Weets Eats: ‘Lucky’ Chinese comfort food
Tucked in a corner of the revamped Great World City is an unassuming Chinese restaurant.
Ho Fook Hei (HFH) means "lucky" in Cantonese, but I think it is good fortune for the people around the area because one can never have enough restaurants offering comfort food -and HFH does that well.
Of course, not everything is outstanding, but a lot of it is done well enough to elicit a sigh of contentment. The prices are friendly enough too that your bank account will not frown.
The Speciality Rose Wine Soy Sauce Chicken (from $19) is the star of the menu.
The bird is brined overnight before it is poached in a braising liquid. Rose wine is added at the last minute to impart a floral aroma. The meat is tender and juicy and the floral scent adds a new dimension.
What HFH does very well too is congee. I like mine mushy and creamy, and this is exactly what I got.
The Red Grouper Fish Fillet Congee ($9.80) is comforting on many levels. The congee is silky and delicately flavoured, and the fish fresh and generously sliced. This is the balm for a lousy day at work.
The Pork & Prawn Roll Hae Chor ($7.80) here is not outstanding butit is addictive.
It is the familiarity of flavours that endures, so it does not have to be top-notch. It just has to taste like everything we remember.
My quibble with it is it comes across salty but not offensively so.
I had the same reaction to the Shrimp Dumpling ($8.80), which you can order as a soup or with noodles. It will evoke feelings of bliss when you are eating it.
Because HFH's parent company is Joyden Seafood, you can expect the seafood offerings to be good.
You can have your pick of fish - sea bass ($14.80), threadfin ($18.80) or cod ($24.80) - and steam that with a range of sauces: Signature Nonya Assam Sauce, Old Ginger Sauce, Teochew Style or Superior Soy Sauce.
I tried the ginger sauce with the cod (which I love for that blend of spice and savoury, complimenting the buttery cod) and the nonya assam with the sea bass, which is too sweet for my liking. When you have a fresh slab of fish, it is criminal to overwhelm it.
Ho Fook Hei
#01-141, Great World City
11.30am to 3.30pm; 5pm to 9.30pm
Tel: 6219-2262
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
