It was Father’s Day and I needed to take my Hong Kong born father somewhere good for dinner. His favourite restaurant was one we all despaired of but he steadfastly requested it every year. It had a 3 course set menu for $15 and sometimes we’d get a case of food poisoning after it. Despite this, he asked for it every year and we all breathed a sigh of relief when it closed down (we couldn’t even feign surprise). My father has always mourned the loss of his favourite place silently and I always kept an eye out for Hong Kong eateries. When Eve Loves wrote a story on Ching Yip Coffee Lounge and mentioned that it was a Hong Kong style of place, our dinner plans were suddenly derailed and we pointed ourselves in the direction of Ching Yip, two floors up on busy Sussex Street. And a place you wouldn’t know about unless someone told you it was there.
The centre piece is the glass cake display case that now holds a variety of fruit-an eye-catching display yes but one that I’m sure for which the fridge was not intended. Inside, it’s all muted pink decorations from the 80′s – I believe the term is salmon pink but as it’s a bit grungy it has a grey tinge. Carpets are worn and disturbingly darker in patches near the kitchen. A woman in gumboots hauls wet boxes of food across the carpet and the obvious drips ensue. Ahh the grey patches…
We have a look at the menu. Eve mentioned the afternoon special where for $5,$6 or $7 you can get a special afternoon meal with a tea or coffee. The set menu doesn’t look quite as thrilling as Eve’s option (it’s chicken wings today) so we don’t go for that. Instead we choose the pork knuckle for $7 with a coffee. They ask us whether we want it with noodles so we ask for egg noodles. We choose a few other things, mainly based on the food my father used to eat in Hong Kong and the pink laminated menu is a curious mix of Western style dishes like omelettes and spaghetti as well as grilled items and an endless list of drinks.
Warm Horlicks $3.20
I’m a bit of a Nanna in training as far as Horlicks goes and I love it. When I taste it, I’m reminded of when I used to drink this as a child to help me sleep and go into nostalgic mode.
Fresh honeydew milkshake $4.50
Mr NQN loves milkshakes and he also loves fruit and it’s not often that you’re presented with a honeydew milkshake. This is quite good indeed with the taste of juicy, fresh honeydew.
Pork Knuckle Soup $7 with coffee (afternoon tea special)
The pork knuckle special soup arrives and it is a fatty pork knuckle with not a great much meat. The soup itself isn’t bad at all, like that flavoursome broth that has soaked many bones. The egg noodles are spindly and thin and not as soft as I’d like. Mr NQN loves this dish although most of the pork knuckle goes ungnawed.
Braised chicken with mushroom in white sauce with spaghetti $8
The cream spaghetti, a classic Hong Kong dish was one item I remember having in Hong Kong when young. In fact the first I tried a cream based spaghetti was when I was little and on holiday in Hong Kong and I thought that it was the bet food in the world. The thinly sliced mushrooms are very lightly cooked and not cooked through and the onion slices are thick and also need a few more minutes. Still the amount of chicken on this is generous and we go back for seconds and thirds (although having had creamy spaghetti many times since, it doesn’t quite feel as revelatory or exciting as when I first ate it so many years ago).
Assorted Chinese sausage on rice $10
I adore Lup Cheong, that fatty Chinese sausage with plain rice and this dish has two types, the regular as well as the darker hued liver sausage under a canopy of green vegetables. It’s not bad although it’s the kind of dish we could easily make at home. When Mr NQN tries to scrape the remainder of the rice from the bottom the owner comes over and tips some water into the bottom. “Wait for 3 minutes” he says smiling and we do and he eases away the rice easily and slurps it up.
Grilled Pork Chop with Onion Sauce $14
This dish was a bit disappointing as we tried to order the same thing as Eve did which looked all lovely and browned and gooey. This was a grilled pork chop with onion sauce and when we got over the initial disappointment that it was not what we were expecting we tucked into it and the pork chops were soft and gristle free and the onion sauce went well with the chips.
Russian Borscht $4.20
I know it’s a mistake to order a dish that diverges drastically from the main cuisine and curiousity was probably the primary reason for it. As you can see it’s nothing borscht like at all and there’s no beetroot, just the taste of tinned tomato soup combined with stock and chunky pieces of cabbage and carrot.
We ask the owner about the cake display and he tells us that when he took over the restaurant 22 years ago, they had cake for the first two years but then realised that it wasn’t popular with the mainland Chinese clientèle and soon after they stopped stocking cakes. Fair enough we say and we pay our bill. We walk past the sign at the front and have a little chuckle, it says that the coffee lounge sells cakes and pancakes.
So tell me Dear Reader, do you like the same kinds of places to eat as your parents?
