Old Hong Kong Tea House

Hey, what do you know… your food’s pretty decent actually.
This place has had more than it’s fair share of detractors, and even the Girlfriend has told me not-​so-​awesome stories of the place, and when my dad suggested going there for dinner one Sunday night… she didn’t seem so psyched to join us. But I convinced her anyway, and off we went to join the fam.
We get there and the fam’s already dived in; the table is full of food, and there was just the three of them ordering. Goodness only knows if they were ordering for us too. Turns out they have a dim sum a la carte buffet dinner, and we’d just all bought in. Then came the baskets of food — the usual suspects like siew mai and har gow, and the pork ribs, and chicken feet — and the occasional plate of carrot cake (one plate good, the other, not so), all decent enough. A fried cheong fun dish was interesting and tasty, as was the dan dan mian. Other items like roast meat platter were so-​so, but I guess you had to try them to know.
Usually going for $ 38++ a head, make sure you bring along a UOB card for half off that price, and you’ll find yourself pleasantly stuffed with decent quality food. Don’t expect the world, or clean loos, and you’ll be okay.

For a night owl like me, I hardly even patronize this establishment due to
1. food tastes completely mass produced. like, rip open a frozen pack, plop hargaus in steamer and serve. i can go to 711 if i want to pay a premium for hargau.
2. high prices. drinks (1 homemade mango concoction and 1 coke cost us 15 bucks!)
nahhhh. go elsewhere if it’s regular opening hours out. 2 stars for its night owl friendly timings.

Unpleasant toilets, not filthy but unpleasant. We tried the steamboat buffet, which offered poor value for its price. Acceptable with a 1 for 1 groupon discount but we wouldn’t go back again.
We might return again to try the dim sum.

We started off on a rather wrong foot and well… the relationship just go way sour after that.
I bought 2
vouchers for steamboat buffet at Old Hong Kong Katong Village. There were 2 numbers on the vouchers. I tried one number but not one picked up. So, I tried the other and made my reservation. I was at the restaurant and had placed my order when my mobile rang and it was from the restaurant asking when I am arriving. Turn out the number reflected was for another branch. :X Strike One.
There is a catch. Its a 150 minutes buffet starting from our in-​time. If past the time limit, it will be charged as ala carte order. We waited patiently for our food to arrive. The broth came but the stove was not set up yet. The server went to get the stove and placed the steaming soup on it to continue boiling. And guess what, it ran out of gas. Got to ask them to replace the gas canister. :X Strike Two.
The place was rather packed but the service seemed rather efficient except for our steamboat orders even our drinks promptly arrived. We continued to wait for the ingredients which took more than 30 mins to arrive and repeatedly we have to ask the wait staff where our ingredients are for the steamboat. Finally, the ingredients came but not our full orders. We started cooking the food and thinking to ourselves that they will take some time to «appear». But it didn’t. Well, since it is a buffet, we decided to order one more round way before we finish our first round of food and yet it took almost 30−45mins to come. We were experiencing a food ‘drought’. When the items arrived, only a few items arrived. We asked them about the rest of the dishes and they told us that the kitchen was still preparing. We continued to wait until we were rather impatient. It was way too SLOW and there were barely any service. We were not given bowls or soup scoops. There were no dipping sauce for the steamboat. Although the time limit was not up and we were rather hungry, we decided we will just get the bill and leave. :X Thankfully, I paid about $ 19.50 per pax for this meal, not the usual pricing of $ 39. I would expect better quality and service for $ 39 meal. Strike Three.
The redeeming factor was that the broth was a little bland but rather flavorful over time after we cooked the rest of the ingredients. We loved the deep fried fish skins and homemade pork ball (which served as if its was just minced pork not ball). I also liked the iced honey lemon drink. It was very refreshing and done just right to the taste and sweetness.
Previously, I have been here for late night supper and the food were pretty alright. Think they should stick to being a cha chan teng and not branch out to steamboat buffet if they can’t cope. I think I will be back for late night supper but definitely not steamboat.

I usually park myself here after a late night/​early morning movie that ends about 3ish. By then, we’ll have a serious case of the munchies that only a piping hot bowl of instant noodles can satiate. And it has to be of the Gong Zai Mian with luncheon meat, egg, and token piece of green variety. Enter Old Hong Kong to the rescue! The instant noodles are sufficiently springy, pumped full of MSG, and addictively salty. What better accompaniment than a couple of metal cups of milk tea? Service is brisk, and one pays at the counter after eating. Everything’s very chop chop and impersonal, and combined with the raucous chatter, one could *almost* imagine being in an actual Hong Kong tea house.

Situated at the old police complex in Katong Village, Old HongKong tea house is the perfect 24hour joint you can rely on when sudden hunger strikes. The décor on the interior, while garish are adorned with pictures of HongKong’s most beloved celebrities. The food on its astounding manner is kept relatively close to what one may find in an actual Hong Kong tea house, and reasonably priced as well. Service is fairly quick, but may suffer if you find yourself sitting in the al fresco area, as I tend to do so. Most of the staff seem reluctant to stand outside, probably due to the heat, so getting their attention when you want to order may be a little trying. The quality of the food is relatively high and one dish that I keep going back to have is their beef brisket noodles. A word of warning, if you drive, avoid parking at the lots within Katong Village from around 6am — 8am or you might find yourself getting charged a flat fee for night parking!

Sprawling over most of Katong Village, Old HK Tea House (most just end up calling it HK Café) is perfect for most Katong people because it’s 24 hours, and Katong people do love to eat and wander about at all hours.
As a vegetarian, there is a refreshingly vast number of options in almost everything except dim sum. The menu has a 2-​page vegetarian selection including my favourites Sour & Spicy Soup ($ 5), Fried Rice ($ 8) and Diced Tofu with Salt and Pepper ($ 5).
The Short Order page has more tofu options and the Salted Fried Mushrooms are incredibly tasty, but they go really fast so you might want to order 2 if you’ve got a big group.
Sitting outside, you’ve got a nice view of Katong and it’s a great place to people watch. It’s also prime for enjoying a mug of Tiger beer, which they serve draft and REALLY cold.
Step inside and it’s exactly like being in Hong Kong, which all the same hustle & bustle, extremely efficient waitstaff and a lot of hospitality.
Definitely a winner!