Cheap, Authentic Hong Kong Eats Fill the Menu at Thirteenth Block Tea Stall

Craving 7-Eleven bentos and other quick, hearty fare? Feel like dashing into a low-key eatery, burying your head over a hot  bowl, and then heading back to the office without needing to chit-chat with anyone? Then this Hong Kong-style street restaurant will suit you right down to the ground.

Located on the first floor of Shangdu Soho, Thirteenth Block Tea Stall couldn’t be more authentically Hong Kong-street if it tried. It has several seats along a narrow table near the kitchen, where you can dine and slurp as loud as you want and no one will care. The walls are covered with dazzling drawings of Hong Kong streets, the floor is as greasy as you can find in any of that city's typical street stalls. The only thing missing is a noisy TV playing soap operas in Cantonese to make this place utterly stereotypical.

The Chinese-only menu features noodle soups (RMB 24-35), fried noodles, and porridges (RMB 25-35). There are also snacks like egg puffs (baked puff pastry made of egg and milk batter, similar to a waffle), pineapple buns, and milk tea.

READ: Kowloon Ice House Brings Cantonese Street Eats to Sanlitun Taikooli

The lunch set is a winner because you can get a noodle soup and a drink for RMB 39.8. You can also get all the aforementioned items with an extra dim sum platter for RMB 49.8. The noodle in tomato soup has a thick, sweet flavor and its bouncy instant noodles are Demae Iccho, which is a favorite Hong Kong brand. The grilled chicken, meanwhile, is so peppery that your taste buds can't register anything else as you wolf it down.

Their milk tea, meanwhile, is enriched by sugary condensed milk to balance its splash of black tea. We like the iced version with its lower sugar level, but don't worry, the caffeine content high enough to keep you buzzing all.

All in all, Thirteenth Block Tea Stall is not a fancy place for delicate dim sum, or a buffet. Instead, it's a small eatery in Shangdu Soho that makes for a quick and affordable alternative to many of the CBD's flashier options.

READ: Street Eats: Noisy, Greasy, Down-to-Earth Loye Brings You to Hong Kong's Bustling Streets

Thirteenth Block Tea Stall
Daily 9.30am-10pm. 1/F, 1130 West Tower, Shangdu Soho, Jinghua Beijie, Chaoyang District (133 7016 0295)
香港十三座茶档：朝阳区景华北街SOHO尚都西塔1130号

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Photos: Tracy Wang