A legendary Hong Kong-style cafe in Chinatown, Washington Bakery & Restaurant, has closed its doors for good , after 27 years in business. But what exactly is a Hong Kong-style cafe? Washington Bakery & Restaurant, circa 2019? A "Hong Kong-style cafe", better known by its Cantonese name cha-chaan-teng 茶餐廳 literally translates to "tea restaurant". I use all three interchangeably. It was exported from Hong Kong during the mass exodus from Hong Kong during the 1980's. It serves casual Chinese food as well as casual Western food with Chinese influences, and often offers combo menus with tea or coffee, thus resembling a Western cafe. In fact, at a tea restaurant, you should not be surprised to see macaroni and Spam (tm) and breakfast sausages on the menu, as breakfast items, alongside Chinese breakfast staples like rice congee, rice noodles, and instant ramen, plus ham and cheese sandwiches. For drinks, you can choose plain tea, plain coffee, soft drinks, or...
An exploration of San Francisco Chinatown typically NOT covered by tours