I love Tsui Wah Central...Not!

Tsui Wah restaurant on Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong.

View Photos (1) Image © 2010 ThingsAsian

There is something about the famous Tsui Wah Restaurant in Wellington Street that you feel attracted to like a magnet. Most likely, it is the strong smell of curry that makes your mouth water whenever you walk nearby. I understand that this restaurant is a popular tourist spot, and I don't expect everyone to agree with me, but this Tsui Wah Restaurant is not my cup of tea.

Once inside the restaurant, you'll see a rack of T-Shirts with bold words "I love Tsui Wah" (in Chinese characters) printed on them-I doubt that many of us have bought one. Anyway, these are the advertising gimmicks and I better carry on with my review.

As you look around, you'll find citizens of all sorts: neat "O.L.s" chatting fervently with their colleagues, construction workers with their safety hats still on, and tourists from all around the globe. In rush-hours, you might find it hard to get a vacant seat, let alone the booth seats, but you can always go upstairs to one of the three higher floors or come back during another of the 24 hours in which it is open to find another seat.

One thing I dislike about the place is that the staff don't seem to care whether you are dining on a clean table or one littered with food scrapes and bits of leftovers. They simply wipe it with a filthy cloth onto the floor and sweep it under the table. But above  all, the food is what I dislike most.

I once ordered a tea set of Hainanese Chicken Rice and a cup of their famous milk tea. First of all, the Chinese-style soup from the set was not even mildly warm. In fact, there was not even a dash of heat coming out of it! The Chicken rice was over salty and oily, and there wasn't even sour pickles served with the chicken (I really like the pickled carrot and cucumber slices which come with this famous dish)! Worst of all, the "famous" milk tea was like a random blend of ordinary milk and tea which, as it cooled, becomes quite sour needing tablespoons of sugar to cover the bitter taste. Drinking it makes you feel thirstier because of the awkward texture which stretches and slightly burns your tongue. And that was my first and last experience in Tsui Wah Restaurant.

For traditional and real Hong Kong cuisine, try the Wong Chi Kei Restaurant just next door. (No, I don't own it, nor do I have any vested interest in its prosperity, other than to promote the best of Hong Kong food), and enjoy the Chinese dumplings with minced pork, and the nippy ‘Sheng Mian', also called the ‘bamboo noodles', which is a kind of freshly made noodle pressed by the chef with a bamboo stick, in order to give a chewy texture.

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Published on 4/16/10