Lin Heung Lau Reopens in Sheung Wan

Few Hong Kong restaurants carry as much history on a single dim sum trolley as Lin Heung Lau (蓮香樓). After bidding farewell to its long-time Central home, the century-old tea house has reopened a short walk away in Sheung Wan — and, mercifully, it has brought its trolleys, its kettles and its famously unchanged menu with it.

What's happened to Lin Heung Lau?

Lin Heung Lau has left Wellington Street and reopened in Sheung Wan. The tea house shut its Central branch for good earlier in 2026, ending a decades-long run on the street where generations of Hongkongers queued for steamer baskets and a pot of strong tea.

This is a survivor's story. As Time Out Hong Kong reports, the institution has weathered a string of closure scares — a brief shutter in the summer of 2022 and a reopening in the spring of 2024 — before its latest move. Rather than disappear, it has simply shifted a few blocks west and kept the lights (and the neon) on.

Where is the new Lin Heung Lau?

The new tea house sits in the Tung Ning Building at 249-253 Des Voeux Road Central, where Connaught Road Central meets Hillier Road. It could hardly be easier to reach: it's right next to Exit B of Sheung Wan MTR station, making it a simple stop on any Hong Kong Island morning.

You won't miss the frontage. Alongside its recognisable neon signs, the restaurant has mounted a giant golden dragon and phoenix across the façade — a confident statement that this old name is here to stay. For more dim sum institutions to put on your list, see our guide to the best dim sum in Hong Kong.

What's changed — and what hasn't

The headline for regulars: the menu remains unchanged. You still pick your favourites from roving dim sum trolleys, or order pan-fried bites straight from the kitchen, in the old push-cart style that has all but vanished from the city.

The setting, though, has more room to breathe. Unlike the cramped Central shophouse, the new venue spreads over two storeys. The first floor keeps the soul of the place — the original tables and chairs, the dim sum trolleys, the large kettles and the traditional gaiwan lidded tea cups. The second floor is brand new, built as a dragon-and-phoenix grand hall of the kind you'd find in an old-school Cantonese banquet restaurant.

It's a smart balance: heritage downstairs, a little extra polish upstairs. If you love this kind of living history, our round-up of the best Cantonese restaurants in Hong Kong and our look at the city's classic cha chaan teng are natural next reads.

How to do yum cha here

Lin Heung is built for yum cha (飲茶), the Cantonese ritual of tea and dim sum, so come hungry and come early. Trolley service is busiest — and best stocked — in the morning, when the steamers are freshest and the room hums with the clatter of cups.

Flag down a trolley as it passes, lift the lids, and point at what you fancy: har gow, siu mai, char siu bao, rice-noodle rolls and lotus-leaf rice are the classics. The old tradition here is "one teapot, two dishes" (一盅兩件) — a pot of tea and a couple of baskets, the unhurried way locals have eaten breakfast for a century. It's communal, a little chaotic, and very much part of the charm. For more on why these heritage tables matter, read our feature on why Hong Kong's food scene is having a moment.

Why it matters

Hong Kong has been losing its trolley tea houses one by one, so the survival of Lin Heung Lau is more than a feel-good footnote. Push-cart dim sum — where you eat by sight and instinct rather than from a tick-sheet menu — is now a rarity, and this is one of the few rooms still keeping the practice alive.

If you've never experienced it, the new Sheung Wan branch is the perfect introduction; if you grew up on it, it's a relief to know the steamers are still rolling. Pair a visit with another old-Hong Kong trolley legend in our guide to Maxim's Palace dim sum, and make a morning of it.

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