We made such an effort because was going to close at the end of February. And we knew that by about 8:30 am, the place would be filled with so many tourists that it would be very difficult to find a seat, let alone a table.
By the time I get there, at 7:30 am, the sun had risen, the street was still very quiet. A and her friend were already there, and they had gotten a small table - a small victory by itself.
Looking around, I realised that most of the customers were much older than my daughter, mostly likely old-timers. Some of them were giving the waiters tips. Perhaps as a result, they seemed to be getting better service than we did. A fair deal, some might say.
The food was marginally OK, but not great. Frankly, we were not really there for the food.
Rather, it was the atmosphere; the covered tea cups - which you have to hold in one hand in a special way, to make sure you do not spill the tea, nor lose the lid, when you pour; the big kettles that the waiters use to refill your covered tea cup or small tea pot, the dim sum carts that you can choose your dim sum from; the ceiling fans; the calligraphy and paintings on the walls; …
It was the memory that they invoke - the days when I was small, when people brought their birds in their intricate cages to the tea house, …, when we were poor and going to the tea house was a rare treat.
When we walked down the stairs and out of the place, it felt like something was being lost, and gone forever. I wanted to linger, but didn’t. I had to go to work. Worse than that, the place was already very crowded, and people were standing in your back waiting for your place. It would not have been fun to stay.
Later, we heard that some of the staff pooled together some money to take over the restaurant from the old owners. So now the restaurant has reopened, with a slightly different name 蓮香茶室, and the restaurant remains pretty much the same.
I do hope they retain the same restaurant, with better food. I may yet try again.
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