Ying Kee Restaurant 英記茶餐廳 (32 Ki Lung St, Mong Kok).
January 7, 2019:
It was our first full day in HK and of course I wanted to have a traditional Hong Kong style breakfast at a cha chaang teng. 😀
Jet lag held us captive and I was fully awake at 4 a.m. Thus, why not start the day early and fight against my circadian rhythm? I looked up breakfast spots which were open at this ungodly hour and Ying Kee Restaurant popped up which was a 13-minute walk from our place and which served the traditional HK breakfast fare.
We headed there in the quiet and dark night (the sun was definitely not up yet) and arrived at the restaurant (it opened at 5:30 a.m.). Inside, there were already a few elderly men dining in. It was bright, clean, and warm inside. There were booths along both sides of the wall with multi-coloured chairs at the tables in the middle of the room.
They had a few breakfast options including congre, noodle soups, sandwhiches, etc. I opted for the very unoriginal choice of instant noodles with eggs while my mom got the rice noodles with “crispy sausages”. We both had a hot water with lemon (as opposed to the traditional milk tea).
I liked how there was a sign with a red light which lit up to indicate if there was somebody inside the single stall washroom. That way, no one needed to wait outside the door to know once the washroom was ready for use. This was so high tech and smart!
The washroom itself is typical of HK small restaurants in that it was a squatting toilet with no toilet paper provided (always bring some napkins with you when travelling in HK to avoid unpleasant washroom trips). I found it cute that the wash basin actually had a no-touch sensor for hand washing. How advanced in an old restaurant! They’ve obviously done the necessary upgrades to keep up with the technological advances available.
I liked my instant noodle with egg. There were two eggs, done sunny side up. The broth was slightly flavoured a la MSG but tasted good nonetheless. The instant noodles tasted like comfort food. 😁😁❤❤
My mom and I traded the noodle accompaniments. Her crispy sausages were moderately thick-skinned and tender. Yummy. The rice noodles here were more to my liking than the ones last night from the 魚鱻 fish soup specialty store.
Hot lemon water was just that.
I was slightly curious about their ham and egg sandwiches (another comfort staple to have), but refrained.
You pay your bill at the counter when you are done.
There was an older lady working there who smiled at us and brightly said “Jo sun!” to us and called us “leng luis”. 😂 What a great way to start the day with.
stenoodie 
lol I really wish they would have toilet paper and not make us squat so much. Haha! It sounds surprisingly high tech though! 🙂
Squatting is actually better for you than sitting!! I understand how it would be awkward if you are not used to it though. Yeah, I was surprised with their advancements in the washroom what with the red light and all. 😂