Hong Kong Tea House

The Sunday Times just ran a feature on HK “cha chan teng” in Singapore and I totally agree that this fad has proliferated our tiny island. However, nothing tastes quite like the original ones in HK (of course the prices too – more expensive in Singapore).

Recently I decided to visit this “Old Hong Kong Tea House” at Katong or rather it is situated at the old Joo Chiat Police Station. The premise is much bigger compared to HK Café at East Coast Road but I did not like the ambience or decoration. Too sparse and empty and the aircon was blasting away. The posters of 80s era artistes were too small to warrant attention. It is also more expensive compared to HK Café for the quality.

We ordered oven-baked chicken spaghetti and dumpling la mian but the food was very disappointing. As you can see from the pictures, the dishes looked quite plain and uninviting. The taste was even more ordinary. The dumpling la mian was bland and the baked spaghetti was too cheesy. The flavours tasted quite artificial. So quite a bad experience. Somehow the Japanese Restaurant (Waruku) felt more appetizing.