Mui Kee Congee in Hong Kong has always been a favourite stop for Singaporeans holidaying there. Mind you, there is nothing elegant about the HK original, tucked away in Fa Yuen Street Market, Mongkok. But it’s been a firm crowd favourite since 1979.
It finally opened its Singapore branch in late March this year, which prompted the usual “kiasu”-fuelled 2 hour queues outside, waiting for a spot in the 50-seater eatery at Shaw Centre, facing the decidedly drab Claymore Hill Road.
Thankfully, the long queues which were ever-present throughout April & May had tapered off by now.
What I had:
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Parrot fish belly congee - the house speciality. Parrot fish is pretty firm-fleshed, yields generous amounts of meat, but can be annoyingly bony: one needs to constantly keep a look out for those tiny sharp bones with every other mouthful. The rice congee is the smooth cooked-down-rice Cantonese type (not the grainy Teochew or Hokkien sort), with a faint smokey “burnt” scent achieved through searing the cooked congee at the bottom of the pot, and yet not allowing it to burn.
And yet, I found Mui Kee’s rendition of the Cantonese congee to be more “watery” than the ultra-smooth, tasty ones I get from the Imperial Treasure and Crystal Jade chains around Singapore.
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Fried Bean Curd Skin - this is a pretty spongey fried slab of folded yuba skin, very subtle in flavour.
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Pleated Cheung Fun (flat rice noodles rolls) topped with Sakura Ebi - I love cheung fun rolls, but I think I mis-ordered here when I chose the Sakura ebi (Japanese dried shrimps) option. The dried shrimps were crisp & dry. Didn’t enjoy it. Mea culpa.
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Honestly, I didn’t quite enjoy my lunch here at all, but I think it’s just that I ordered all the “wrong” dishes which didin’t quite suit my palate. The only item I enjoyed was actually the iced HK-style milk tea - a classic beverage (either hot or cold) which most Singaporeans love when they are in Hong Kong.
I need to return for their claypot dishes - I heard the pork-liver with ginger & spirng onions are good. I’d do the cheung fun again, but opt for the peanut & sesame sauce topping this time. And I’ll have to order the century egg with pickled ginger this next time.
Address
Mui Kee Singapore
Shaw Centre, 1 Scotts Road, #01-12
Singapore 228208
Tel: +65 67372422
Opening Hours: 11.30am-3pm, 6pm-10pm Tue-Sun. Closed on Mondays.
