TeaWood Taiwanese Cafe & Restaurant

Teawood is a great Taiwanese café and restaurant! They have many options of food they offer as well as drinks and desserts. After eating dim sums for a few days in Hong Kong I wanted to try something new and decided to try Teawood. And definitely it was not a wrong decision at all. Came here before noon and there was not much people and no line at all. My meal was great and very fulfilling, which I enjoyed a lot.
Location/​Service: It is located near the Tsim Sha Tsui Metro Exit and you will have to look for exit near Carnarvon Road. It is located in a place where it may be hard to find and they are also on the second floor. However, you will eventually find it as Hong Kong areas are small and definitely even if it was a needle in a haystack you will find it. There is also a sign outside so just look up and walk around the corner. There are also many shopping areas around and many food stand available as well so definitely a great place to hang out to have lunch or to kick back and take a break. Service is good as well and did not waste any time waiting in line or to our order our food. Ordering was quick and swift and I just told the waitress the number choice of food I wanted from the menu. Now to the food.
I ordered a Beef Stew Noodle, Condensed Milk Toast, and a drink of Fig Fruit Mixed Fruit Tea. The beef stew noodle was perfect and was not too heavy or overwhelming in flavoring and size. I wanted something hot cause I was not feeling too good. Definitely I was glad to have order this because it was very warming and tasty. The beef tendons were good as well chewy enough where it was not overly chewy and just right for beef. There was carrot in it as well and the noodles were awesome as well. The broth was great and tasty and not too oily so very good if you are feeling a bit under the weather. Portion was awesome as well and I came out feeling very full but not to the point where it was too much.
The milk toast I should have order it more crunchy but I forgot so it was not crunchy enough for me. But it was good nonetheless and the condensed milk that was already toasted on top with the toast so it was a bit different than what I normally eat but it was alright, not too sweet.
The drink had many fruits and definitely a very good cold drink that I needed. The fruits were fresh and the tea was very fruity but not too sweet at all which I enjoyed.
For the price it was not bad and decent, and with a meal that fulfilling for my stomach what more can I ask for! It was a solid choice of Taiwanese food in HK! Nothing too special but solid where I am satisfied! Breakfast or brunch in HK is awesome! I love eating different types of food here in HK and even with Teawood it was great as well! I was in and out out of here pretty quick and in the end it was great and left my stomach smiling!

There is often a wait here so best to come a bit early to grab a number in preparation. They have improved from previous since they didn’t use to have a time limit for people dining in. Now they limit dine-​in time to 90 minutes, so it helps the wait a bit.
TeaWood has a focus on Taiwanese food and dessert. If you are looking to have dessert, make sure to save some space, since some of the desserts are quite substantial in size, or your meal companions may want some of your stomach space to eat some of their dessert in order to try more.
Food: I’ve had a few different of their rice and soup noodle dishes. In general, they are good. I enjoy the flavors of the rice dishes more. The flavors from the sauces seem to be more complex than the ones in the soup noodles. Their desserts are quite unique. The toasts are quite good, which is a nice mix of a simple, fragrant bread with the sweetness of the fruits and ice cream. On the previous visit the Lava Cake wasn’t as liquidy inside as I’d hoped and as they usually should be.
A place that I still come back to when I want a mix of food and dessert, but there are some people who come for just food or just dessert.
TIP: Quite chilly inside (even during winter), so bring a sweater/​scarf/​jacket/​something to keep you warm!

[Review from November 2015]
The way I’d describe this place is an American TGIFridays but instead of standard American food, it’s Taiwanese food. You get a great view of pedestrian traffic below from this location, but it lacked much character and the food was mediocre.
I ordered #811 — fried sirloin and minced meat with rice. The sirloin and half egg weren’t bad, but the minced meat and wilted greens left me feeling a bit queasy. My partner got the pineapple chicken, which had a nice sweet flavor, but the chicken itself has a weird texture, like it was put quality meat or undercooked or something.
Probably wouldn’t come back here with the multitude of good hole in the wall places to eat in Hong Kong.

Suuuuuper cute Taiwanese restaurant and café. They have an extensive drink menu, whether it’s boba, hot or iced teas and coffees, etc. And they serve them so gosh darn cute! (The stirring spoons are shaped as mini shovels! Enough said.) They definitely have the cuteness factor here so definitely a go-​to spot for young adults and teenagers. (I don’t think my parents would have been as impressed lol.)
As for the food, I had the beef noodle soup (they have a non-​spicy and spicy version) and split the half-​boiled eggs to go with the soup. It was the perfect meal, not too heavy or overwhelming as I was just getting over the stomach flu. While I wish we had room for dessert, everything on the menu looked really cute (surprise surprise) and nicely presented… Great to take Instagram photos lol. Bonus that the menu came with pictures of the food so you have an idea of what you can expect!