Ching Yip Coffee Lounge
2nd Floor Dixon House
413-415 Sussex Street, Haymarket, NSW
Tel: +61 (02) 9281-1591
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35 Comments | Add your own
YIP! i’ll take two honeydew milkshakes, please. that’s actually a pretty strange flavor for a milkshake to me, but i’d drink it. after all, it’s a milkshake.
That was fun to read! I used to really enjoy Horlicks as a kid but haven’t had it in ages. My dad’s a fussy eater, having owned restaurants his whole life, but luckily he likes my favourite Chinese restaurant in London, so at least we agree on something!
There is a place in Flemington that my parents go to almost every weekend. I dont know why the food is average. But they love it there. They even have a certain spot that they always have to sit at. I love going there because they do.
Hmmm….interesting restaurant…
My parents and I definitely like to eat at different places. They rarely venture away from suburban italian restaurants wheras I pretty much like to try everything else!
my parents and I love to eat at the same places. and now that I’m studying away from home, summer holidays are the time to catch up on all the time we lost. So it makes me happy to have all meals with them again (:
and I love Horlicks too!
it’s funny how chinese restaurants hav all these homey sweet drinks we all grew up with, love horlicks!
My friend took me here a few years ago and I remember walking in and thinking that I had stepped onto the set of a Hong Kong drama or something, it’s so gaudy and 80′s. Lol. I thought the menu was really bizarre, but I remember having the spaghetti and thinking it was quite good. And you can’t really beat the prices. My parents and I definitely don’t like the same places. I.e. whenever my dad suggests going somewhere, there’s usually a collective ‘arrrrggghhh’. lol.
I travelled to HK on holiday with my parents years ago and we ate at the same restaurant, lunch AND dinner 3 days in a row! Love the daggy places too – part of the charm!
I tend to have quite different tastes from my parents, but this weekend they are visiting and I introduced them to my local Vietnamese place and they loved it, and this morning I’m introducing them to dim sum and hoping for a similar response!
(hooray for your Dad’s dodgy place closing down, hehe)
Horlicks!! Why have I suddenly felt 35 years dissolve.
Thanks for the review of an out of the way little place!
Ah the spagehtti and peas! First time I tried this I was like ‘Why?…peas?…spaghetti???..” hehehe! x
I have a similar story to Katherine. My parents go to the same restaurant in Perth every Saturday evening. The food is actually great, it’s cheap and family owned. I always have happy memories of the restaurant. It’s been the location of many a family celebration.
I was a bit confused when I first read the address because I’m a regular here and cantonese people don’t actually call this place the same name.
Most regulars would know this place as “Tim Tim” meaning sweet sweet in cantonese.
Oh, and there’s nothing wrong with the Russion Borscht because it’s a Hong Kong russian borscht (which are all made like that instead of the traditional way
just so you know next time you visit a HK style cafe because they all serve it).
Are both your parents Chinese? For some reason I thought you were mixed
I LOVE that fusion spaghetti! Wow, I didn’t know HK had their own, too! Cool!
theres a chinese place in burwood next to bread top that is worth a try, the price is reasonable and the food is nice, but it is good to book ahead cos they get quite packed after 6pm, there is the same restaurant in campsie too
i’ve just got onto your blog recently, and i love it! i’m an aussie living in hk, so quite enjoyed today’s post. hope you can do a culinary tour of hong kong soon – i can help you with some suggestions
I wanted to eat at Ching Yip a few months ago, but the other half refused to, saying it didn’t look right! Pooh bum! Of course it’s genuine, I’ve been to HK and it serves the same food.
My mum grew up in HK and hates this type of place, but for me, anything nostalgic is good. The only food preferences we have in common is traditional Cantonese.
Ok, weird. I was expecting to see lots of pictures of Chinese food, but then pork chop ‘n’ chips, and borscht! What a confusing place.
I love the fruity cake display case…very fun! I’ve never had creamy spaghetti, and I can’t help but feel like I’m missing out! I would love to try it!
i’ve been here! I was introduced by an ex-colleague to meet up here..u’re so right, you’d never know this place unless brought by someone..it’s like on top of the food court right? on the 2nd level i think.. very hk old-school cha chaan-teng style food..
Well, it was worth a try, wasn’t it? Sounds a bit hit and miss – maybe 6/10?
My father’s favourite food is Italian, and yes, I think I’ve inherited that to some extent. But we rarely eat out together – he prefers my cooking, bless him!
