There’s a type of restaurant in Hong Kong called a cha chaan teng — it’s essentially a Hong Kong-style diner that, thanks to this country’s history with colonialism, serves Western-inspired dishes (stuff like sandwiches, spaghetti, macaroni soup, etc.).
Australia Dairy Company is one of the more well-regarded cha chaan tengs in Hong Kong, which becomes quite apparent when you see the line. I showed up at around 10:00am on a Sunday, and the line went all the way to the end of the block.
Thankfully, their service is notoriously speedy, so it moves quite fast. It’s not nearly as bad as it looks.
(And I can confirm that their service is efficient AF; at one point mid-meal — while I was eating, mind you — they hustled me to a second table with one spot open so they could seat a party of two at my original table.)
I got a few things: a scrambled egg sandwich, French toast, and Horlicks to drink.
The scrambled egg sandwich was insanely good. Despite its extreme simplicity (it’s just scrambled eggs and plain white bread), it was honestly one of the best things I’ve eaten in a while.
It was the Platonic ideal of a scrambled egg sandwich — the eggs were buttery, rich, and perfectly cooked. Like, perfectly cooked. Like, how is it even possible to cook eggs this well? And the bread was fluffy and just a little bit sweet, with just the right thickness.
There are few things in this world more satisfying than a perfectly prepared egg, and Australia Dairy Company absolutely knocked it out of the park. Ridiculously good.
The French toast was almost as good. Hong Kong French toast is a bit different than what you’re used to — it’s deep-fried, giving it a more rugged, slightly crispier exterior while still maintaining its fluffy interior.
It comes with a generous slice of butter and a jar of syrup on the side. It’s exceptionally rich, but super tasty.
As for the Horlicks, it’s essentially like a less sweet version of Ovaltine, without any chocolatey flavour. It worked quite well with the sandwich and the French toast.
Location: 47號 Parkes St, Jordan
How to find it: They have an English sign (also, the line-up is hard to miss).