This is not a food review.
There are a number of ‘Cha chaan teng’ (meaning “tea restaurant” in Cantonese) eateries in Singapore — these are Hong Kong-style or diners that originated in Hong Kong in the 1950s and 1960s.
Notable chains of Cha chaan tengs (CCTs) in Singapore include Tsui Wah and So Good (more on than later), and most recently, JuJu, a modern CCT-inspired cafe at Wheelock Place, opened in 2022.
JuJu is the brainchild of Charmaine Hui, the daughter of veteran TVB actor Benz Hui.
[Update] Local Singaporean broadsheet The Straits Times reported that JuJu shut down in February 2024, barely two years after its opening.
A quick history of CCTs
The idea of CCTs was a mix of Hong Kong and British culture, providing diners with different kinds of Canto-Western cuisine at affordable prices. The “tea” in these tea restaurants usually refers to Hong Kong-style milk tea and iced lemon tea. Hong Kong-style milk tea tends to be less sweet and more bitter with a more intense tea flavour compared to the Singapore-style ‘milk tea’ or teh peng.
Famous dishes at CCTs include the milk tea, yeung yang (coffee mixed with tea), pineapple or bo lo…
