Kam Wah Cafe

It’s been about 3 years, I still recall the crusty pineapple bun and how good it smelt. It took me 4x minutes round trip by foot from my hotel to here at 6:30AM, and yes it was totally worth it. So far the best 波蘿油 in my life! Too bad I didn’t get to try the pork chop version.

My boyfriend, my best friend, and I came to Hong Kong for our vacation and Kam Wah Café was on the list for us to try. My best friend said they were known for their buttered pineapple buns and that was enough reason for us to go. We came here for a late dinner one night then went back for a snack another.
We had wanted to try their buttered pineapple buns during the night but of course if they run out and when they run out at night, they don’t make any more. Therefore, we decided to try something else. We decided to get a stir fried udon with bbq pork, Singapore style stir fried vermicelli, and a yang chow fried rice. For drinks we got an iced milk tea, lemon iced tea, and an iced lemon drink.
Out of all the dishes, I liked the udon the most. It had the most flavor to it. The vermicelli was good as well. As for the fried rice, it wasn’t good at all. I was not expecting it to be as bland as it was. I’m a little too used to the ones I get in America. Overall, good and average food. Can’t go wrong but nothing spectacularly special either.
Their lemon iced tea is what you would expect as well as the iced lemon drink. Their iced milk tea, however, was the best milk tea that I’ve tried through my whole week in Hong Kong. It had a good tea flavor to it and it had just enough milk mixed in.
Service was okay. The lady that helped us was very nice. We had to ask for an English menu since we couldn’t read Chinese… at least we can speak! Teehee.
We went back the next day during the morning to grab one of their buttered pineapple buns to go. Honestly, it wasn’t anything spectacular. To me, it was just average. Nothing about it wow’d me off my socks or anything. It was just like: oh, that’s good. I think it’s because I prefer a smaller sized bun … their pineapple buns were huge and the butter just melted everywhere. Just not my cup of tea: P
Overall, it’s a 3 star establishment for me but since this place had the best milk tea I’ve tried in Hong Kong, it gets an extra star :)

The staff seemed to hate us and we definitely had a language barrier, but it made for a hilariously authentic experience. We accidentally brought in coffee cups from our previous location and they almost chopped our arms off. Also located in a great part of town. Get the polo bun and the milk tea. The ham and egg soup was tasty too.

Best cup of milk tea during my stay in HK.
Smooth, creamy cup of goodness on a hot, humid day. The balance of milk and tea was perfect. The pineapple bun was fluffy and delish w/​it’s crust top. The French toast was devoid of syrup which it needed. She also didn’t give me butter for my bun.
Service is quite bad. They just drop things on the table without a care and take forever on your order.
$ 45HKD is incredibly inexpensive for an afternoon snack.

Very yummy pineapple bun and iced milk tea! Walked all the way here just to try it and it’s well worth it! Very cheap! They also have other great foods to try, egg tart and chicken wings. Its a fairly good size shop and sometimes you share tables.

Only had a few minutes to make it to a doctor appointment this morning but made the decision to take a quick detour to Kam Wah for their pineapple buns. I’ve had one before but I honestly don’t know how they make theirs sooooo good! I grabbed it from their take away cart outside which is super convenient. It was still hot from the oven and super soft in the center but crispy on the outside. Definitely the best pineapple bun I’ve had… I dream of these things ever since trying my first one.

Be prepared for zero English, but definitely delicious! The name is only in Chinese characters so the only way we located the restaurant was by looking through the pictures posted by other users. If you find the Circle K, it is directly to the right! Definitely enjoy a pineapple bun, but I would recommend getting no butter as it is generally served with about 2 tablespoons and will leave you feeling the pastry in your arteries. The small restaurant was incredibly busy around 9 am, but we got lucky and were seated in a booth with a nice woman who spoke a little English. There is no English menu available so this nice woman helped us order pineapple buns, French toast and milk tea for our breakfast. The milk tea was also fabulous but I would probably pass on the French toast. French toast seemed a little too egg based and had what was described as peanut butter in the middle, but tasted more like oily frosting. If you’re in the area definitely give it a try but not worth walking more than a few blocks to get your pineapple bun and milk tea.

