I stopped over for a few days in Hong Kong on my way home from visiting family members in San Francisco. BM, a friend working in Hong Kong, and I met for lunch on the last day of my visit. We ate so much that I had to get coffee at a branch of Caffe Habitu to wake myself up.

The conversation led to chilled milk tea, which BM said I'd have to try what was in his opinion the very best milk tea before I leave for the airport. I thought he was out of his mind as I was feeling so stuffed from lunch and having just drunk a cup of Latte, I wasn't sure I'd be able to find room for a cup of chilled milk tea. However, from the way that he was raving about it, I got curious and reasoned that I could at least stomach a few sips. We took a short walk to Kam Fung Cafe 金鳳茶餐廳, which was a nondescript, hole-in-the-wall-type cafe that is referred to in Hong Kong as Cha Chan Teng.

Kam Fung Cafe's Chilled Milk Tea @ HKD 14

After years of drinking really lousy iced milk tea, I was apprehensive about how good this cup would taste. It arrived sans ice cubes, a good sign that it wouldn't be a diluted and overly-sweetened semi-milky tea. When I took a sip, I was blown away by how awesome this cup of chilled milk tea tasted. This is by far the BEST chilled milk tea, I've ever had! It had the full-bodied flavour of tea, a subtle milkiness and was not cloyingly sweet. This is definitely a Must-Try!

I wondered if they made it using a cold steeping method like how Blue Bottle Coffee Company makes their New Orleans style iced coffee? I didn't dare to ask because the service staff were gruff (to put it lightly), impatient and expects customers to make snappy orders, eat quickly and leave immediately. No lingering is tolerated here. Reminds me of Seinfeld and the Soup Nazi!

Chicken Pie @ about HKD 22

BM insisted that I had to try the chicken pie too which he says is really good and since a batch had just come out of the oven, all the better. As usual, my curiosity and greed got the better of me, I had to try the chicken pie! I figured I could sleep better on the flight back to Singapore.

Here's a cross-section of the pie. The crumbly pie crust yielded easily to the fork and broke open to reveal succulent cubes of chicken in a creamy sauce. Despite how full I was already feeling when we got to the cafe, I finished the entire pie! I think it was the crumbly and buttery pastry that did it for me, yes, more than the tasty and juicy morsels of chicken. If you happen to visit when a freshly baked batch of chicken pie comes out of the oven, this is definitely worth a try.

Kam Fung Cafe 金鳳茶餐廳

灣仔春園街41號春園大廈地下, Hong Kong

Ground Floor,

No. 41 Spring Garden Lane,

Wanchai, Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2572-0526

 

Operating Hours:  Daily from 7 am to 7 pm