Siu Mai
燒賣 · Pork & Shrimp
Open-topped pork and shrimp dumplings crowned with a little roe.
House favourite
Chinatown–International District · Est. 2008
A Cantonese teahouse & dim sum parlor in Seattle.
Dumplings folded and steamed to order, a counter of loose-leaf tea poured the long way, and a table meant for lingering. Pull up a stool and stay a while.
Welcome to Tong Chiao
A tea house first, a dim sum kitchen always
Tong Chiao began in 2008 as a narrow tea counter two doors down, where Henry and Lian Chiao poured oolong for neighbors and steamed a handful of dumplings from Henry’s grandmother’s recipe book. Word travelled the way it does in the I.D. — slowly, then all at once. Today we fill a corner room on South King Street, but the idea hasn’t changed: good tea, dumplings made by hand each morning, and no reason to rush.
- Dim sum folded and steamed to order, all day
- Thirty loose-leaf teas, brewed gongfu-style at the counter
- A scratch kitchen — roast meats, clay pots and hand-pulled noodles
- A family-run room built for long, slow tables
From the Steamer
The dim sum cart, reimagined
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No rolling carts and no guesswork — every basket is folded in the open kitchen and steamed the moment you order it. A few of the ones regulars come back for.
Har Gow
蝦餃 · Crystal Shrimp
Whole prawns pleated into a near-translucent wheat-starch skin.
Pleated by hand
Xiao Long Bao
小籠包 · Soup Dumplings
Thin-skinned parcels of pork and a spoonful of hot broth. Mind the steam.
Order of six
Char Siu Bao
叉燒包 · BBQ Pork Buns
Pillowy steamed buns split over sweet-savoury honey-glazed pork.
Pork & baked options
The Tea Counter
Tea, poured the long way
Our tea master keeps about thirty leaves on the shelf — spring Longjing and roasted Tieguanyin, aged raw pu-erh pressed the year we opened, Fujian whites and smoky Lapsang. Order a pot for the table and we’ll brew it gongfu-style, steeping after steeping, until the leaf has nothing left to give.
New to loose-leaf? Tell us how you like to drink and we’ll pour you a flight to find your footing.
Explore the Tea ListFrom the Wok & Fire
Beyond the basket
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Dim sum is only half the room. Our kitchen runs a proper Cantonese line — roast meats in the window, clay pots over the flame, and noodles pulled by hand each morning.
Cantonese Roast
燒臘 · From the Window
Lacquered roast duck, crackling pork belly and honey char siu, carved to order.
See the kitchen →
Wok Classics
小炒 · Fire & Breath
Salt-and-pepper prawns, gai lan in oyster sauce, mapo tofu and clay-pot rice.
See the kitchen →
Noodles & Rice
麵飯 · Pulled by Hand
Beef chow fun, Yangzhou fried rice and soy-sauce noodles with the right char.
See the kitchen →2008
Pouring Since
40+
Dim Sum, Made Daily
30
Loose-Leaf Teas
4.9★
Average Guest Rating
A Look Around
From the room
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In Their Words
What regulars say
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★★★★★
“The har gow here ruined me for everywhere else. We came for dim sum and stayed three hours drinking pu-erh. Nobody once made us feel rushed.”
Caroline PhamBeacon Hill · Regular since 2019
★★★★★
“I asked the tea counter for something smoky and left with a bag of Lapsang and a new weekend ritual. This is the real thing — a proper teahouse.”
Marcus ReedCapitol Hill
★★★★★
“We booked the long table for my mother’s birthday. The roast duck, the clay-pot rice, the egg tarts — she said it tasted like home. High praise.”
Hannah KohBellevue
★★★★★
“Hands down my favourite dim sum in the I.D. Everything comes out hot, the tea list is serious, and the room just feels warm. I bring everyone here.”
Diana SuhartoColumbia City
Pull Up a Stool
Save a table at Tong Chiao
Weekends fill fast for dim sum. Reserve ahead for groups of four or more, or just walk in and we’ll pour you a pot while you wait.