As we touch down and unloaded our luggage in our apartment, we started looking for Dim Sum around our accommodation even though everyone was quite tired after the night’s flight. During that morning, there was not many breakfast places opened yet and it only left us with a few choices.
In the busy streets at rush hours, you can see the typical office workers rushing their way to work as per daily routine. Café like Kam Wah has prepared some «grab-&-go» food outside their stall.
Besides having media articles plastered at the shop front recommending their food, you can get to see the items menu with pricing. The menu is very good for foreigners like us as we can decide what to have instead of deciding it in the restaurant. With so many visits to Hong Kong, we kind of learn of their impatient culture, thus being too indecisive of what to have or taking quite sometime to order is at disadvantage to us.
Service was quick and decisive with experienced server who gave suggestions to our group for breakfast and share among ourselves. Interior of the «Cha Chan Ting» aka Café is a very typical and usual sight of a Hong Kong eatery with benches and tables, big posters and menus on the wall.
«Dan Tat» (In Cantonese) or Egg Tart in English is a common ordered breakfast /​snack item in Hong Kong. The pastries were flaky and was not too sweet with the fillings. We also enjoyed the warm serving pastries thus all of us had ordered one each!
Egg Tarts — 5 HKD each
Thinking of having Kaya & butter here in Hong Kong with Polo Bun? No, apparently, the flaky top polo bun has only a slice small 5 mm thick of butter sandwiched in the bun. Well, the taste was good with butter gradually melting on the pillow soft buns.
Polo Bun — 10 HKD
Having the plain polo with just butter, this is the upgraded version! Surprisingly it was good with the yummy Char Siew meat, distinctively lean added with mayonnaise, vegetables and tomatoes.
Char Siew Polo Bun — 21 HKD
Knowing that we are sharing our portions, the server cut them into half and here’s the cross section of it.
Cross Section of Char Siew Polo Bun
With food passing around among us, we were also getting our caffine fixed by consuming some tea or even Yuan Yang. Look at the 2 shades of colors, make sure you stir well before «use».
Cold Yuan Yang — 38 HKD
Unfortunately, my stomach started throwing tantrums on the first day of touch down and I have to keep myself warm with a traditional cup of tea served in this cute little «Black & White Milk» Cup.
Hot Milk Tea — 17 HKD
Oily and apparently so! It’s just that we could not help skipping such staples from the typical cantonese breakfast in Hong Kong. Just like the french toast, these breads were dipped with egg and fried to its golden brown perfection with crispy edges. Slice of butter was place on the top to further enhance its fragrance. Since its for sharing, we did not really mind having a small share of it!
Toast — 20 HKD
Being an Asian and Singaporean, instant noodle is quite common in our household. I’m still not very use to having such noodles from the Café of Hong Kong but like it or not, having a bowl of such noodles with ham and egg has been a practice all these while in Hong Kong. Seriously, though simple and straight forward, the soup taste not bad!
Noodle Soup — 35 HKD
Though service is known to be notorious in Hong Kong, I would say one of their server is quite understanding and recommended us items to be shared and even offered to cut the buns. Perhaps this is one in the minority times that we will get such service in Hong Kong.

I didn’t need Aziz Ansari to tell me to come here, as I’ve been eyeing this spot ever since I circled the date for my much-​overdue trip back to HK. Plus my mom’s cousin recommended this to her as well. Even though it was a holiday, we managed to snag a booth without any wait.
I typically don’t need a Denny’s Grand Slam breakfast and I’m just content with some tea and a nice bun/​pastry. So I opted for milk tea, pineapple bun, and an egg tart. The milk tea was strong and hot enough, which is what I expect in HK. The pineapple bun was soft and warm on the bottom, while having a crusty sweet flaky top (that’s a mouthful). I didn’t have butter with mine, as value my heart. However, the bun was terrific. The egg tart was flaky, with a nice smooth eggy filling inside.
We took out a couple of coconut tarts as well. Overshadowed by the egg tarts and pineapple buns, the coconut tarts were pretty venerable.
As long as you have a clue where you are at, service is fine.

Aww yessss, if you want a kickass pineapple bun, you must swing by here and try it out. Came here with friends and in the early morning of a weekday, this place was packed with people. Once you get past the line, you’ll be seated quickly and be given an extensive menu of many food items. For the most part, I think breakfast/​brunch is the best time to visit this place due to its popularity in serving yummy baked goods.
For my friends and I, we ordered a set that included sampler of pineapple bun, BBQ pork bun, and the buttery toast thing. Overall, I loved the buns! For the pineapple bun itself, it was huge, fluffy and a slab of butter is slicked into the middle of the bun, giving it a buttery like taste and it wasn’t too sweet. I haven’t had a bun like this in the States, so it was quite a delight to eat. As for the BBQ pork bun, this was hands down my favorite of the set meal. On the outside is a slightly sweet and crispy layer and when you bite it, the BBQ pork just oozes out the yummy deliciousness of the meat and flavor. Plus, this makes a great filling snack if you’re traveling /​walking a lot to places! As for the toast with butter on it, I found this to be a tad bit too greasy and not too flavorful. Plus, sharing it with two other people was tricky since it was hard to cut due to the oil and such.
Service here is very abrupt. Even though the staff may seem a bit standoff-​ish and aloof, they do attempt to be attentive if you kind of wave your arms about and stare pretty hard at them. When you’re about to be done, don’t be surprised to feel like you’re getting rushed in paying and leaving right away. After visiting several popular HK restaurants, I noticed a common theme amongst them: Wait in line for a long time: Eat: Look to see how there is still a line = staff will (sometimes rudely) hint to you that you need to pay up and go go go.
So if you’re on tight on time, I recommend just stopping by here, pick up ‘em buns and go your merry way. You’ll save time on waiting in line, dealing with the staff, and overall, you can take your time and inhale your food at your own pace.

