Hong Kong’s Hottest Café: Tables, Chairs, and Menu All Brought from Taiwan

▲Hong Kong’s Little Time Café is tucked away inside a building.

Reported and photographed by You [Name] / Hong Kong
 
As an industrial district in Hong Kong, Kwun Tong initially gives off the impression of tall buildings, complex layouts, and cramped spaces. Nevertheless, it has recently become a hotspot for many young Hong Kongers to start their businesses. Hidden within a Kwun Tong building is a café that was created out of a love for nostalgic Taiwanese style—offering a “taste of Taiwan elementary school.” The seating and menu items are all inspired by Taiwan, making it a favorite spot among local youths.


▲%Hidden in a corner, this place is a nostalgic yet uniquely touching spot for Taiwanese visitors.



▲The interior houses thousands of comic books.

 “Little Time _scoool” is definitely a place that feels both familiar and emotionally unique for Taiwanese travelers. It feels familiar because not only are the tables and chairs brought over from Taiwanese elementary schools, but also the old-fashioned windows and thousands of comic books were all personally brought back by the owner from Taiwan. Entering through a hidden entrance near the stairs, you step into the long, narrow space of the café where a staff member dressed in a Taiwanese elementary school uniform greets you. As you sit down at the wooden elementary school-style desks and chairs, you can’t help but feel as if you’ve traveled back to your childhood school days.

“Back then, when we carried our schoolbags, we used to hang the straps like this on the desk.” “Yeah, and we’d stick little hooks on the side of the desk to hang our cleaning rags.” Sitting at these elementary school desks and chairs truly evokes a sense of nostalgia. Looking around, the thousands of comic books transport you back to those carefree and simple “little moments” of childhood.


▲All the menus also feature Zhuyin annotations.
%The elementary school-style bento sets of yesteryear.


Imagine how few specialty cafés in Taiwan might make such thorough and natural use of elementary school wooden desks and chairs. It’s as if these desks and chairs, engraved with the names of Taiwanese elementary schools, were meant to be used just this way. On the tabletops, you can still see the messy doodles drawn by schoolkids with felt-tip pens—how fun is that?

The café’s table and chair setups all carry a retro Taiwanese vibe, and the food is no exception. Here, you can enjoy beef noodles, traditional pork chop rice boxes, night market-style crispy chicken rice boxes, and more—all accompanied by Zhuyin symbols that most Hong Kongers can’t read. For snacks, there are Taiwanese-style braised dishes, and for drinks, there are options like Taiwanese winter melon tea and fruit tea. On the menu, each character is neatly arranged inside boxes reminiscent of elementary school composition paper—another trip down memory lane.


▲Winter melon tea.

“Little Time _scoool” is very popular in Hong Kong, with many locals making special trips here for meals. The various Taiwanese-style dishes are quite delicious. During my visit, since it was past lunchtime, I only ordered winter melon tea for a photo. The taste differs from the street version in Taiwan, but it still offers a refreshing, Taiwanese-style treat in the summer heat.

Little Time _scoool  
Address: Mei Hing Industrial Building, 16-18 Hang Sang Street, Kwun Tong, Hong Kong
Phone: +852 3188 2380
Business Hours: Monday 12:00-18:00, Tuesday to Sunday 12:00-21:30