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(You Are What You Eat: Some weight watchers consider the food of Chachangtang not healthy for being too greasy with high caloric contents. Well, everyone needs to build up their health with junk food somehow sometimes. These two men are having a chat over breakfast alfresco style at a chachangtan.)
Yesterday, I suggested two must-do things for your next tour to Hong Kong. I have just thought of another one: a visit to a Chachangtang.
"Chachangtang" is a local word which literally means, "Tea Meal House". The origin of these Tea Meal Houses is not known to me, but understandably it probably started after the fashion of those western haute cuisine resturants during the days when the British called the shots in Hong Kong. They were meant for the majority of the Chinese in the former colony, who in those days could not afford or resist the western meals growing in popularity. They are still meant for the locals. So just try any one of the Chachangtang to feel the atmosphere on your next tour to Hong Kong.
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(Chachangtang is a popular place for the locals to take a breather in their hectic schedules.)
When will be the best time to go there? The locals have a penchant for breakfast in Chachangtang (instead of the McDonald's). Tea time is also the rush hours for Chachangtang and a good chance to see more in it.
(Mongkok: A chachangtan district) 
What to try once you are in a Chachangtang? For breakfast, ask what are on offer for Breakfast Sets A, B and C (in Cantonese, A chang, B chang, C chang) which are usually macaroni / instant noodles / rice noodles with ham plus egg sandwiches plus a cup of tea. Oh, you must at least try the tea, or better known by the locals as "si mut" (literally, silk stockings) milk tea because of the way the tea was made: the tea leaves were put into the silk stockings for submersion in a big pot.
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What to try once you are in a Chachangtang? For breakfast, ask what are on offer for Breakfast Sets A, B and C (in Cantonese, A chang, B chang, C chang) which are usually macaroni / instant noodles / rice noodles with ham plus egg sandwiches plus a cup of tea. Oh, you must at least try the tea, or better known by the locals as "si mut" (literally, silk stockings) milk tea because of the way the tea was made: the tea leaves were put into the silk stockings for submersion in a big pot.For tea time, definitely a cup of "si mut" milk tea and a "bo loll bao" (literally, pineapple bun). Do they still submerge your tea leaves in silk stockings? Do they stuff the bun with slices of pineapple? I should leave you to get the answers for yourselves.
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