The Difference Between an Ice Room and a Tea Restaurant: Licenses and Nostalgia

What is the difference between an ice room and a tea restaurant? Netizens interjected that the products of the current ice room are not correct and asked whether the high-end ice room can only sell such things!

Some netizens posted on the Facebook group “Hong Kong Tea Restaurant and Gourmet Concern Group”, asking why many tea restaurants are named “Bingshi” now, and whether it is because it will become more upscale. The post aroused many discussions among netizens, who all pointed out that many tea restaurants sell nostalgic feelings under the banner of “ice room” to attract customers, but in fact they have ignored the original intention of “ice room”. Some older netizens pointed out that the variety of food sold in ice room in the past was not as rich as that of tea restaurant, pointing out the difference between the two. According to the FEHD, it turns out that the tea restaurant and the ice room have different licenses, and the ice room can only sell certain foods. Read the following to find out!

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What is the difference between an ice room and a tea restaurant? It turned out that the licenses they received were different!

Many netizens pointed out that in order to sell nostalgia, many tea restaurants have changed their names to ice rooms or ice rooms. At present, many ice rooms are not worthy of their names, and only a few are real ice rooms, selling food that ice rooms can sell. Searching online information, it turns out that “ice room” is the predecessor of the tea restaurant. It refers to the eating place in the 1950s and 1960s that specialized in selling snacks or light meals such as frozen drinks, smoothies, sandwiches, and toasts. At that time, electricity was scarce and there was no refrigerator, let alone air-conditioning.

It is called “ice” room, and it is necessary to have a cold drink (Photo: Facebook@香港茶饭饭馆和食品关闭集团)

There are still many authentic ice rooms left in Hong Kong (Photo: Facebook@香港茶饭饭馆和食品关闭集团)

The previous business ecology of the ice room (Photo: Facebook@香港茶饭饭馆和食品关闭集团)

The term “ice room” is being misused at present (Photo: Facebook@香港茶饭饭馆和食品关闭集团)

The predecessor of the tea restaurant (Picture: Facebook @香港茶餐厅和食品关闭集团)

Selling nostalgia under the banner of “Ice Room” (Photo: Facebook@香港茶饭饭馆和食品关闭集团)

The operating licenses are indeed different (Photo: Facebook@香港茶饭饭馆和食品关闭集团)

Netizens talked about it (Picture: Facebook@香港茶餐厅和食品关闭集团)

In the middle of the 20th century, as Hong Kong’s business license law and customer tastes changed, many ice shops applied for restaurant licenses and transformed into tea restaurants. However, because the ice houses only held light food licenses, they could not provide ready-to-order cooked food. In the following decades, tea restaurants have gradually become an important identity symbol of Hong Kong people with their diverse authentic delicacies and fast efficiency. Although there are many “ice rooms” on the market again, most of them are restaurants with restaurant licenses.

Restricted by license regulations, there are not many types of food that can be sold in the ice room (Photo: OpenRice)

Includes cider (Pic: OpenRice)

Soup noodles and Tommy are also available (Photo: OpenRice)

The FEHD explains the difference between general restaurant licenses and refreshment licenses

According to the FEHD’s online regulations, as long as “operating food business (excluding factory canteens or businesses operated by hawkers licensed under the Hawker Regulations (Cap. 132AI)) that involves the sale of meals or non-bottled non-alcoholic beverages (except herbal tea) for consumption or consumption on the premises, a restaurant license must be applied for from the Director of FEHD.”

Red bean ice is a common drink in icehouses (Photo: OpenRice)

“Ordinary restaurant license holders can sell any type of food for customers to eat on the premises, while light refreshment restaurant license holders can only cook and sell one of the types of food listed in Appendix B of the “Guidelines for Application for Restaurant Licensing” (Guide) for customers to eat on the premises.” This is the difference between the requirements of a restaurant license and a light refreshment license.

List of foods that are permitted to be prepared and sold by light refreshment restaurants (Picture: Website of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department)

List of foods permitted to be prepared and sold by light refreshment restaurants (2) (Photo: Food and Environmental Hygiene Department website)