Chee Kei - Chinese, Won Ton Noodles, Hong Kong

Best: Won Ton Noodles

G/F No.37 Lock Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
852 2368 2528
Nearest MTR: Tsim Sha Tsui (Mosque exit)
http://www.cheekeiwonton.com/

Other Locations:
Shop 10, Level 4, Langham Place, 8 Argyle Street, Mong Kok, 852 3514 4000
84 Percival Street, Causeway Bay, 852 2890 8616
Maritime Square, 33 Tsing King Road, Tsing Yi
Shop No.F27, Telford Plaza, 33 Wai Yip Street, Kowloon Bay
52 Russell St.-Causeway Bay, 852 2575 6322
70 Stone Nullah Lane, Wan Chai , 852 2834 7598

Last Visited: November 28, 2010

Food: 4 stars
Atmosphere: 3 stars
Service: 2 to 3 stars
Price: $ to $$

My uncle and aunt brought us to Chee Kei. In Tsim Sha Tsui (TST), if a restaurant or shop isn’t good, it disappears in weeks. It’s not even funny. The high rent of shops in this district require business owners to remain profitable; it’s truly sink or swim.

While Chee Kei never came up on our radar when we were searching the internet for places to eat, we were very glad that my family members were familiar with it. When I saw the Michelin HK and Macau sign at their front entrance, my expectations immediately increased, but I was not disappointed by the food.

Restaurants in TST seem to line the streets. Establishments with virtually identical menus frequently neighbor one another. One might be surprised by this when visiting HK from an American’s perspective, but in HK, shops with common items stick together – for example, there is Fa Yuen Street which translates into Flower Garden Street. All of the shops sell products related to flowers and gardening, and everyone goes to those districts to shop. There is a street popularly referred to as Bead (already translated) Street where they sell jewelry beads and components. Seeing stores with similar menus is less typical in the United States, but if you can accept seeing two gas stations at the same intersection of two Starbucks within a shopping center, we in the US aren’t as far from this idea as one may think.

Back to Chee Kei, it’s more like a café in its atmosphere. Tables are cozy with some along the side walls, but almost communally placed in the center where there isn’t much space between tables. The tables are cool in that they have insets for the soy sauce and other condiments. Under the clear tabletops are the menus listing the special combinations and featured items. While everything is in Chinese, an English menu is available upon request. Brightly lit and in pleasant light colors, you can tell their design is more modern than many other restaurants. There is a general hustle and bustle at the restaurant with lots of conversations between patrons and some across the room between staff– it’s definitely casual dining.

Chee Kei is known for its wonton noodles and the crab congee. Prominently displayed in photos, these items have gotten quite a bit of press. My favorite part about Chee Kei is their Happy Hour menu. Happy Hour in HK is known as Afternoon Tea time (there are still signs of the British remaining in the culture); between 2:30 and 6:30pm, they offer a special deal. For $27 HKD (about $4USD), you can get a bowl of wonton noodles in soup with a drink (choice of soymilk, barley drink, or milk tea). Cold drinks cost an additional $2HKD. This is an absolute bargain!

The regular price of the wonton noodles in soup costs about the same as the Afternoon Tea price without the drink, so you can tell the whole menu is very reasonable.

- Wonton Noodles in Soup – It’s a classic and very well-executed dish. The wontons are perfect with their shrimp and pork filling. The wonton skins are super thin. The noodles are al dente and the soup is flavorful. And to top off the dish, they sprinkle a little shrimp essence powder for additional flavor. It’s wonderful! I could eat two bowls without a second thought.

- Barley drink – The barley drink is interesting. There is a taste of ginger it’s a thin drink. While I wouldn’t suggest it to most Americans (since the majority Americans are not accustomed to barley in a sweet drink), I think it’s a nice drink for Asian tastes. It’s a nice addition to the usual milk tea or soy milk offerings.

- Crab congee – As mentioned above, the crab congee is one of the most popular items at Chee Kei. I’m not sure if it’s the cute container, but once one table starts to order, it seems like everyone around starts to order it too. First, the presentation. It’s a cute little oak ‘bucket’ with a metal inset. It comes to the table covered, and the server removes the cover to reveal the congee inside. If that doesn’t catch your attention, the photo of the dish in the featured article on the table top will. You get a whole crab, albeit that the shell is about the size of your palm, but it’s still a whole crab. The crab is cut to assist with eating, but you’ll still need to peel away the shell and get a little messy. The first photo shows how it is initially presented. You can see that the congee, appearing almost golden, has taken on some of the color from the custard inside the crab shell. The congee itself is smooth and cooked to just the right texture – the rice has broken down so that you don’t see whole pieces anymore. The flavor of the congee is rich with crab and hints of green onion from the garnish on top. Then when you lift the crab shell out, crab lovers will find the glorious orange stuff inside which has a custard-like quality. $62HKD with set menu (about $8USD)

- Gai lan – While it’s a small dish when ordered as part of the set, the gai lan is fresh. Cooked with the water from the won ton noodles, the starch in the water give the vegetables a nice sheen that you don’t get when cooked in plain water. $9HKD with set menu (about $1.50 USD)

So why the low service rating you might ask? While the food is outstanding, you often feel like you need to flag down a server. While she is great when she is with you (only women were attending to the front room on both of my visits), the kitchen forgot one of our drink orders and even after a reminder to our server, we had to chase after it again. With the assistance of computer generated orders to the kitchen, it seems that the operations should be more smooth and that the server would take on the burden of running after these requests.

If you’re a tourist, avoid the restroom if at all possible. You need to ask for a key to access the restroom in the back. It’s the type of toilet that is in the floor – enough said.

The TST branch is currently offering a special. For every $50HKD that you spend, you receive a coupon for $8HKD that you can use on your next visit. It’s a great time to go try it and reap the benefits of the promotion too.

Admittedly, I didn’t know what to expect with Chee Kei, but I enjoyed it so much the first time that I went back on my last night in Hong Kong. The afternoon tea time special is a bargain and their won ton noodles are on my all time top ten restaurants for that dish. It’s no wonder they got a Michelin star. Special thanks to my uncle for taking us there. Chee Kei serves exceptional dishes for a terrific value.