Ambiance: 2/10
Price: HK$60 pax

* Food Rating: 6/10 is equivalent to 1 Michelin star, 8/10 to two Michelin stars, and 9/10 or above to three Michelin stars

Roast-pork cheung fun(3/10)
The wrapper was very smooth but slightly thick. The pork was tender, fairly seasoned.
Shrimp dumplings (3/10)
One very classic shrimp dumplings, the shrimp could be crunchier and the wrapper can slightly thin it down.
Chicken roll (4/10)
This was the first time I ate this. It was kinda similar to cheung fun, the chicken was very tender and full of flavour, one of my favourite dim sum today.
Lotus and pork bell bun (2/10)
The lotus was rather bland; the flavour only came from the pork belly. The pork belly was very tender, loved the texture. However, the bun was too thick and doughy.
鯪鱼球 (4/10)
The fish ball was really smooth and it wasn’t fishy. It was still bouncy when you bite it, you can sure it was freshly made!
马拉盞 (4/10)
It was a classic Cantonese dessert. The莲蓉 was filled in the bottom of the马拉盞, the马拉盞 wasn’t too sweet, and hence you still can taste the 莲蓉. The马拉盞 was very spongy, wasn’t hard at all.
I loved the buzz in the restaurant, people is always on the move, chasing after the trolleys for fresh dim sum. The dim sum is delicious, I am pretty sure I will be back from time to time.

Give me a thumbs up if you like it!

Date of Visit: 2012-06-21
Table Wait Time: 5 Minutes
Rating : Taste4 Environment2 Service2 Hygiene2 Value for Money5

Amazing olde Hong Kong touch
2012-07-01
Andrew_Li (5 Review(s))

Party of 3 we went to 連香熡 on a weekday afternoon at around 2 p.m. It was still quite busy and we waited 5 minutes until offered a table. First, I really enjoy eating at this olde type dim sum restaurant. I enjoyed looking at people lining up for the dim sum served in a metal cart. Within minutes, all the dim sum basket in the cart were gone. The good thing about this is that I know every dim sum is fresh and hot enough. This restaurant reminds me the old chinese culture of yum cha in Southern China. This little tea shop adopted a very traditional yet practical layout. However, I find the setting to be a relaxing respite a loud and happy dining experience.

The food quality is indeed quite good, given its relatively cheap priced in relation to nowadays rising food cost. Some of the food are on the oily side but it was tasty. My only complain is their 燒賣. They overcooked the meat and the texture is a little dry. Other than that, the rest are GOOD!

I would definitely visit 連香熡 again, for the fun and interesting experience.

Date of Visit: 2011-07-21
Spending per Head: HKD80 (Lunch)
Rating : Taste4 Environment4 Service2 Hygiene2 Value for Money5

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