Everyone and their mum knows that a visit to Hong Kong is incomplete without a plate of scrambled eggs from the Australia Dairy Company (not, Australian Dairy Company!) in Jordan. Best described as a no-frills, fast-talking and fast-moving ‘cha chaan teng’ or Hong Kong-style café, this foodie spot is certainly not for the faint-hearted. Here are 5 things you need to know before arriving.
Customer Service is Non-Existent
You haven’t truly experienced Hong Kong until you’ve had a taste of just how abrupt cha chaan teng waiters can be. Ask any local and they’ll tell you that the Australia Dairy Company has one of the worst reputations for customer service in the entire city. If you’re expecting welcoming servers who are ready to please, you’ve come to the wrong place.
The waiters at Australia Dairy Company are permanently in frantic mode trying to seat and feed everyone, and what comes with all that coordination is a temper. They’re impatient with pretty much every step of your eating experience and they’ll let you know either by their facial expressions or words.
Go in with very, very low expectations for customer service and you’ll have no problems because the food makes up for everything!
Tip: Don’t call the waiters over unless you’re 150% sure of what you want to order. Because if they’re standing in front of you and you’re still umm-ing and ahh-ing… you guessed it, be prepared for a (verbal) smack-down!
Also read: Alternatives to the Australia Dairy Company, Hong Kong
You Do Have to Share a Table
Get comfortable with strangers because that’s exactly who you’ll be eating with at Australia Dairy Company! It’s really not as bad as it sounds. If you’re eating with locals, they’ll just straight up pretend you don’t exist. If you find yourself next to a fellow traveller, you can be culture shocked about the customer service together!
Order a Set Menu
First off, if you can’t read Chinese, do ask for an English menu on the way in. It may be tempting to order a variety of dishes if it’s your first visit but everything worth eating at the Australia Dairy Company can be found in one of their 3 set menus. Their all day set has eggs on toast and your choice of a coffee or milk tea. The breakfast and lunch sets also include a chicken soup macaroni or pasta.
When ordering the set, skip the fried egg and get the scrambled eggs on toast. Those luxuriously light and fluffy eggs are the reason why people willingly line and put up with the waiters here! If you’re still hungry afterwards, order their equally famous steamed egg pudding, a smooth gooey bowl of milky and eggy goodness.
Psst: Want the recipe for the Australia Dairy Company’s scrambled eggs? An ex-employee said their most famous dish is made by mixing one American egg (for consistency) with one Beijing egg (for the appetising yellow colour), and then cooking it 60-70% well done before removing from the heat for that slightly runny, pillowy texture.
This is the real In-N-Out
Australia Dairy Company is a very quick-turnover cafe. Your order arrives within 30 seconds and your dishes are cleared immediately after you finish. This is definitely not the right place for you to have a meal and chat afterward.
The protocol is to quickly order, quickly snap photos, eat and then quickly leave…all within 15 minutes. Trust me, it’s interestingly do-able.
There’s actually nothing Australian about this entire place
Surprisingly, there are no Australian dishes on Australia Dairy Company’s menu. They also don’t use any Aussie ingredients either – they use Campbell’s chicken soup for noodle dishes and cook with Hokkaido Milk 3.6. You can order a glass of milk to go with your meal but it’ll be from the local Kowloon Dairy Milk Company and not imported from Australia.
So why is it called the Australia Dairy Company? Apparently, the Australia Dairy Company’s history dates back into the 60s when a sailor spent a few months in Australia before returning to Hong Kong to open a cha chaan teng. Guess, Australia was so #inspo that he needed to open up a cafe in homage!
Location: 47-49 Parkes Street, Jordan, Hong Kong
How to get there: Jump on the MTR to Jordan station and take the C2 Exit. Then follow these Google Map directions and you’ll be there in a minute!
Opening Hours: 7:30am-11pm
Perfect for: Experiencing Hong Kong’s cha chaan teng culture, the best scrambled eggs you’ve ever had