Hong Kong - Chopsticks Kee at Wellington Street, Central (筷子記)

We were attracted to Chopsticks Kee while walking along Wellington Street at Central, Hong Kong. Maybe it was the huge collage of posters, photos and newspaper articles that took up half the shopfront. Maybe it was the huge menu stand listing interesting items at the corner of the shop. Maybe it was the small lights glistening at the door that made it feel like Christmas came early. Or maybe it was the fact that its slogan "澳門平民麵食茶檔" shouts commoner-ordinary but it certainly looked nothing of that sort. We decided to give Chopsticks Kee a try.

The haphazard collage of posters, photos and articles plastered the insides of the shop as well. The shop was like a museum of its accolades and I guess it helped to assure us that we were in the right place.

The menu at Chopsticks Kee was not the easiest to read. Despite being able to read Chinese (rather competently), we still had a hard time deciphering what was going on. Since Chopsticks Kee is all about Macanese food, we settled for the pork chop bun with a hot watercress drink and Hong Kong milk tea. The watercress drink was refreshing, we only had watercress before in double-boiled soups and not as a sweet drink. The milk tea was a little rough in texture, and we very much preferred the one at Lan Fong Yuen (蘭芳園) which is just further down the road.

The pork chop bun at Chopsticks Kee was literally quite the bomb. The bun was exploding with cheese, mustard and a perfectly grilled pork chop dripping and oozing out from the sides. The sauces were a heavenly match with the well-grilled pork chop that had been marinated with a hint of preserved tofu (腐乳). Our kind of grilled pork chop, and definitely, our kind of pork chop bun. I'd dare say that this is the best pork chop bun that you can find in Hong Kong, without having to travel to Macau yourself.

We saw that many patrons cuddling around bowls of noodles and reckoned that Chopsticks Kee must be known for that too. We decided to try to order ourselves a bowl after realizing that it was the renown car noodles (車仔面). Since we were too full, we decided to only mix and match the ingredients, sans the noodles. The chicken wings were nicely braised, and were very tender and fragrant. The cheese sausage was also braised in the same savoury sauce, and had cheese bursting out the moment we bit into it. Heavenly. The disappointment was the seafood tofu that were just tasted as bland and pale as it looked. We probably didn't know what best to order, but oh well, at least we got two of out three ingredients right. And yeah, the pork chop bun too. The pork chop bun was a clear winner.

The food at Chopsticks Kee may be the fare of the common Macanese, but the standard of it at Chopsticks Kee was certainly nothing ordinary. Overall, we loved the pork chop bun and braised chicken wings at Chopsticks Kee, and would complete our meal by taking out a milk tea from Lan Fong Yuen down the road.

HONG KONG FOOD BLOG REVIEW BY KUMORY

☁☁☁/☁☁☁☁☁

Chopsticks Kee (筷子記)

85 Wellington Street

Central Hong Kong

9am to 10pm daily

ps: Check out our ultimate food guide to Kowloon for more goodies in Hong Kong!