10 legacy coffee shops and teahouses in Asia
Some coffee shops and tea houses serve you your daily dose of caffeine in cracked porcelain cups, while others hand-pour joe into glasses clouded with time. But not all of them offer a potent brew of history, habit and human connection. Across Asia, a few venerable tea houses and coffee shops have managed not only to survive war, colonisation and the occasional franchise invasion. Rather, they’ve become part of the cultural scaffolding.
Here are some of the still-operating legacy tea and coffee houses in Asia—and the stories steeped in every cup.
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Toh Soon Coffee (Penang, Malaysia)
Established: 1950s
Speciality: Hainanese-style kopi and kaya toast
Toh Soon Coffee is not technically the oldest café in Malaysia, but it just might be the most beloved. Tucked into a narrow alley in George Town, Penang, this Hainanese-run institution still toasts its bread over charcoal and brews its famously thick kopi in dented metal pots. It started as a simple roadside set-up serving British Malaya’s working class and has since become a pilgrimage site for Malaysians and coffee tourists alike. The lines are longer, the Instagram tags more frequent, but the kopi remains gloriously unfiltered.
Guanyinge Teahouse (Pengzhen Town, Chengdu, China)
Established: circa 1800s (converted to teahouse in 1920s)
Speciality: traditional Sichuan jasmine tea
Tucked away in the quiet, historic town of Pengzhen, just southwest of Chengdu, the Guanyinge Teahouse offers a profound glimpse into a bygone era of Chinese tea culture. Believed to have originated as a Buddhist monastery over two centuries ago, the building itself dates back to the early 1800s, with its conversion into a public teahouse occurring in the 1920s.
Guanyinge is legendary for its incredibly preserved, almost unchanging atmosphere. Stepping inside feels like entering a living museum, where faded murals, simple wooden tables and well-worn bamboo chairs invite locals to gather from dawn till dusk. Here, time seems to slow down as senior citizens sip traditional jasmine tea from simple bowls, play mahjong or cards and engage in spirited conversations. It is a genuine community hub, largely untouched by modern developments, and its authenticity has made it a favourite subject for photographers and cultural enthusiasts. Guanyinge Teahouse isn’t just serving tea; it preserves a century-old way of life.
Bun Café (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)
Established: 1938
Speciality: Slow-dripped ca phe sua da or iced coffee with condensed milk
Before third-wave espresso coffee shops hit Saigon, there was Bun Café. Known to locals as Ce phe vot, this unassuming corner café has kept the same sock-filtered coffee brewing technique for decades. Founded by Chinese Vietnamese immigrants before World War II, the place served dockworkers and office clerks. Today, it is a hit with nostalgic millennials and older regulars, all sipping strong, chocolatey coffee brewed in a cloth “sock” over glowing embers.
Cheung Hing Coffee House (Hong Kong)
Established: 1951
Speciality: Classic cha chaan teng fare, including pineapple buns and milk tea
Cheung Hing Coffee House, established in 1951, stands as a quintessential cha chaan teng in Hong Kong’s Happy Valley. These “tea restaurants” emerged in post-war Hong Kong as affordable, local interpretations of Western-style cafes, offering a unique blend of Canto Western comfort food.
Cheung Hing has firmly held its place as a beloved neighbourhood institution for decades, witnessing Hong Kong’s rapid changes while largely preserving its original charm. It’s renowned for its signature crispy-topped pineapple buns (often served with a thick slice of butter), rich Hong Kong-style milk tea and other cha chaan teng staples like egg tarts and satay beef noodles.
While it may not be the oldest cafe in Hong Kong (a title also attributed to places like Olympia Graeco Egyptian Coffee, established in 1927), Cheung Hing embodies the enduring spirit and everyday cultural significance of Hong Kong’s mid-century dining scene, drawing both loyal locals and curious visitors seeking an authentic taste of the city’s past.
New Law Courts Café (Kolkata, India)
Established: 1915
Speciality: milky chai and egg sandwiches
Just opposite the Calcutta High Court, the New Law Courts Café (still known by older locals as “Law Café”) was where barristers and journalists would duck in between hearings. During colonial times, it was a British-style canteen serving tea and buttered buns. Post-independence, it became an adda zone, which is the Bengali shorthand for spirited, aimless conversation. These days, the legal talk continues, but so do Tinder dates and WhatsApp debates. Somehow, it all fits.
Killiney Kopitiam (Singapore)
Established: 1919
Speciality: traditional Singaporean kopi, kaya toast, soft-boiled eggs
Allegedly founded as Kopitiam Kian Hoe in 1919 at its iconic 67 Killiney Road location, Killiney Kopitiam holds the distinction of being one of Singapore’s oldest continuously operating kopitiams or traditional coffee shops. For over a century, this Hainanese-style establishment has been a cornerstone of local breakfast and tea culture.
