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A Hong Kong-style diner in London, Hoko serves milk tea, French toast and a slice of nostalgia for exiles and curious locals alike
- Hoko in East London grew out of a wholesale tea business two migrants to the UK launched when they could not find a cup of silky Hong Kong tea in London
- The cafe is intended as a gateway for people to connect with the culture of Hong Kong and has a short, diner-style menu that includes French toast and that tea
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“We’re not modernising or trying to change the cha chaan teng, it’s perfect the way it is,” co-founder of Hoko Cafe, Nicole Ma, tells me over the phone.
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“To me, Hong Kong diners encapsulate so much of what makes a place like this such a nostalgic, deeply unsubtle joy.”
That is the ethos behind Ma’s business. The former floral designer’s newly opened cha chaan teng, in Brick Lane in East London, is a love letter to the simple pleasures of a Hong Kong diner. A place to meet friends – or strangers – and enjoy a milk tea with some hearty food.
What started as a shared love for nai cha and a frustration at not being able to find a cup of silky Hong Kong milk tea in London, led Ma and her husband, Ryan Leung, to begin making and selling their own online.
During lockdown, they hand-brewed Hong Kong milk tea and created slickly designed clear drink pouches.
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Before long, the wholesale drink business took off and they started supplying East and Southeast Asian restaurants and supermarkets in the city such as Dumpling Shack, Ong Ong Buns, Three Uncles and Seoul Plaza.
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