[Review from November 2015]
Note: they *may* have an English menu, but we never got it – there was another couple looking at some menu that might have been the English one. That said, we just pointed at pictures and showed how many we wanted with our fingers – yeah, they don’t speak English here.
Ok, so once we ordered, what we got were: 1 Pineapple bun with butter
1 French toast + 1 Hot milk tea (set)
1 Cold milk tea
Pineapple bun – yum. The sweetness of the pineapple bun was offset by the saltiness of the butter inside. Only «downside» was that the butter was still cold and not yet completely melted inside the bun.
The French toast was interesting, to say the least. Not the American kind of French toast. It was a toast with a small layer of PEANUT BUTTER inside. Yep, peanut butter. And you put the honey/​molasses-​like syrup on it. Not my favorite thing in the world, but certainly an interesting experience.
The hot milk tea was strong and flavorful; the cold milk tea tasted a bit watered down.
What to order: pineapple bun with butter

Honestly, Kam Wah’s egg tarts and pineapple butter bun are amazing and definitely worth a trip if you’re in the area. But I also had the unfortunate experience of eating dinner at this café and the experience left me so underwhelmed that I can’t help but think that Kam Wah is only good for to-​go orders for their egg tarts and baked buns OR if you want to have afternoon tea here.
What you should get:
–Egg tarts: These are amazing when they’re fresh, and since they’re pretty popular, they have fresh batches every so often. I think I had the egg tarts and baked goods about three times in less than a week when I was in Hong Kong. They’re definitely one of the best in the area and at $ 5 HKD, the price cannot be beat. The egg custard is pretty sweet and as it glistens and jiggles while you’re eating it, you know that this is legit. And the crust is super flaky with good texture and taste. Eat it together or eat it separately, you’re going to like it. I’ve had a LOT of egg tarts when I was in Hong Kong and I would say this would be on my top 3 after Gold Garden Café and Tai Cheong. Only because the first time it was tasty, but upon returning, the taste wasn’t as great.
–Pineapple butter bun: If you’re not familiar with HK pastries, the bakeries here in HK have come up with this concept of sticking a stick of butter into a pineapple bun, making the pastry so much tastier than a simple pineapple bun. If you get it fresh out of the oven, the stick of butter will actually melt in the middle, giving the bun a pretty even layer of butter which is what you want. I thought this was really good. I still like the pineapple buns from Kee-​Wah in LA more, but this had good flavor — sweet enough — and the bun was soft. I would recommend this if you’re into baked goods.
–Coconut bun: Had this fresh out of the oven and it was really good! My dad’s a bigger fan of this bun, so he ate most of it, but from what I tried, I thought the coconut flavor was good. And the bread was super soft!
IF I could rate this place on baked goods alone, I would give it 5 stars. But then my mom decided we would eat dinner here, and everything went downhill.
The menus in HK are pretty complicated, and they have random dinner sets, drink combinations, etc. Our waitress picked up on the fact that we were not from the area (since we had so many questions), and her snippety attitude really rubbed me the wrong way. She was brusque when we asked her about combinations, telling us to just give her the orders. Okay fine. And then we asked if my sister’s instant noodle dish could possibly have the egg on the side. She made a face and said that was too much work for the cook. Uh, okay. We asked her about the soup specials and she seemed so annoyed as she listed off the choices. Her frustration made us frustrated!
–Baked pork chop rice: Ha ha this was NOT baked pork chop rice. More like grilled pork chop doused with a tomato sauce with white rice on the side. The sauce was decent, but the pork chop was not good. Eh, don’t expect the JJ Café pork chop rice from here.
–Soy sauce chow fun: A common and typical dish in every HK café in LA, you’d think they could get this right in HK. Nope, WAY too salty and oily. There was a good amount of meat inside, but the taste. no good.
–Instant noodle with egg and spam: Instant noodle was good. You can’t really go wrong with this dish, but the spam was not American spam. It was like imitation chicken spam or something, which tastes sweeter than you’d expect. Meh.
–Minced pork rice: This was the best dish. It was advertised as a special and I’m glad we got one good dish out of 4. The soy sauce and pork really gave flavor to the rice, so when you mixed it together to eat, the dish had a good saltiness to it.
Soup and drinks: On point. Most places in Hong Kong have amazing milk tea, and this café was no different. Super smooth and super sweet. And didn’t keep me up at all! Lemon tea came with five lemon slices, which is super generous. Soup was really tasty — very «qing»
I would give the dinner experience 2.3−3 stars.
tl;dr — So to sum up this super long review — I would recommend ONLY coming for the baked goods (egg tarts, pineapple or coconut buns) OR for their afternoon tea special (French toast and iced milk tea sounds amazing). I would not recommend eating here for lunch or dinner unless you order something from their Asian specials. Prices are super cheap, but you can get better tasting food since this whole street is filled with restaurants.

