Cafeography
Hong Kong · Sheung Wan

Cafés in Sheung Wan

Cooked-food-centre milk tea below, PoHo espresso bars up the hill on Po Hing Fong.

Photo: Eli Mirasol, Pexels License

Sheung Wan is where colonial Hong Kong began: British forces first occupied the island in 1842 at Possession Street, whose foot was then on the shoreline and now lies several hundred yards inland after reclamation.1 In the 1840s the government moved Chinese residents out of Central to the slopes around Tai Ping Shan Street, which runs parallel to Hollywood Road above the old harbor streets.2

The coffee follows the slope. Lower down are a dai pai dong off Gough Street, a cooked food centre known for bottled milk tea and the espresso bars of Jervois Street. Up the hill, the lanes around Po Hing Fong, known as PoHo, mix galleries and cafés with old metal and woodworking shops.4

Local tip: Climb to PoHo from Hollywood Road by the steps of Pound Lane, which come out at Tai On Terrace beside Po Hing Fong. Go after 11:00, when most of the galleries and shops are open.

At a glance

71Cafés listed
6With opening hours
05:30Earliest opening
01:00Latest closing
  • Opens earliest: 瑞記咖啡, from 05:30 (Daily 05:30–18:00).
  • Closes latest: FLM (cafe queen), until 01:00 (Mon–Sat 12:00–01:00).
  • Most listed streets: Tai Ping Shan St (7), 皇后大道中 Queen's Road Central (3), 普慶坊 Po Hing Fong (2).
  • Most common features: wi-fi (6%), open late (3%), takeaway (3%).

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Coffee chains in Sheung Wan

Getting to Sheung Wan and up the hill

Sheung Wan station on the Island line was the line's western terminus until Kennedy Town took over on 28 December 2014.1 The Hong Kong–Macau Ferry Terminal in the Shun Tak Centre sends ferries to Macau and mainland China, and one tram terminus is at Western Market, where Des Voeux Road Central meets Morrison Street.1

Just outside exit B of the MTR, at 257 Des Voeux Road Central, the takeaway counter Anchor Coffee soft-opened in March 2026 with a HK$25 Americano and a HK$30 latte.7 For the hill, Tai Ping Shan Street turns into a ladder street between Pound Lane and Upper Station Street.2

Tai Ping Shan after the 1894 plague

Bubonic plague broke out in May 1894, centered on Tai Ping Shan Street, then crowded and badly drained.3 The government bought and demolished the worst blocks and built Blake Garden and the Old Pathological Institute on the site; the institute is now the Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences, and a plaque in the garden marks the outbreak.3

Four small temples still line Tai Ping Shan Street, among them Tai Shui Temple at No. 9 and Kwong Fook Tsz at No. 40.2 The street is now better known for contemporary art, with pop-up galleries and specialty shops.2

PoHo: Po Hing Fong, U Lam Terrace and Shing Wong Street

Many buildings around Po Hing Fong start with "Po" (寶, treasure), which gave the area its nickname.4 Steps up Pound Lane lead to Tai On Terrace, and most shops here keep 11:00–20:00 hours.4 Café Deadend on Po Hing Fong adjoins Po's Atelier, a bakery at No. 62 in a building where Sun Yat-sen once met fellow revolutionaries.4

SP_CE, at 20 Po Hing Fong, has Wi-Fi and stays open daily 10:00–22:00. Cupping Room has a branch on Po Hing Fong and another at 299 Queen's Road Central, Lof10 is at 1 U Lam Terrace, and Common Ground, with Wi-Fi, is at 19 Shing Wong Street.

Dai pai dong and cooked-food-centre milk tea

Sing Heung Yuen (勝香園), on Mee Lun Street just off Gough Street, is one of the remaining dai pai dong, known for tomato beef broth with macaroni or instant noodles and for its lemon-and-honey crispy bun.5 It serves at outdoor tables Monday to Saturday 08:00–16:30. Licences of this kind cannot be inherited: they pass only to a surviving spouse and otherwise expire.6

瑞記咖啡 has traded for more than 60 years in the cooked food centre on the second floor of the Sheung Wan Municipal Services Building, 345 Queen's Road Central. Its signature is iced milk tea in small glass bottles, which cost HK$17 in 2023.8

Halfway Coffee keeps two branches here, at 26 Upper Lascar Row and 17 Connaught Road West, both daily 08:00–18:00. On Jervois Street, Kaffeine is at No. 108, with Barista Jam a few doors along. For a late cup, FLM, at 237 Queen's Road Central, opens Monday to Saturday 12:00–01:00.

Sources

  1. Sheung Wan, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  2. Tai Ping Shan Street, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  3. Blake Garden, Hong Kong, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  4. Po Hing Fong, Sheung Wan, i-Discoverasia Walks, accessed October 2026
  5. Sing Heung Yuen (勝香園): Comforting Tomato Beef Noodles at a Roadside Stall in Hong Kong, Miss Tam Chiak (October 24, 2018), accessed October 2026
  6. Dai pai dong, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  7. 5 new cafes and coffee shops to try in Hong Kong in April 2026, South China Morning Post (April 1, 2026), accessed October 2026
  8. 【奶茶推介】香港十大茶餐廳港式奶茶, Yahoo Food Hong Kong (updated October 30, 2023), accessed October 2026
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In Sheung Wan, also browse: Open late Wi-Fi Bakery cafés Specialty coffee Outdoor seating

FAQ

Sheung Wan cafés: questions

What is PoHo in Sheung Wan, Hong Kong?

PoHo is the nickname for the lanes around Po Hing Fong in Sheung Wan, above Hollywood Road, where many building names start with "Po", meaning treasure. Galleries and cafés sit beside old metal and woodworking shops, and most open from 11:00 to 20:00. Pound Lane's steps lead up from Hollywood Road to Tai On Terrace at the edge of the area.

Where can you eat at a dai pai dong in Sheung Wan, Hong Kong?

Sing Heung Yuen on Mee Lun Street, just off Gough Street, is one of Hong Kong's remaining dai pai dong, known for tomato beef broth with macaroni and its lemon-and-honey crispy bun. It opens Monday to Saturday from 08:00 to 16:30. Hong Kong stopped issuing new dai pai dong licences in 1956, and only 17 stalls were left in July 2024.

Why is Blake Garden in Sheung Wan, Hong Kong, linked to the 1894 plague?

The bubonic plague of 1894 was centered on Tai Ping Shan Street in Sheung Wan, a crowded area with poor drainage. The government bought and demolished the worst-hit buildings and built Blake Garden and the Old Pathological Institute, now the Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences, on the cleared land. A plaque in the garden commemorates the outbreak.

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