Huat Kee Teochew Restaurant

As a typical Teochew uncle, I have always like Teochew food but most time was too stingy to eat at the nice expensive place. But due to the generosity of the company, I managed to go to one of the big 4 of the Teochew restaurant for dinner. Most time that I was there previously, I was an invited guest and cannot snap  any picture but this time round, it was me and some colleagues, a rather informal affair and so I happily snap away.

Since it was the Chinese New Year period, of course we had the Yu Sheng. Actually, I felt a little bit cheated. Prior to the dinner, we had checked out the restaurant web site and decided on the food we want. But when we reach the place, we were told only the special CNY menu was available and so we had no choice but to go along.

Yu Sheng is not my favourite food so I shall not say much about this dish which is currently generating a lot of heated discussions both side of the Causeway on its origin.

Typical of any Chinese restaurant, is the controversial but must have shark fin. As usual, the standard of the broth here cannot be faulted. And yes, though I believe in the shark's cause which has been generating even more heated debate world wide, I still took a bowl. More of what I think  of the great Shark divide in another post another day.

My favourite Teochew food, the fish. This is a typical Teochew speciality. A White promfret steamed to perfection with sweet crystal clear soup.

Next up was the roast pork, sea cucumber and leek dish. I am not a fan of sea cucumber but I absolutely loves the roast pork. But true be told, I find it rather ordinary.

Another trademark of Teochew food. Fresh steam prawn with ginger garnishing.

Next we have the "Teochew Char Kway Teow" which is unlike the black fried version available at the cooked food centre. This one comes with plenty of chye poh and colorful vegetables. Great but the portion after splitting it up for the 9 of us was too little.

And finally my must have dessert, the Or Nee and this I think is their must dish. For the CNY period, it comes with a pumpkin mash into it. Again, the portion was too little although I had 2 bowls in the end courtesy of a colleague who didn't like Or Nee.

Food was great as usual at Huat Kee but a tad expensive. The set menu for 8 cost $368++ but there was 9 of us so the restaurant charged us another $36,80. However, we didn't see any additional portion of food but since it was the CNY period, we didn't want to make any big fuss.

Was the food really that great? I have not been here for a long long time but I think the standard has drop a bit. Nevertheless, although pricey, it is still worth a eat especially if there is a good occasion to celebrate.