Prince Coffee House: Retro Beef Hor Fun
Beef Hor Fun $8.80
They should make this little Hainanese Coffeeshop in Coronation Plaze a Heritage Site! If you really want to re-live the good old days, this is the place to be. It was good that pchong wrote in to tell me about this Beef Hor Fun or I would have really missed the gem of a find!
Now, this is very unusual, but the best Wok Hei flavoured Hor Fun is not found in a Kopitiam, but a good old Hainanese Coffee House! No kidding. I have been lamenting about the lack of Wok Hei Flavour in Hor Fun since the start of this blog and was surprised that I finally managed to find what I was looking for in the most unusual of places.
The beef was very nicely flavoured and wonderfully tender without being too spongy. This restaurant sells US Airflown Beef Steaks, so I was wondering if they used US Beef for the Hor Fun as well. It certainly tasted very good. 4.5/5
Students have it good here as they serve $6 set lunches which I have not heard of since the good old Silver Spoon days. However, don't expect to be greeted with a big smile here. No, the lady reminded my RJC librarian back in the days when RJC was still at Mount Sinai. I felt the compulsion not to talk too loud or use my camera too wantonly at this place. Perhaps the school disciplinarian atmosphere is due to the fact that they serve many students here, such that the lady boss has assume a matron-like persona.
Conclusion
My only real complain (all the stuff about the library atmosphere was quite fun actually) is with the price of my plate of Beef Hor Fun. At $8.80++ it is not cheap. Scanning through the rest of the Chinese menu, I also felt the prices could be more compatible with the environment we were in. A Hainanese pork chop with 2 slices of pork costs $13++ for instance. Nevertheless, it is probably the most impressive plate of Beef Hor Fun I have had in ages and the whole experience is definitely not to be missed.
Prince Coffee House
587 Bukit Timah Road
Coronation Plaza #02-15
64682088
Recommended by pchong (he wrote in twice - persistence pays off)
21 comments:
It's a Coffee House not Coffee Shop.
HA HA! You found the most well kept secrets. DAMN... It is already very crowded on weekends.
The reminiscent of the halcyon days of the 80s era when couples who PAK TOR will visit a coffee house and have Banana Split Sundae.
In fact, I am sorta indirectly related to the owners of Prince Coffee House. My aunt used to work for Prince when they started in Beach Road, Shaw Towers. This place is one of our staple-runs for family gatherings.
The owner decided to sell off the business but the waitresses and the chef decided to takeover the business and relocated to Coronation Plaza.
TRUST ME on THIS.
What you eat is just the tip of the iceberg.
You should try
1. Inchi Kabin (some fancy name for Penarakan fried chicken)
2. Fuyong Hai (it'z just an omelette but it has a superb wok hei)
3. Ox Tail Stew (MUST BOOK before hand) Old school thick stew in carrots onions and potatoes.
4. Home-made Apple pie with Ice Cream.
If you are lucky, sometimes they sell chicken pie and yam cakes.
Welcome to the LAST BASTION of true-blue Hainanese fare.
Oh yea, they increased the price considerably because they have not changed the price since the GST was 3%.
Not to mention, they almost quit the business because Coronation Plaza management increased their rent. Hence the slightly pricey menu now.
Still, good food is HARD to find.
What a find in the most unlikely places! I used to frequent Coronation Plaza while I was studying in St Margarets eons ago... Looks like it's time to make that nostalgic trip.
The hor fun has too much black sauce.
Glad you liked it, ieat. This is my old standby place...service from the librarians are not exactly great...but Jimmy - a gruffy looking chap who sometimes emerges from the kitchen is great. The chef will come out once a while too, but will never greet or talk to diners.
The trouble with this place in recent years - last 4/5 years is the increased population of school kids who are there for the student's special - I think $8 for a westernstyle set meal plus unlimited self servings of soft drinks. Spoils the ambience.
The inchicabin has been removed from the menu since the old owner left.
Their oxtail stew is a killer! I order it for Christmas almost every year.
BTW,there are 2 of those SIA-girl clad waitresses...one who is librarian like you described...the other is more cheerful, and rather bit more rotund.
btw, the old owner was still there after they moved to Coronation. Those days, he was generous with the food...large servings, and unlimited rice (this was good quality long grain fragrant Thai...my mother approved it!...which testifies to its unusual quality). He sold it to the staff when he retired...maybe 6/7 years ago...if I remember right.
