This well-liked teahouse is by no means new, but since we’ve never done it before, we decided to head over to Hong Kong Park for Sunday dim sum and give it a proper review.

A retail tea shop, founded in 1991 by tea master Ip Wing-chi, added a tea house a decade ago, which also offers weekly traditional Cantonese music concerts on Saturdays and Sundays as well as regular tea classes. There’s a reason why Lock Cha is a go-to destination in most tourist guidebooks: the atmosphere can’t be beat. At once elegant and down-to-earth, the carved wooden screens and stools, old-fashioned tables and chairs and shelves of pretty porcelain wares and tea bricks create an old-world vibe that’s a welcome respite from the crowds outside.

Because it’s vegetarian, the food feels much lighter than most other dim sum joints. The menu changes seasonally, but on a recent day the lily dumplings were airy and tasty, and didn’t settle in the stomach like a rock the way some char siu bao can after a big brunch. Shrimp-free turnip cake served with a tangy sauce was another winner, as was a dessert of glutinous rice balls stuffed with diced peanuts and covered in coconut shavings. Be warned, portions are small (as one would expect from this kind of delicate fare) except for the curry that comes served with doughy pockets to stuff, and some of the noodle dishes.

As for the crowd? True, most groups we saw were entertaining out-of-towners. But there were also families and small groups of friends enjoying a Hong Kong institution in what feels like a Hong Kong institution itself—thankfully, one that’s managed to remain free of any tourist tackiness. Open daily 10am-10pm except the first Tuesday of every month.