Lin Heung teahouse - home of sweet lotus seed paste desserts
Cantonese teahouse opened in Hong Kong in 1926, and has a menu reflecting that era
Loved by locals and visitors alike, Lin Heung is one of the oldest names in the Cantonese teahouse business, and in Hong Kong, there are two — Lin Heung Lau and Lin Heung Kui. Founded in Guangzhou in the 1890s, it was a Chinese pastry shop run by a solitary pastry chef.
According to Lin Heung's marketing officer, Terence Lam, it was the company's founder who invented the sweet lotus seed paste filling that is now ubiquitous in Chinese desserts.
In 1902, a businessman surnamed Tam bought it and expanded the premises to include a teahouse.
"In the 1920s, it became quite fashionable for teahouses in Guangzhou to open branches in Hong Kong," says Lam, referring to Lin Heung's first foray into Hong Kong in 1926.
By 1949, the Hong Kong Lin Heung began operating independently from the original one in Guangzhou. Eventually, the Central restaurant moved to the current location on Wellington Street in 1996. In 2006, the Sheung Wan branch opened.
In 1980, Lam says, as other teahouses began to open at dinnertime, Lin Heung followed suit.
"We wanted to keep the food as close to the original as possible," Lam says. "So we created a menu that reflects that era, such as the stuffed duck."
