Cha chaan tengs

Old style restaurants
struggle for survival

Left: Mr. and Mrs. Edward Adams dig into a plate of fried rice at Ngan Lung. Right: Established fare at Ngan Lung. (Sandy Sezto)

By Sandy Sezto

With its antique-like wall lamps, wooden tables and chairs, entering the White House Icehouse is like going back to the 1960s.

“My family has been running this small cha chaan teng for 43 years,” said Hui Shun-hing, who inherited the old restaurant after his father retired.

Situated on a crossroad in To Kwa Wan, the White House Icehouse has been selling egg tarts, pineapple buns and milk tea for over 40 years since its opening in 1960.

“Usually, our main customers are factory workers. Their tastes have not changed much throughout the years.

“So we are still selling the same kind of food as we did before,” said Mr. Hui.

The cashier, noodle booth, and furnishings are still in the same position as they were when the cha chaan teng opened.

Some old regular customers visit the cha chaan teng every day at the same time. They order the same food and sit in the same corner of the restaurant.

“Some even come here four to five times a day when it is a holiday,” Mr. Hui reminisced, looking out into the distance.

During the 1970s, female customers were not a common sight at cha chaan tengs.

“Although they also worked in factories, unlike their male counterparts, the girls liked bringing their own lunch boxes.

“So it was a spectacular sight if a girl walked into our icehouse. The cha chaan teng was a male domain at that time.” Mr. Hui said, beaming.

To keep up with the changing preferences of his customers, Mr. Hui has altered his recipes.

“People now want food with stronger flavors, so we have added more salt, sugar or soy sauce to the food than we used to years ago,” said Mr. Hui.

Having survived in the catering service for more than four decades, the White House Icehouse has faced many of challenges.

“When the government set up industrial areas elsewhere years ago, many factories around here moved away.

“As most of our customers were factory workers, we lost a lot of business at that time,” said Mr. Hui.

Now, when asked about the future of the White House Icehouse, Mr. Hui said it is out of his hands.

“I am already 50 years old. I may not be able to run the business after five or six years. And the government is planning to develop the area around here, so this building may be torn down. I guess I will just go with the flow,” sighed Mr. Hui.

On the contrary, Lee Yip On, chief chef of Ngan Lung Restaurant, a cha chaan teng chain in Hong Kong, believes that there are opportunities for their cha chaan tengs to develop further.

Founded in 1963, the previously family-run Ngan Lung Restaurant is taking the corporate route.

“We now have branches all over Hong Kong, including Tseun Wan, Mong Kok and even as far as Sheung Wan,” said Mr. Lee.

The success of Ngan Lung is mainly due to the introduction of a modern administration strategy a few years ago.

“We standardized the quality of our food and gave identical instructions to chefs in different branches,” said Mr. Lee.

“Professional training is now provided for all our waiters and waitresses. We have a handbook which includes service manner for them to refer to from time to time,” explained Mr. Lee.

To change the stereotype that cha chaan teng waiters are rude and disorganized, all employees of Ngan Lung are required to wear uniforms. They are also prohibited from smoking and having artificially colored hair.

Besides these new policies, Ngan Lung has also included a wide variety of dishes on the menu.

“In the past, we had only Chinese fried rice, but now we also have Japanese noodles,” said Mr. Lee, pointing to the menu, which also includes Thai and Vietnamese food.

Not only are local people attracted to the new Ngan Lung, tourists are also attracted.

“We were attracted by the food sold at the noodle booth on the ground floor,” said Edward Adams, a tourist from the United States.

“It looks comfortable to dine here. Surprisingly, they have an English menu too,” said Mr. Adams.

To provide better service to their customers, Ngan Lung recently extended their service time to 24-hours a day.

They started experimenting with 24-hour service and various discount schemes to boost their business during the economic recession.

“We discovered that we could attract more customers after midnight. Some taxi drivers and minibus drivers want a comfortable place to take a rest,” said Mr. Lee.

Nevertheless, it is not easy to make changes in this traditional catering service.

Said Mr. Lee: “The most difficult part in restructuring our business was to gain cooperation from our employees.

“Some old employees were accustomed to the old ways and were too stubborn to change. So we had no choice but to dismiss them,” he said.

No matter whether the owners choose to preserve the traditions or to compromise with the new age, cha chaan tengs have become part of our local culture.

“Our food are served fast and they are cheap. And local people already have a special affinity towards cha chaan tengs that no other restaurants could offer,” said Hui Shun-hing of the White House Icehouse.

The White House Icehouse posts its menu on
the walls. (Sandy Sezto)

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