Cha Chan Tang

One of the newer find for me is Cha Chan Tang (茶餐廳) on Mott Street. At first we thought the place must be fusion something or another because by the look of the decor, it's updated and hip. They can't possibly have our old favorites.
We were proven wrong. The decor is definitely neat. If you see the wall made out of tea cups, you can see it here.
Aside from the cups, the back wall has the history of Cha Chan Tang and how it comes about both in English and Chinese. Because they didn't allow photos (blatantly taken) my sneaky photos weren't that great, so I'll spare you the view. The other cool thing about the decor, is their chandelier. It is a made out of Vitasoy bottles. As far as soymilk goes, it's refreshing in the summer and the vendors sell them heated up in winter. Brought back wonderful childhood memories.
Here in the back is my Yin Yang, which is mix of coffee and milk tea. Of course, things aren't never that easy. I remember my mom said that they used to use hoisery (clean ones of course) to filter the tea. And the mix is not a 50/50 mix. It's more of one than the other, but forgot the proportion.
Fish balls, it's basically mashed and then shaped into balls. The left ones are plain, the right ones are in curry sauce, super yummy. This is a typical street food. We used to buy them from street vendors who would be waiting right outside of school and for $1 (HKD) you get a skewer of 6 and they do have sauces that they dip in.
This is cola-marinated chicken wings. It is juicy, nothing like the American wings.

If you happen to notice the wall too, there's 4 fake window pane that looks out into an intersection in Hong Kong. And if there are cars going by, you'll see it go thru the 4 'windows' as though you're sitting in a real tea cafe looking out. The place does get popular and you do want to bring your patience for seats, but well worth it.

Cha Chan Tang
45 Mott Street
New York, 10013
(212) 577-2888