Hoi Tin Café

Hoi Tin Café is located at Zeedijk 119 in Amsterdam Centrum, in the Chinatown area. The shop is situated opposite Restaurant Hoi Tin, creating a direct link to an existing hospitality venue owned by the same family. Public descriptions place the café’s opening in 2025. In that year, the establishment first appeared as an upcoming opening, after which several media outlets cited the café as a new destination on the Zeedijk.

In public descriptions, Hoi Tin Café is presented as a contemporary counterpart to the family business across the street. These descriptions often cite Hong Kong tea houses as a primary source of inspiration. This connection to Hong Kong fits perfectly within the broader family history of Hoi Tin; according to family records, the grandfather moved from Hong Kong to Nederland in 1965, subsequently opening the restaurant alongside a traditional Cantonese bakery.

The family context clearly plays a role in the café’s positioning. At the same time, it is notable that the exact founding history is not entirely consistent across public reports. A publication from May 2025 reported that Ethan and his partner Fiene opened the café. A later publication from November 2025 named Ethan Lo, his sister, and his partner as the owners. Consequently, public sources provide a general idea, but not a fully consistent account of ownership.

There is certainly more background available regarding Ethan Lo than the other parties involved. On the family website, he is described as a third-generation member of the Hoi Tin business, working alongside his mother Susan and his uncle Alex. The public material reviewed contains no separate biographical information about Fiene. This means that while part of the founding story is visible, other elements remain private.

Regarding the coffee, it is publicly documented that Brandmeesters roasts two blends for Hoi Tin Café: Aficionado and Segundo. While this clarifies which roaster is associated with the business, it remains unclear how the wider coffee assortment is structured beyond these blends. Furthermore, origin-level information, certifications, or a detailed sourcing philosophy are not publicly documented in the reviewed material.

As for the preparation, espresso is the most prominent feature. Public descriptions mention espresso-based drinks and specifically refer to a sunrise espresso. Additionally, coffee, matcha, and Hong Kong milk tea are listed as permanent drink categories. No documentation was found in the consulted public sources for manual brewing methods, such as filter, pour-over, AeroPress, or syphon. Based on the available material, it can only be confirmed with certainty that espresso preparations are publicly visible.

Alongside the drinks, the food menu plays a significant role in the establishment’s profile. Publicly mentioned items include Hong Kong-style toast, scrambled egg sandwiches, bolo bao, custard buns, matcha buns, and mooncakes. A mango iced matcha latte with coconut milk is also mentioned. This offering demonstrates that the café is not presented solely as a coffee destination, but as a place where drinks and bakery products converge.

The origin of these bakery products can be partially reconstructed. Public information links the buns and snacks to the Hoi Tin bakery across the street. That bakery reports using fresh ingredients and traditional recipes. Public reports further state that the rolls and buns in the café build upon the traditional recipes of the restaurant bakery, sometimes with variations developed specifically for the café, such as a version with matcha filling.

Publicly, Hoi Tin Café is clearly linked to the Zeedijk and Amsterdam Chinatown. This geographical context appears in guides, neighborhood mentions, and articles about the Hoi Tin family. At the same time, no separate page featuring a community program or the café’s own event calendar was found in the reviewed public sources.

No public documentation was found for workshops, tastings, exhibitions, or recurring events organized by the business itself. However, Hoi Tin Café appeared in an urban guide for the Amsterdam Coffee Festival in April 2026. This indicates visibility within the Amsterdam coffee landscape, though not a publicly documented event program of its own.

Starting in May 2025, Hoi Tin Café received several mentions in lifestyle and hospitality media. The business was cited as a new opening on the Zeedijk, as a lunch spot, and later in overviews of new coffee shops in Amsterdam. In November 2025, the café also appeared in a report about a new generation of Amsterdam hospitality entrepreneurs. This was followed by additional mentions in matcha and hotspot lists, as well as a city-wide coffee guide in April 2026.

This public visibility primarily reflects the buzz surrounding the opening and the café’s place within a family business with a longer history. Topics such as sustainability, certification, precise sourcing, and internal organization remain less visible. For these points, public material currently offers limited insight. Consequently, the profile of Hoi Tin Café rests mainly on three well-documented elements: its location on the Zeedijk, its connection to the Hoi Tin family, and an offering where espresso, matcha, and bakery products from the Hong Kong tradition come together.