Thanks to fartboystinks for his insights and background and recommendations of this restaurant tucked in a sleepy neighbourhood shopping center. Indeed the good old pak tor days then in the 80's was to bring your girlfriend to a coffee house like silver spoon at robina house aka Park Mall or even red house coffee house at the corner of victoria street, bras brasah road.
Fret not if anyone finds the prices a little stiff. If you remembered an ealier post by ieatnitreat there is still a very good hainanese pork chop without all the +++, thats yet con (mar 29 07 post), if i am not wrong they should also serve beef hor fun. Tried going there but was always full and got crowds waiting to be seated. If anyone has ordered beef hor fun there, can someone verify that. Seems like going down to a hainanese eatery evokes a nostaglia feeling among many of the readers here.
used to go there when i was schooling nearby in my JC days...
i remember that it's pretty famous for its apple tarts...those tai tais like to buy in boxes for their house parties
Sure looks good !
i can say this is by far the only best hainanese coffeehse i ever being too.. i grew up eating in this place since i was young.. used to be a family gathering every sunday..
"Seems like going down to a hainanese eatery evokes a nostaglia feeling among many of the readers here."
No doubt.. especially when your lineage of both parents are Hainanese. Going down to a Hainanese eatery is like going home.
super retro!!! i used to go there as a jc student! best value western set meals! yummy! =9 brings back fond memories man... gotta go back some day to makan again, relive school times...
Gee, I've been going to Coronation for my haircuts for the past 15 years or so and I've walked past the place but never bothered to walk in. Looks like I need to stop by for food the next time I go for a haircut!
Though I am not Hainanese, I was brought up on Hainanese pork chop and the like, thanks to my dad's office location. Chin Chin, Mooi Chin, Yet Con and Swee Kee and the Hainanese kopi-tiams of the Seah/Purvis and Liang Seah street areas were my haunts. Then again, Peranakan families like mine had very close association with Hainanese chefs. I must say the best kaya were those done by the Hainanese Chef.
Going to Prince is like stepping back in time. I recall when other coffee houses, possibly run by other Hainanese families, like Copper Kettle and Silver Spoon were special places to visit.
The Prince Apple and Chicken pies are always good for parties. There's also another corner snack bar on the opposite end of where Prince is, that serves Nonya popiah and pie-tee. Also a popular Coronation hang out.
Gosh! i didnt know this place was reviewed.
DAmnN! I was shocked when i saw a queue outside my favourite food haunt
is the small fountain within the restuarant still there? my dad used to have a christian book shop in Coronation and i grew up eating at this coffeehouse.... the food is nice!! the hainanese pork chops are nice too..
This isn't far from my place. Really need to try it esp I'm a Hainanese!
Thanks fartboystinks for the recommendation on the dishes. Btw, ox tail must call to book???? My dad loves ox tail. It's so hard to find places that makes it well.
Hard Rock Cafe does a mean oxtail stew - think it's only available on Wednesday or soemthing. Please call to check.
The Wagon Wheel at Greenwood and Sloane Court Hotel also serve very traditional oxtail stew.
Three places for my fix.
the service at prince isn't very good. there seems to be an unspoken 'rule' that people who order more expensive food are served first, even if they place their orders later. there was once i went there with a group of friends and we all ordered student meals. we waited almost 1 hour for our main courses to be served, cos they only prepared our food after they were done serving the customers who arrived later than us but ordered ala carte :(
I personally didn't have a problem with the service when I had lunch there on Sunday and my buddies ordered the cheaper stuff like seafood and beef horfuns.
crunchychoconut: your predicament is pretty common as some restaurants usually cook and push out the "higher" valued meals first then go on to prepare the "cheaper" set meals to increase their tabs.
But on a good note, it means that your set meals are not pre-cooked and only prepared upon order - which is a good sign :)
Probably you can give them another shot to confirm such if such a practice is habitual here.
Had the fried horfun at Yuet Loy @ Smith Street FC and although i always feel thirsty after a meal here, I keep coming back for it because each and ever strand of the rice noodle is fried till it is slightly charred and emits the smokiness and "breath of the wok" imperative of any horfun.
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