Hua Nam: Old Style Coffeeshop Atmosphere
I walked pass this stall several times before deciding to actually order something from them. The thing that attracted me to the stall was the sense of nostalgia. The stall looked like it had been around for awhile and any stall that has a signboard that is handpainted must have something that has been keeping it around all this time right? The other thing that was interesting was that they seem to want to do everything. They have Cze Char, Tim Sum and Roasted Meats all in the same shop!
So I walked in and asked them what is their die die must try signature dish. I found that this question seldom works very well in small eateries as they invariably would say that everything is nice depending on your preference. So I had to be more specific. Since I was searching for a good KL Hokkien Mee, I asked if they can do a really shiok KL Hokkien Mee. They assured me that their cook is from KL, so his Hokkien Mee is good. I mean what kind of assurance is that? It's like saying all Chinese people are good in Kung Fu right?
When the Hokkien Mee arrived, I was surprised to find that was actually quite descent. The noodles were of the right type and the sauce quite robust and they do have pork lard (ok I did not eat that many this time. You realize I am doing this all for you, my dear readers, don't you?) I had initially wanted only to eat a third of it but ended up eating two thirds before I forced myself to stop. (Over spent on Calories that day already) Quite a commendable KL Hokkien Mee. 4/5
As I mentioned before, this restaurant seems to serve everything. So I tried a Char Siew Bao. It was a tad dry and unexciting for me. 3/5
Conclusion
I just love the nostalgia of the place and the fact that you can drop in and just about order something for everyone. My son would have loved the Tim Sum, while me and my wife would go for the Cze Char and my mother-in-law would have gone for Roast Duck. Judging from the standard of the HKM, the Cze Char could be somewhere convenient for a nightcap every now and again if you live around the area.
Hwa Nam Restaurant
244F Upper Thomson Road
64533645
7am to 11.45pm
Closed Monday except Public Holiday
11 comments:
omg hwa nam rocks!!! I thought it was some dirty little restaurant till one of my sisters was brave enough to venture into it and we found out their beef hor fun/crispy ee mee etc were SOOOOO delicious!!!!!!!!!! Tasty to the last drop!!!! Goes down well with their iced barley too! heh heh!
Hiya,
Their fried rice is good (albeit i suspect there's MSG as I get thirsty after that)
I never quite like Hua Nan. Lots of MSG. The dim sum and roasted duck, char siew is just so so only.
That are quite a few nice restaurants there. I rather walk a new shops down the row and visit "Sea King Yong Tau Foo". You can tell that all their YTF items are home made.
YTFs are charged by no of items and you can order a bowl of noodle with minced meat... for only 80 cents!
ever tried yue guang he fen? its fried hor fun with raw egg on top of the hor fun. not many pple would dare to eat it like tat. but i like it!
yeah hwa nam rocks!
u should have tried some of the dim sum dishes... its decent, but not fantastic!
very typical old style coffee shop, you know...
Hwa Nam is okay but standards have dropped a lot in the 23 years I have been working in the area. Char Siew bun used to be to die for, now just tastes dry as though it died.
The Ya wen coffee shop is good for weekend breakfast bcos besides the white bread or french bread toast there is fry yam kueh which you can mix with chee cheong fun at good price. the hokkien mee stall also not bad. also hv a wanton mee stall. the teochew porridge in this coffee shop is very popular -not so cheap. teh cze char stall opens at nite n has hotplate tofu and sliced fish. You can get $4 fried bee hoon or hor fun or fried rice.
I dont really like Hwa nam-too much lard for me.
The hor fun is so so.
The GEM at this upper thomson road is the 24 hr MEng Kitchen. The dry minced pork nooodles is really good.
Hv sliced pork, liver, meatball n a salt fish thing.
laksa also good. They hv some soup in minipot. Thai beancurd $2 is great. The soup version of all the noddles taste great too. You can choose been hoon, mee pok, mee kia, lou su fun, hor fun.
Great recommendations! You seem to know the area very well. Live there I suppose?
Had the Salted Fish fried rice yesterday. Nothing to shout about lah, at least for me and my friend. Wok hei was kinda underwhelming. I'm curious about the other cze char food though. And lots of people seem to be ordering the dim sum. Is it good?
Dim Sum used to be very good, now so so only. The fried rice I had was the normal one that day and it was in the afternoon.
Les, you should go try Meng Kitchen that white orchid mentioned above for their BCM. I have quite a no. of friends who are fans of the bcm. Lots of lard!
Post a Comment