Zero English is spoken. I showed a Unilocal picture as to what I wanted. Thank you so much fellow Unilocalers!!! The pineapple bun is really the best. Bun is crispy with that super soft inside. No need for a pat of butter inside. I also enjoyed the milk tea. Pretty solid as far as milk tea went on my travels.

More like 3.5 stars. Its hectic here. Service is crap. The staff knows their pineapple bun is the bombdiggity along with the egg custard and they know the business will keep flowing in whether or not the service is good. The instant noodles and mini breakfast plates were popular but we came for the bun and egg custard. Worth a 15 minute wait? YES. Worth a 30 minute wait? NO.
Best choice is just order the pineapple bun and egg custard to go from the outside cashier!!!

I prefer savory to sweet breakfasts, but I also enjoy a sweet pastry or bun on occasion. At Kam Wah Café, they’re best known for their fresh baked pineapple bun and HK style French toast, so I made the gluttonous, carb-​addict decision and ordered one of each.
The pineapple bun was huge, with a crispy outer top shell and very fluffy insides. The bun was freshly baked and warm, so the cold slab of butter inside melted gloriously into the small crevices of the two halves of the bun. On the other hand, I didn’t favor the French toast much; it was a too heavy, dense, and oily to my liking. To wash down all the carbs, I chugged the smooth and refreshing, but not too sweet, iced HK milk tea.
Overall, my experience at Kam Wah was more than satisfactory. They have both a sit-​down restaurant area inside and a takeaway section outside. The takeaway is mainly for buns and pastries, and of course, those who don’t have the time to sit-​down. But nevertheless, sit-​down service inside was quick. And if you’re not into sweet breakfasts, Kam Wah also has a variety of savory items. Plus, they’re open late until midnight!

I came here for breakfast & the pineapple bread with butter was fresh, warm, & absolutely fabulous. I wasn’t a fan of the hot milk tea, but I am use to the american version — my boyfriend really liked it. I definitely recommend this place for the pineapple bun with butter. They also serve the pineapple buns filled with all kinds of stuff but we did not know that until we saw them brought to another table. Thank you Unilocal for the recommendation! I would definitely come back.

This place has gotten so famous due to their pineapple buns and rightfully so. I came in with mixed expectations. On one hand, the buns looked incredible and my boy Aziz raved about them on his trip to HK. On the other hand, it’s just a bun and I’ve had tons of them before — how amazing can this specific one be?
Well, damn, that was good. We ordered pineapple buns and iced milk teas. The buns were nice and flaky, but the large piece of butter was just amazing (especially when it starts to melt). I wish my bun was a bit warmer, but I really have no complaints about it. The milk tea here also isn’t too sweet and has some great flavor to it.
I know some people mentioned issues with service, but you’ll get that at nearly any restaurant in Asia. They aren’t here to make friends. They are here to serve you amazing food.

Everytime I go to Hong Kong, this place is a definite must visit. They are famous for their Hong Kong style milk tea and pineapple bun with butter.
The milk tea itself isn’t too sweet or bitter which was perfect. You can definitely taste the ‘tea’ to it unlike other places where it’s water down. The pineapple bun with butter is freshly out of the oven and the texture is so crunchy too! The butter inside just melts in your mouth when you take a bite into the bun.
I highly suggest to come here and just get the two things mentioned above and that’s it. This is what they are most famous for. You can venture out and order things on the menu too– but be warned, the waiters are no bs. They expect you to know what you want in less than one minute! Service is non-​existent but at least the food makes up for it!

