4D Hong Kong Foodie Trip: Chee Kei Wanton Noodle, Causeway Bay
Wanton noodle is a Cantonese dish which is very popular in Hong Kong, you can literally find restaurant selling wanton noodle just at every nook and cranny in the island. I am actually not really a fan of wanton noodle but YY and R5 were already in starvation mode by the time we have finished our short siesta time in the hotel. While we were wandering around in the area near our hotel at Causeway Bay, YY saw the yellow sign of Chee Kei and decided to check out its menu.
Chee Kei is a restaurant chain in Hong Kong which specialises in noodles. The restaurant has been around in Causeway Bay area since 1994 and it claims to be the lone "wonton noodle shop survivor" in the prime Causeway Bay area among high-end retail stores. Hmm, their statement may be true because so far I have not seen any other wanton noodle restaurant in Causeway Bay. Chee Kei offers a variety of noodles and most of them are priced at HKD 42 (for soup, except for beef briskets noodle soup at HKD 50) and HKD 57 (for dry, except for beef briskets noodle at HKD 62). Variety of toppings available are ranging from wanton, dumpling, beef briskets, fishball noodles to beef tendons. I wonder why the dry version of the noodles taste more expensive though. Is it because the restaurant in Hong Kong tend to be more generous with ingredients/ portion when it comes to dry noodles?
Chee Kei is literally full house at 7PM on Saturday night. The restaurant seems to be filled with mostly families. I suppose a lot of families in Hong Kong are eating out on weekend. You cannot really linger around at Chee Kei after you have finished your meal because of the perpetually queuing customers outside the entrance. The waitresses will surely chase you out one way or another.
I am not really a fan of noodle soup so I prefer to have the soup to be served separately. If you are like me, you have to order one of the dry noodles selection. There are some dishes which are only available in dry version though, just like my order of Chili Meat Noodles w/ Bowl of Soup (HKD 42). I personally find the thin noodles to be tasteless although that's probably how it's supposed to taste. Without the chili meat, I don't think I can enjoy the noodle alone (despite the fact that the chili meat is kinda oily). Chili sauce is available here at Chee Kee but it's the chili oil kind of chili which is not spicy at all for my tastebud.
We ordered a separate wonton soup as the noodle does not come with it. The wonton soup served in Hong Kong is definitely different from the one served in Singapore. The wontons are stuffed fuller than most, folded into the little round wrap, and filled with juicy pork and shrimp. The broth is just nice, not too salty and not too heavily loaded on MSG. I probably could eat this wonton soup on its own without the noodles.
Since we seem to have vegetables deficiency, this is the chance for us to redeem ourselves and try to include something green on our plate. The oyster sauce kailan from Chee Kei taste ok and they are nice to eat together with the noodles. Perfect accompaniment to our wonton/meat noodle meal for that lovely evening. R5 did make a comment that we did not go all the way to Hong Kong to eat some veggies though. LOL.
Chee Kei is located at:
84 Percival Street,
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
Opening hours:
Daily 11AM - 11.30PM