HOKO Hong Kong cafe in Brick Lane

I’ve been supporting HOKO since the pandemic days of pre-ordering batches of them Hong Kong milk-style tea in pouches to be picked up in central London. It’s addictive stuff, an unforgettable taste, of strong full-bodied black tea mixed with creamy evaporated milk. Reminding me of my holidays in Hong Kong. The team started some pop-ups in markets, testing out some HK cha chaan teng street food favourites, Hong Kong Style French toasts, deep-fried squid and other drinks. 

From HK-style tea drink pouches to food market pop-ups 

They have recently opened up HOKO Hong Kong café pop-up in Brick Lane, for two months. Having tried their popular Hong Kong Style French toast at Westgate market, I was excited to try out their other offerings. From reading a few other foodies’ initial soft-opening responses there were a few issues that now seem to be ironed out.  

 

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Where to find 

Hoko Hong Kong café can be found at the beginning of Brick Lane, (near the famous beigels). Visiting on a Friday afternoon, there was a relatively short queue. The self-checkout Electronic pad makes it a breeze to order food and customised drinks. Contactless payment by a tap of a phone.

What’s on the menu

Hong Kong classic drinks, snacks, street food, char siu rice, buns, and HK-style French toast.

Service 

The service is a bit lousy from the moment, I tried to sit down, and the female staff moved me to a shared table. Moments later a solo male diner went to sit at the same spot but was not moved. 🙄 When I asked for napkins the female staff told me to get them myself whilst I saw her give them to other diners.
Then when it came for the drink order, I alerted the male staff of my iced lemon tea order but he said it wasn’t mine, went round to all the tables, came back and gave me the drink.  

Food and drinks 

Apart from that, the Hoko house iced lemon tea (£4) is perfection. Sweet ice tea, with a sour tang. It’s just like the Vitasoy cartons, you get from the Asian stores but better. Sweet and refreshing that goes well with both savoury and sweet food. 

The House Made char siu & eggs bun is humongous. They were housed inside a branded foil and paper wrapper. Thick slabs or char siu explode out of the cushioned brioche buns. Hidden under the thick pieces of meat are the soft runny scrambled eggs, with chopped chives. Whilst the char siu had good flavours, it was missing the grilled element and somehow the sogginess of the roast pork meat, and eggs made the bun fall apart quickly. 

Overall 

The drinks are stellar from Hoko, I adore the nostalgic feel of dining in a Hong Kong cha chaan teng environment. I recommend the French toast (had at their street food pop-up), and hot or cold milk teas.  

More information 

For more info on Hoko visit their website. 

HOKO HONG KONG CAFE   

224 Brick Lane, E1 6SA   

POP-UP OPENING HOURS:  

TUE – FRI: 1200 – 2030  

SAT & SUN: 1200 – 1900  

Nearest station: Bethnal Green underground, Shoreditch High Street Overground 

Price: ££