The Hong Kong cha chaan teng, or "tea restaurant", has been an emblem of the city's unique dining culture since the 1950s. Famed for their low prices and East-meets-West menus, these cheerful eateries are typically among the busiest dining establishments in most neighborhoods. Perennial favorites on the menu include Hong Kong-style French toast (with condensed milk and peanut butter), milk tea (prepared to extra-strong perfection through a large, sock-like strainer), and macaroni soup with ham.

The predecessor of the cha chaan teng - the bing sutt (ice room), serving drinks and snacks (including shaved-ice desserts) - arrived in Hong Kong from Guangzhou in the 1940s. To serve local tastes - shaped in part by the British custom of afternoon tea - Hong Kong's bing sutts began offering native versions of Western snacks. The difference between a bing sutt and cha chaan teng is actually to do with the food license: while bing sutts only serve food items that don't require a stove, cha chaan tengs have permission to cook on the premises - a fact that explains why the latter's menus are so much more varied.