Sai Kung Cha Chaan Teng: A Flavor Recharging Station After Hiking

When it comes to Sai Kung, many people immediately think of seafood restaurants or hiking to the East Dam. In fact, this small town in the eastern New Territories, apart from being a popular hiking starting point, has also seen the emergence of many distinctive tea restaurants and coffee shops in recent years, offering visitors a place to relax and enjoy some food and drinks after working up an appetite on the trails.

Today, instead of giving you the typical tourist recommendations, I want to tell you how these tea restaurants have become such a unique part of Sai Kung. The dining options here actually reflect the transformation of the entire area—from a remote fishing village in the past to a popular weekend getaway for young people and families in recent years.

First, you need to understand what Sai Kung is all about. This is a seaside town in the eastern part of the New Territories, which has its own small old market area. Unlike the city center, which is filled with shopping malls and chain stores, many of the shops in Sai Kung's old town have been established for ten to twenty years or more, with minimal pretentious renovations, yet they offer a certain charm and variety. This kind of atmosphere is actually what makes this place so special.

Among the many changes that have taken place in recent years, there are a few things that are particularly worth noting:

First, the rise of cafe culture. The density of cafes in Sai Kung, to be honest, isn't particularly high, but with varying quality levels, there are always one or two that stand out from the rest. The positioning of these cafes is actually quite different from the Instagram-famous cafes in the city center—their main customers are hikers returning from the trails who are both tired and looking for a place to sit down, or families with young children. They don't come specifically to take photos for social media like people do in Tsim Sha Tsui or Causeway Bay; rather, they genuinely need a space to rest and recharge.

Second, the pricing strategy. In the city center, where rental costs are high, these costs are inevitably passed on to customers, which means tea restaurants almost have to charge HK$60 to HK$80 for a set meal just to make it worthwhile. However, since rentals in Sai Kung are still quite a distance from city-center prices, the average spending at these cafes can drop to around HK$35 to HK$55—a significant attraction for people who have just finished hiking. This is also why more and more people are choosing Sai Kong as a midway break point or final destination for their hiking adventures.

Third is the diverse range of dining options. Apart from traditional tea restaurants and seafood eateries, Sai Kung has also seen an increase in many Thai, Vietnamese, or Taiwanese-style small restaurants in recent years. Some of these are opened by young people who previously worked in the city center and decided to move to this area because the rentals are "still manageable enough to do something of their own," while also avoiding direct competition with large chain restaurants. This diversity has truly transformed Sai Kung's dining scene compared to what it was before.

If I were to recommend some places you could visit, here's what I would say:

First, if you want to experience the most traditional Sai Kung atmosphere, you must visit some of the old-style ice rooms or tea restaurants. These places typically haven't changed their decor in decades, still using the classic booth seating and those old-fashioned ceiling fans. When you order a milk tea, they usually brew it with a stronger tea base, and the taste has remained unchanged over the years. The food at these places may be nothing special to write home about, but the environment can truly tell you what Sai Kung looked like thirty or forty years ago.

If you're looking for something to sip on, you could try some of the newer cafes that have opened in recent years. The owners of these cafes typically worked in cafes in the city center for a few years before moving to Sai Kung to enjoy a slower pace of life. Some specialize in daily specials that change according to the season and local ingredients—for example, watermelon specials in spring and summer, and chestnut pies in autumn and winter. These variations actually reflect the care and dedication of the cafe owners, rather than just randomly following trends.

If you're with family, you might want to consider some family-friendly restaurants that are more accommodating to children. These typically provide high chairs, and their menus include options suitable for children, such as pasta or toast. The environment is also usually more spacious, so you won't have to share tables with other customers.

If there's one thing that makes Sai Kung particularly special, it has to be its "relaxed pace." Cafes here typically aren't in as much of a rush as those in the city center—many of them open around late morning at 11am and close around 7pm in the evening. This is because their main customers are people coming for the weekend, so there's no need to chase the dinner rush like in office districts.

So when is the best time to visit Sai Kung? Honestly, any time of year works, but if you want to avoid the crowds, weekdays are certainly the quietest. Alternatively, going later in the day usually means fewer people. However, if you're planning to go on the weekend, you'll have to accept that there might be waits—Sai Kung's cafes have limited seating after all.

For transportation, the most convenient way is to take the Kowloon Motor Bus (KMB) route 92 or 96R from MTR Choi Hung Station, or go directly to the bus terminus in central Sai Kung. Minibuses are also an option—they're faster but might be more crowded.

One final tip: if you're specifically going to Sai Kung for the cafes, don't expect to find a seat as easily as you would in the city center. Some of the more popular places require reservations—especially on weekends, it's best to call ahead a day before to check availability. This is one of those things that only people who have done it know about, but I've personally experienced having to wait forty-five minutes on a weekend at 2pm.

To summarize, the tea restaurant culture in Sai Kung is somewhat different from that in the city center: the pace here is slower, the portions might be more generous, and the prices are relatively more affordable. Most importantly, many of the cafes here have a certain "doing things their own way" vibe—neither the owners nor the customers feel the need to rush around like they do in the city center. If you've just finished hiking and are looking for a place to sit down and enjoy a drink, Sai Kung is indeed a fitting choice.