Ambiance/​décor-​3
Service-​3
Food-​4
Strikeouts-​0/​3
I was very surprised in the lack of indoor tea shops where you can just grab a bubble tea or dessert in the middle of the afternoon and chill. This is one of the few.
Coming from places like green grotto, destiny and ten ren Shops in Toronto, I had an expectation of these places to be better in every way. Well, I was wrong, if anything, there’s less selection of drinks. It’s literally ¹⁄₁₀ the size of the menu.
The seats were alright and the service was as expected. The manager took our order and was so surprised when we asked for tapioca inside our slush drinks. Instead of adding it in, he said he could only add them to the side, which was disappointing. On the up side, they change the water bottles provided quite frequently and he was polite to us. Pros and cons made the service average. This place is also hidden on the 2^nd floor of a building.
We ordered a red bean slush with green tea ice cream and a strawberry slush. Both were actually better than expected. However, to end the chills, we got a dragon eye (lychee taste) tea, and this was GOOD. Rating went from average to BAM, above average! Free hot water refill on the tea, which was nice.
Definitely a place to stop by after shopping, as there ain’t much place anyway. However, still decent bang for buck! Pictures attached.

Not sure whether I would say it’s authentic considering their many intriguing choices of food and drinks. I’ve been to the chain of TeaWoods all around Hong Kong and the typical wait for the restaurant is at least 30 minutes, no reservations, and it’s frankly quite a pain. I would say it’s kind of worth it, only because it’s one of the more convenient Taiwanese restaurants that you can find in Hong Kong.
I pretty much only get their minced pork rice, which is really flavourful and delicious, in addition to their extensive choices of drinks, I pretty much stick to their different options of bubble tea (lavender, wheat, mint, original) because I’m a boring person ahaha, jokes, I just really like bubble tea, despite the large amount of sugar that they add into the drink (but let’s not think about that)
I suppose the reason why people come here is not only for their minced pork bentos, but also for their famous vanilla honey toast dessert, which is 3 slices of thick toast that’s crispy, topped with strawberry ice cream, cream and sauce and all that. Have to say it’s what keeps me coming back here despite hating queues!

If you can get past the wait, TeaWood is a great place to grab Taiwanese food that’s relatively affordable.
Almost every time that I’ve been to any of the TeaWoods around Hong Kong, I’ve had to wait at least 45 minutes. So be ready to wait if you’re going at lunch or dinner time.
Once seated, their menu offers a variety of the Taiwanese specialties such as minced meat and fried chicken over rice, minced meat noodles, brick toast, and milk tea. I’ve never had anything bad at TeaWood, but it’s also not mind blowing.
This specific time, I had their strawberry and honey toast. The toast we amazingly crispy with just the right amount of honey. The strawberry ice cream was also flavorful, and I loved the chunks of strawberry inside the ice cream. My only complaint is having to cut the toast ourselves. I think it would be easier if they just came in pre-​cut, bite sized pieces. This could also just be me being lazy though, haha.
I also had their fresh fruit tea, which was a tasty concoction. The base of the tea was Lipton gold label with orange juice. Then there were pieces of blueberries, oranges, dragon fruit, strawberries, and basil seeds. I did think it was initially a little bit sweet though.

I love the food here, especially the noodle soup with dumplings or mushrooms. The rice dishes are also really good. I’ve never had the desserts as I’m not a huge fan of sweet things but they look very impressive.

Cute restaurant, with nice detailed touches, and easy to find location. It was pretty packed when I got there for lunch on Sunday, but did not have to wait.
I would say it’s not the most authentic Taiwanese food (a little biased from having been in Taiwan), but they try. I got the beef noodle soup & a milk tea w/​red bean & boba. The beef noodle soup was pretty good, although I think it would have been better if the pieces of carrot/​beef were cut up a little more. They were thick pieces thrown into the soup. The milk tea was pretty good. I heard a lot of people ordering the lemon drink & the famous signature thick bread w/​ice cream & toppings. I would say definitely recommend to give the milk tea, beef noodle soup, and dessert thick bread a try at TeaWood!
The only thing is that I think I might have gotten charged incorrectly? My total should have been less than $ 100HK dollars (~$ 60 for beef noodle, ~$ 37 for milk tea) but my total came out to be ~$ 154…in which I didn’t ask for a receipt or pay attention until I left and thought about it. Not sure where the extra $ 50 came from…

Cute atmosphere. Good food. Sometimes ling wait.
Is this the best and most authentic Taiwanese food? No. But it’s like the sit down fast food version and still very yummy.
I recommend going at off hours because there is usually a wait. Last time we went late (like 9pm) and after waiting a long time to be seated, we were informed that a lot of the items we wanted had sold out.
I like to order their milk tea and side dishes. I also recommend trying their pasta. It’s not made from traditional spaghetti like noodles but from their Taiwanese flat soup noodles.
I also recommend you try out their signature dessert. It’s a tower of hollowed out thick bread and they fill the middle with fresh cream and fruit toppings. One is enough to share with 2 people!

Authentic Taiwanese food. Easy afternoon tea and dinner are great for couples. It’s not meant for family