Why the Hong Kong Bites Cafe? A Taste of Cha Chaan Teng
After tackling the Rolife Paris Cathedral, I turned to tackle the Rolife Hong Kong Bites Cafe from their Super Creator Miniature House series.
Choosing the theme of this diorama was very much a personal choice. Being born and bred in Hong Kong, Hong Kong-style cafe, or Cha Chaan Teng, is a staple of the local scene. And in my time working in Hong Kong as an adult, particularly during my time at Kai Tak Airport.
The affordable meals are simple, tasty and fast service are hallmarks of Cha Chaan Tengs. It is not unusual to get your meals within five minutes of ordering, and you are done and dusted in under twenty. Perfect for the quick bite as the aircraft maintenance schedules allow.
A brief history of the Hong Kong-style cafe
The rise of Canto-Western cuisine and drinks traces its roots from post Second World War Hong Kong. The British culture was taking hold, but previously western style meals were priced out of reach of most of the working class locals.
The name Cha Chaan Teng is a literal translation of “tea restaurant“. The distinguishing feature is that rather than water served to customers in Western style restaurants, Cha Chaan Teng serves tea upon seating.
The Cha Chaan Teng menu varies from place to place, but there are classics in snacks, meals and drinks.
Snacks would at a minimum offer:
- Simple toast with topping such as condensed milk, butter or peanut butter, jam or HK style French toast
- Sandwich: either with egg and ham, corned beef, spam
- Pineapple buns
- Dim sims
Meals (and set meals):
- Hong Kong style spag bol
- Baked pork chop rice
- Macaroni in soup with pieces of ham
Drinks
- Yuen yeung: a mixture of coffee and tea
- Kids yeunyeung: a mixture of Ovaltine and Horlicks
- Lemon and Ribena
- Doun ling: iced lemon tea
The list is by no meals exhaustive, but it gives you an idea when we look at the Rolife Hong Kong Bites Cafe.
The Super Creator Miniature House Series vs. Wood Puzzles
The previous Rolife products I reviewed – Book Nooks and the Paris Cathedral – were precision cut wood puzzles that rely on interlocking pieces built in sequential steps and needing little or no glue.
In contrast, the Super Creator Miniature House Series are something else entirely. There are plastic pieces big and small, lots of accessories, paper pieces, stickers, and lots and lots of double sided sticky dots.
Rather than a rigid, step by step sequenced building process, there is quite a lot more leeway here once you have built the basic framework of floor and two walls..
The Creative Process: Building the Cafe Foundation
When I opened the box up, I assessed it to be far too difficult for my daughter to help. She was hugely disappointed when she finds out I have finished it, but this one is not kids friendly.
Putting the bones of the Hong Kong Cafe together took a bit of time. There is the base and two walls. The walls needs to be inserted in the correct orientation – the Super Creator labels need to be facing outwards.
For the Hong Kong Bites Cafe, there is a lighted signage on one wall. The walls are perforated so you can easily run wires through and keep them in place. The inside of the walls are made from cardboard and slides into the grooves on the wall components.
With the wires in place, this can be a little tricky to get right. You need to keep the wires somewhat taunt, then thread them through a small cutout in the cardboard, then slot the cardboard piece in place without damaging it.
Just like the other Rolife kit, bring lots of patience and be prepared to put it away and take a break.
On the outside of the wall is the controller for the light. It is cleverly disguised as the outdoor component of a split air unit. The wire sockets are threaded into the controller, which is mounted on an outside wall.
An USB-C cable is provided, but the unit does not come with an adaptor to provide power.
The Freestyle Part: Decorating the Miniature Interior
The decorations inside the Hong Kong Bites Cafe is numerous. There are a few big pieces to build, namely:
- couch
- table
- serving stand
- side table
- chair
You can build these in any order, but it is simpler to follow the instructions.
The general guideline is, if the pieces are in different colour, then it will require some assembly. This goes all the way down to the cabinetry handles and door knobs.
Some of these parts are tiny, and Rolife provides a spare handle, and knob of each colour. I would recommend putting these parts together in some kind of takeaway container to minimise the risk of them flying off.
The cabinetry is not overly onerous to put together. Rolife has balanced the need for some challenge without needing every single part to be put together. For example the wall cabinet only require the outside panels to be assembled, not each individual shelf and the backing. What is also fun is that all the doors are functional and can be opened and closed.
Each of these big pieces will have smaller pieces joined to them. Again you don’t necessarily need to strictly follow the manual, but it is much easier to keep track if you do.
There are lots of small pieces, from dim sums, to bamboo steamers, drinks, bags, boxes for example. Rolife has a suggested placement for all the food, drinks and accessories, but you can freestyle it if you prefer.
Rolife has chosen the following food for their depiction of the Cha Chaan Teng:
- siu mai
- steam bun
- Hainanese chicken
- Pineapple bun
- Cheese burger (literally cheese and bun)
- iced lemon tea
- black and white Yuenyeung (hot)
It also comes with a range of condiments:
- white pepper
- tomato sauce
- chilli oil
- soy sauce
- vinegar
Construction Process, Fiddliness and Thoughts
The Hong Kong Bites Cafe was easy enough to put together. However due to the small size of everything, it can be a little fiddly.
In particular the paper based components – boxes, bags, takeaway containers. The engineering here is amazing, but there is a level of dexterity needed to successfully fold some of these pieces.
Overall the 114 pieces took me a few hours over two nights to complete. The results are visually stunning. My partner could not stop gushing over how cute it looks.
Rolife includes a tool to help pick up the pieces, the double sided sticky dots (they are VERY sticky), and to remove the film off the top of the dots. You could use it to help with clamping the paper folds together, but personally I did not find it to be a great deal of help there.
Your best results will come with patience. If you find yourself getting frustrated, then step away for a bit.
Also Rolife has provided a good number of spare sticky dots, so don’t hold back using them when working with the bigger pieces.
Showcase, Display, and Powering Your Rolife Creations
The Super Creator Miniature House Series is designed to be displayed on it’s own, or stacked either horizontally or vertically to display all the various scenes.
I also received a Rolife Creation Set Display Box as part of this review. I actually messed up here because this display box is too big for the Super Creator series.
The perfect complement would have been the Super Creator accessories which are a roof or two dust-proof doors to protect your creation from dust. The roof and the pair of doors can be purchased as a set, or separately.
If you have multiple Super Creator Miniature Houses, you can daisy chain them via USB-C so that you only require one power source.
The buttons to control which house is light up is on the control unit on the side. You can also adjust the brightness by long pressing on the buttons.
Final Verdict: Rolife Hong Kong Bites Cafe
The Hong Kong Bites Cafe from the Rolife Super Creator Miniature House series is just the perfect touch of nostalgia for me. The old school Cha Chaan Teng of my younger days is rendered in gorgeous miniature details.
It takes a little bit of effort to do, but the results are well worth it.
Each Super Creator Miniature House has a RRP of A$80.99 and there are around thirty designs. They are currently on discount down to A$72.99 each, or you can get them in sets of multiple up to a bundle of fifteen.
DRN would like to thank Rolife for providing the review units, these were great fun!