Hey, it’s funny how some things never change. Growing up the only “chinks on the block” in 1960s Australia my mother ALWAYS insisted on eating Chinese even when we were on holiday, so many a memory eating in the only “Chinese” cafe in small country towns being served stir fried celery and soggy rice with the Chinese owners wide-eyed to have another Chinese family in town. Meat pies were gourmet paradise in comparison but it was hard work to cook Asian then with no Asian groceries. Recently I went to California to visit family and my uncle and aunt were exactly the same! It has be to Chinese and it has to be good value for money i.e. cheap!
Again, such beautiful pictures. The pork chop “sounded good”. That milkshake was interesting. Bet it was good. Thanks for the post. Interesting to read about far awsay places. I eat healthier than the parents, so no.
LOL – I think my parents would like this kind of place. A fun review – thanks!
I’m sorry to say that I have very different taste in restaurants than my Mom. Makes it interesting when I visit her!
Drove passed this yesterday after dim sum at Regal and thought of you!
My goodness what a hodge-podge menu! Very intriguing indeed. Love the citrus in the cake stand, clever
hmmm…. interesting place. And I love horlicks too. I am not sure if I would venture into this place if it wasn’t recommended. But then again, never judge a book by its cover.
this is exactly the sort of my place that my dad would like! and well, i’m ashamed to say that many a time i’ve wished one of my dad’s favourite places to close down so that i wouldn’t have to go back and have their so-called ‘specials’ over and over again
There is a restaurant in Carlingford called ‘Cafe De Hong Kong’ which i think your father would like. It’s all things Hong Kong (with a few other cuisines thrown in for good measure) so maybe it’s an option for next Fathers Day?
Hi grace -I know, me too but somehow it worked
Hi Helen-Thankyou! Yes me too, it’s been years really! At least you have 1 place right?
Hi Katherine-Hehe they are creatures of habit aren’t they
Hi Kristy -Yes isn’t that funny, that’s how we are too. My dad hates the parking!
Hi Lianne-Ahh nice memories then! I really should buy some Horlicks!
Hi Lady Macaron-It must sell so well in Asia!
Hi Betty-Isn’t it just! Although it looked a bit faded I could see that many people had been over the years and that changing the decor may not be a great idea! Haha isn’t that funny!
Hi Moya-Haha no way! Was it good?
Hi Conor-Oh cool! Good on your parents for trying new stuff
Thankyou! I felt the same way 
Hi Caro-Haha!
Hi Penny-You’re welcome!
Hi Edge-Hehe I love spaghetti and peas I have to admit
Hi romaverona -Oh that sounds great and if you enjoy it that’s wonderful!
I was usually one that got sick from the place my dad liked 
Hi Vivz-Right, well it’s the name on the sign so I used that. Interesting about the borscht although I have to insist that it’s definitely not like Russian borscht in any way!
Hi sophia-Oh nope, both are Chinese
I think it’s probably like that as HK was a colony? Who knows!
Hi Amy-Oh cool, do you know the name?
Hi robyn-Thankyou so much! Hehe I’d love to, it’s been too long since my last HK visit! Thankyou very much, that’s so sweet!
Hi Belle-haha! I wonder why your mum hates it? My dad loves anything that reminds him of HK
Hi Y-Haha no! Just HK Coffee shop food
Hi Faith-Isn’t it crazy? It’s quite good although perhaps it’s a bit of nostalgia for me mixed into it too
Hi chinesechic-Yes one never really looks up and expects to find a place like this!
Hi aforkfulofspaghetti -Yes a bit hit and miss is right but it has its charm
Aww that’s so sweet! My dad thinks my food is too weird (i.e. non Chinese)
Hi Wendy-Hehe what funny memories! And isn’t it funny how similar people are and how similar experiences are!
Hi Lea Ann-Thankyou for your kind words
yes I do too I think! Well except for the cakes of course…
Hi Cakelaw-Oh cool! You’re more than welcome!
Hi Lisa-Hehe how do you settle it?
Hi Syrie-Hehe cool!
Hi Christie-I think that’s a typical menu too!
Hi Penny-Yes it’s the kind of place you might want to wander into but not quite make it there unless you knew more about it!
Hi Panda-Hehe aren’t all dads alike! Yep that was us and thankfully it closed down. My tummy was thankful!
Hi Jen-Ooh interesting! I will definitely keep that in mind-thankyou!
Went there two weeks ago with a friend and it was exactly as described in the last review . I was the only non asian there . I am in my early fifties and have lived in Sydney all my life and this is the most Chinesey place I have ever been . Stayed for two hours nibbling and chatting with a friend , very relaxed atmosphere , had a wonderful time .
Hi tony-that’s fantastic to hear!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
You have to try the grilled pork chop with tomato sauce and rice.. it’s the best thing they have there!
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