Stepping into the original Killiney outlet is going back in time. Despite its expansion into a beloved chain across Asia, the flagship store retains its nostalgic charm. Here, the kopi is still brewed using time-honoured methods—beans roasted with sugar and butter, then brewed in a large metal pot through a cloth “sock” filter. This yields a rich, strong and distinctively Singaporean cup, best paired with their perfectly crisp charcoal-grilled kaya toast and runny soft-boiled eggs, seasoned with a dash of dark soy sauce and white pepper.
Killiney Kopitiam isn’t just a place for a meal; it’s a living piece of Singaporean heritage, preserving the simple, comforting flavours that have fuelled generations.
Olympia Graeco Egyptian Coffee (Hong Kong)
Established: 1927
Speciality: freshly roasted coffee beans
Often cited as Hong Kong’s oldest coffee roastery or coffee business, Olympia Graeco Egyptian Coffee dates back to 1927. It was originally opened as the “Graeco-Egyptian Store” by a Greek Egyptian man, selling house-roasted coffee alongside other goods. After World War II, the business eventually passed into the hands of the Ho family, who have meticulously continued its legacy through generations.
While its physical locations have shifted over time, and it primarily operates as a coffee roaster and retailer of beans rather than a traditional sit-down cafe today, its continuous operation as a coffee business for nearly a century is well-documented. Olympia Graeco Egyptian Coffee supplied fresh-roasted beans to many of Hong Kong’s top hotels and restaurants for decades and remains a beloved source for connoisseurs. It stands as a testament to the enduring passion for coffee in Hong Kong, predating much of the city’s modern cafe culture and preserving a rich piece of its mercantile history.
See more: 5 Asian countries with a strong coffee culture
Tsuen Tea House (Uji, Kyoto, Japan)
Established: 1160 (Heian Period)
Speciality: traditional Japanese green tea, particularly matcha and sencha, tea-infused sweets
Nestled by the Uji River in Kyoto Prefecture, Tsuen Tea House holds the extraordinary distinction of being Japan’s and arguably the world’s oldest continuously operating tea house, with a history stretching back over 850 years to the late Heian period (1160). Founded by the Tsu’en family, its lineage has remarkably been unbroken for 24 generations.
Initially, Tsuen Tea House served as a resting place for pilgrims and samurai travelling to and from the famous Byodoin Temple. It gained further renown for serving tea to historical figures like shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Today, the 24th-generation owner still oversees the tea house, which retains much of its ancient charm with its traditional wooden architecture. While it has adapted slightly over centuries, the core mission of serving high-quality Uji tea (particularly matcha and sencha) remains unchanged.
Huxinting Teahouse (Shanghai, China)
Established: 1855
Speciality: traditional Chinese teas, like Longjing and Tieguanyin, dim sum
Huxinting Teahouse, meaning “Teahouse in the Middle of the Lake”, is one of Shanghai’s most iconic and historic tea houses. Built in 1855 during the Qing Dynasty, it is renowned for its unique location on a central pond in the heart of Yu Garden (Yuyuan Garden) bazaar, connected to the shore by a zigzag bridge.
Originally a private garden, it was converted into a teahouse, becoming a popular gathering spot for merchants, scholars and local residents. Its distinct architecture features upturned eaves and decorative carvings, reflecting traditional Chinese aesthetics. Over its long history, it has served as a silent witness to Shanghai’s transformation. Today, it remains a bustling tourist attraction and a beloved local institution, where visitors can enjoy traditional Chinese teas served with customary ceremony, often accompanied by delicate dim sum, while overlooking the picturesque pond.
Lin Heung Tea House (Hong Kong)
Established: 1926 (Hong Kong branch)
Speciality: traditional Cantonese dim sum, classic Hong Kong-style tea
Lin Heung Tea House is more than just a restaurant; it is a vibrant, bustling living museum of traditional Hong Kong dim sum culture. While the original Lin Heung was founded in Guangzhou in 1889, its famous Hong Kong branch opened its doors in 1926, establishing itself as a beloved institution in the Central district.
Stepping into Lin Heung is a sensory overload: the clatter of porcelain, the shouts of the staff and the constant movement of trolleys laden with steaming bamboo baskets. Unlike more modern dim sum restaurants, Lin Heung still operates with a traditional system where staff push trolleys filled with various dim sum items around the dining hall, allowing diners to pick their choices directly. Signature dishes include sticky rice chicken, char siu bao or barbecue pork buns, siu mai or pork dumplings and a range of other classic Cantonese delights. Despite the city’s rapid development, Lin Heung has fiercely held onto its old-school charm.
Many coffee shops and teahouses in Asia claim to be even older. However, their origins are difficult to verify (Photo: 五玄土 Oriento /Unsplash)
While these 10 aren’t the only heritage cafés and teahouses in Asia, they represent some of the most enduring. Other contenders claim even older origins, but their founding dates and unbroken lineage are often difficult to verify. That said, all of these establishments remain deeply woven into the local fabric—essential pit stops for understanding Asia’s tea and coffee culture across generations.
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