It was a dark and stormy Good Friday evening last weekend but come hail or high waters, it wasn’t going to stop our party of eight from going out to celebrate with the friend crossing her Big 55 milestone. Of course it helped that there were two cars among us to pick up one and all in the west of the island and driven through gushing rain, rolling thunder and flashing lighting all the way to the east coast to a Chinese restaurant called Hua Yu Wee.
Seafood was the birthday girl’s food of choice and it was to her favorite seafood and zi char place we went. Formed in the ’50s, Hua Yu Wee is housed in a quaint 1920s colonial bungalow and is said to be the last original seafood restaurant remaining in the Upper East Coast stretch. It’s very old-school and is famed for its Chinese cuisine especially seafood.
Although it was pouring cats and dogs, the place was already packed by the time we got there by 7pm (albeit on a public holiday). Valets helped direct us to lots in the practically full carpark and by the time we walked to the courtyard out back—passing an “open” kitchen filled with extremely busy chefs—the 20+ large tables under a giant tent was almost packed to the brim. And this is not counting the tables in the AC area within the bungalow.
Thankfully we had a reservation and we didn’t have to wait long for our table. If you want quick service, get the menus yourself, have your orders ready, and be flexible when told that certain dishes are already sold out.
Considering there were so many tables seemingly yet to be served, our first dish arrived surprisingly fast in less than 10 minutes. The crispy and tasty Sotong Yu Char Kway (squid in deep fried dough fritter) served with mayo was a good starter.
Next to arrive was the Stir-fried Beef with Kai Lan, where the latter was very well cooked and which we all deemed to be even yummier than the former though the beef wasn’t at all bad.
Next up were two vegetable dishes, Sambal Kangkong and one recommended by the waitress as our original choice had ran out and which I think is the currently very popular melon-cucumber-bittergourd-looking Luffa Gourds stir-fried with dried shrimps and mushrooms. The kangkong was good and I’m getting used to the latter which has been recommended to me in the past few months, from a hawker stall to a restaurant chain.
The good thing about having a big group is that ordering a whole Roast Chicken is worthwhile. As with most good Chinese restaurants, the chicken was well-marinated with the skin crispy and meat tender and flavorful. Not forgetting the crispy prawn crackers that come with it. Yum!
The bright reddish orange Steamed Prawns was another great item – big, fresh and juicy. By the way, most of the dishes in Hua Yu Wee – from seafood to meat and poultry, to vegetables and thick soups come in small, medium and large, so you just order accordingly to how much your party can eat.
Birthday girl recommended this noodles dish Hua Yu Wee is also well known for and apparently one can’t find it on the menu. It’s a dish that is basically Seafood (clams and prawns) with half wet half fried Hor Fan with Gravy. It’s fascinating to say the very least. Both types of noodles were tasty in their own way and the clams and prawns were tasty. If you are on your own, this could suffice as a meal by itself.
As expected, the crabs were the last to arrive. And we were warned that the crabs will be smaller in size as they were all out of the big ones (sob). We did spend some time at the start wondering how many Mantou (deep fried buns) we needed and eventually we settled on 20 as four of us who wanted the mantou could eat at least five each. Well, the gravy of the Chili Crab was truly worth dipping the mantou in. It was creamy, spicy and absolutely scrumptious. And the crab, though “small”, was fresh and delicious too. Definitely one of the best chili crab I ever had.
The Black Pepper Crab was just as good – meat was fleshy and succulent, and the pepper sauce oh-so-spicy. Fascinating thing we noticed: if we started with the chili crab first, we found the pepper crab to be more spicy-hot, while it’s the other way around for those who started with the pepper crab first. Whatever, both crab dishes were truly excellent.
Amazingly, we had space for dessert. Half of us ordered Ice Jelly, while the rest of us opted for Orh Nee (steamed yam paste) which we didn’t mind waiting 20 minutes for. And the wait was worth it as the orh nee was absolutely smooth and delicious. If I wasn’t so full, I’d have begged for another bowl!
All in all, the total sum came up to about $300++. For all our items and considering there’s 8 of us, that is a mighty decent total. If you want exceptional seafood or zi char items, Hua Yu Wee is definitely recommended although it would be more convenient if you live in the east, have a car or can find someone who can provide transport.
Hua Yu Wee Seafood Restaurant is at 462 Upper East Coast Road, S(466508). Tel: 6442 9313. Opens daily 11.30am-10.30pm.
Musings on the M49 