Review only on their take-​out egg tarts and pineapple buns.
As I was doing my research to prepare for my Hong Kong eats, I came across Kam Wah Café known for their flaky style egg tarts. As this is my most preferred type, I knew we had to go!
We spent a portion of the afternoon around Mongkok/​Ladies Market area browsing the knick knacks and then walked towards Kam Wah Café which was about a 10 minute walk from where we were — around Nathan Road and Dundas Street. We made our way North, towards Price Edward Station and eventually found the little café. As we were on a time crunch with dinner plans, we just got our egg tarts (sold in pairs) and pineapple buns to go from a lady that was selling them in that style outside of the café’s doorway. After a couple of pictures of our tarts and of us pretending to eat them (hey, we’re Asian) we dug in on the sidewalk. Bummer that they weren’t HOT and were just warm. I love a good crispy hot egg tart and it just wasn’t it. I’m from Vancouver and we have a lot of great egg tarts and this one fell just sub-​par. The pineapple buns were pretty regular too. The crust/​topping fell off way too soon. I’ve had much much better. Good, just not great for my Vancouver standards in my opinion. Probably wouldn’t recommend.

Delicious food and quick service! Authentic Hong Kong style breakfast and great menu choices. English menu available upon request. Pineapple breads & egg tart is a must!!!

OMG one of my favorite meals in HK (besides baked pork chop). I knew I had to have pineapple bun and milk tea and Unilocal led me to this. I ordered milk tea, pineapple bun w/​butter, egg tart, french toast.
Pineapple bun w/​butter was heaven. Top was crispy and sweet and the semi-​melted butter in between the soft bread. Amazing.
Another winner was the french toast! They advertised how its won awards before. I can see why it has because it was amazing to another level. Battered, fried, drizzled with syrup, sliced butter on top and a thin layer of peanut butter inside. Whoever came up with that is genius.
Can’t have pineapple bun w/​o the milk tea. Milk tea was smooth and fragrant.
Egg tart was ok. Came out cold so it was a little disappointing.

I’ve tasted a lot of pineapple buns here in HK, but seriously, NOTHING IN THIS WORLD beats the 菠蘿油 at Kam Wah. Each bite was like a fireworks display of sweet and salty melted butter, crunchy «pineapple» crust, and soft, warm bread. Pair it with some traditional Hong Kong-​style milk tea and Hong Kong-​style French Toast with peanut butter layered inside… and you’ve got your treat for the day. I’m already craving more.

Hands down the BEST PINEAPPLE BUNS you will EVER eat in your ENTIRE LIFE!!! Nothing else you order here will taste as good!
I tried their breakfast menu options, and they were ok. I’m not a big fan of Hong Kong style American breakfasts, which is all they have here. So things like egg/​ham ramen, satay noodles, hotdog with egg sandwiches, etc etc.
They do have pretty good milk teas here. They are very smooth and authentic tasting.
But none of those other things matter because you NEED TO COME AND TRY THE PINEAPPLE BUNS (with or without butter, doesn’t matter, both taste AMAZING)!!! You will NOT be disappointed!!!
*Disclaimer: The FIVE STARS is for the PINEAPPLE BUN ONLY, all other foods were about 3 stars

PINEAPPLE BUNS WITH BUTTER! Aka «bow lo yuw» Order it, eat it and you won’t regret it. Promise. They were soooo good! There’s something about the flour they use there, it’s so much lighter and airy than the type use at the states. And that butter, man, such a good compliment. It’s like a pat of butter smack between warm pillow buns. I loved them so much that I just had to bring some home with me. Order 3 to go and luckily I always travel with a ziploc bag. Threw them in my gallon size ziploc bag and off to the airport. They survived a 15+ hour travel day back to California. Ate one on the plane with the hubby and the other two were eaten the next morning at home. Heated them up in the oven at 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Perfect! 3 Pineapple buns with butter to go came out to $ 27 HKD, roughly $ 3.48 USD.
We also tried the HK style french toast, which was good, but I’ve never been a fan of HK style french toast. Also ordered hot milk tea — YUM! Didn’t even need to add sugar. Also ordered a spam and egg sandwich :)

I don’t know why I didn’t think of putting butter in my pineapple buns before! It just makes so much sense.
My waitress was actually really nice. She was very harsh but gentle in that Chinese mom way. «Finish your milk tea» but «no, don’t rush» but «okay take care!»
Pineapple bun + HK milk tea = perfect breakfast.
Yes, it is crazy crowded.