If you’re on Brick Lane and want to double down on the chaos, noise, and occasional stray elbow grazing your rib, go to Hoko Hong Kong Cafe. Inspired by Hong Kong’s cha chaan teng—teahouses where the food is quick, cheap, and casual—this revolving door of a restaurant is open all day. And it’s one of our favourite spots in the area. In the narrow entryway that can fit two thrifted-out tourists side-by-side if bags are maneuvered, the strategising begins. Big pictures of glistening french toast hang above the kitchen, pork chops sizzle on skillets, and pouches of silky, sweet milk tea sit on ice. Orders are obsessed over, then tapped into a self-service machine, and when your table is ready, brisk but friendly staff ferry you down into the diner-like dining room for a fun, fast meal. Groups monopolise the booths and everyone else takes what they can get, cramming onto stools and hunching over mismatched plates. It’s best to stick to the signature dishes, like photo-perfect, soft, sweet french toast, finished with a perfect pat of swiftly melting butter and an extra glug of syrup from the jug on the table. And the meaty, moreish Hong Kong-style pork chop with sticky rice and a gooey fried egg. But really, all the food, like the snug basement-level room, is supremely comforting.