Wai Kee Noodle Cafe

Located near the Tsim Tsa Po area (good place to buy electronics and random gifts) is this store. There are two locations on the same street and I decided to head to the one next to 7Eleven as I was meeting one of my Hong Kong mates there.
Before heading here, did little read ups on what’s the famous dish here and pork liver noodle was ranked the highest. I ordered that with ice lemon tea on the side.
My brother and I managed to be in line earlier and was ushered towards a back seat (near toilet) pretty quickly. Sometimes you would need to share tables with other customers but somehow we were given our own table.
The noodle was springy and chewy. Perfectly cooked even though it was served within 5 minutes. The soup was tasty and warm when served. The slices pork liver was amazing. For this dish, you should consume it straightaway after being served. I waited awhile, thinking that I should cool it down first, and the taste and texture changed within 15 minutes. Due to being engrossed in conversations, I had to waste a few slice.
Price wise it was pretty reasonable and I am glad that my friend recommended this place as it served different style of Hong Kong dishes. You could have macaroni instead of noodles here too. Even my brother who doesn’t really like Hong Kong style dishes cleared up his bowl of mixed beef noodle ;)

This is by far my favourite restaurant in the Sham Shui Po Area and sometimes when I happen to have cravings, I’ll make my way here just for their food.
So this places is always busy and there is a reason why. Their Pork Liver Instant Noodles 豬膶牛麵 and their Kaya Toast 咖椰多 or 咖椰西多. It is truly one of the many treasures in Hong Kong and their simplicity is probably the key to their success. Offer few items but do those few items so well no one else can do a better job. And here i’m really just referring to the Kaya french toast. When I’m trying to eat a little less oily i’ll go for the Kaya Toast but we all know deep fried foods just taste so good.
I compare Wai Kee to Australian Dairy Company in Jordan — both have specialized in a certain dish and stuck to their ways. The service is sometimes pretty mean but I’m willing to brush it off as people being busy.

I happened to be in the Sham Shui Po area with a friend (after buying some electronic supplies at the arcade and street market), so I thought I’d give Wai Kee a try, as another friend recommended them for their beef and pork liver noodles. We had a bit of difficulty finding Wai Kee at first as the address was vague. We later found that there are 3 shops all along the same side of the street, all with people lined up outside — this was around 4pm!
As my friend and I don’t eat pork liver, we just opted for the regular beef noodles. It came out nice and piping hot — a definite good sign. The broth was tasty with the cooked beef, perfect for the winter cold. But I wasn’t a big fan of the instant ramen noodles used, although typical of a local cha chaan teng. We also ordered the kaya toast which was absolutely delicious! It’s essentially fried thick French toast with kaya (coconut jam) slathered in between. The woman sitting across from us (note: you WILL have to share tables), ordered her own after seeing ours, and had hers topped with condensed milk! People in HK like their food sweet, haha! Definitely worth the try if you’re in the area, especially for the kaya toast!

We came here based on Open Rice reviews. It was morning we didn’t order any noodles; we just had egg toast and the French toast, along with a cup of lemon iced tea. The egg toast was literally bread with an egg-​no flavor, no condiments, nothing. The French toast on the other hand, although sweet, was really good! Wished we had ordered two of those instead. The lemon iced tea was pretty good. So 4 stars just for the French toast and lemon iced tea.

This is one of my family’s favourites, because it’s simple, fast, and delicious. Well, it’s only fast if you manage to avoid the lines because this place has gained quite a bit of popularity. Make sure you check both restaurant spaces — they are disjoint but on the same street. Seating is available whenever there are enough chairs at a table, so you could be sitting with strangers.
Their specialty is instant ramen noodles with pork liver and beef. You might go like «who pays for instant ramen?!», but the way they cook it, in their special broth, is definitely worth a try. The pork liver is always very fresh.
Other things you should try: Kaya on toast (or on Hong Kong-​style french toast if that’s what you prefer), coffee + tea (yinyeung).
The only reason it doesn’t get 5 stars is because it’s definitely not a place for anyone to sit comfortably at for a long time… think street food style ;)

One of the many treasures in the Po. Wai Kee is the one I frequent the most and always get an itch to return when I am away for too long.
We even coined the term 「膶牛之友」(the friends of pork liver + beef) i.e., people who became friends over a bowl of pork liver & beef noodles!
I always get the pork liver & beef w/​noodles (豬膶牛麵) plus a coffee + tea with condensed milk (鴦走). Once in a while, I will get the pork liver & sunny egg w/​noodles.
The portion is generous here. Sometimes, even I have trouble finishing the entire bowl. But other times, I will have room to fit in a slice of their french toast w/​kaya jam (咖椰西多)
I am simply amazed by how consistent they get their livers to taste. There was only one time where the liver didn’t live up to par but as I have said earlier, I come here a lot so I will count that as an one time-​exception

OMG, these pig liver and beef ramen were so good, same as their homemade kaya french toast. We got there at around 8 pm and surprisingly there was no line outside. The liver was cooked perfectly. It was so tender and smooth. They don’t skimp on the portions either. There were plenty of liver and beef in the bowl. The broth could have been a little more salty. But I’m not complaining. I’m a fan. Also a very reasonable price at $ 32 HKD,

Is simplicity best, or simply the easiest?
Answer: both.
Too many restaurants cropping up all over the place. Everyone just wants to be cutting edge, doing something different. A few just end up emphasizing style over substance (and unfortunately many buy into the hype).
Then you look at a place like Australia Dairy Company, or even this old school HK café, and lines form outside the door more or less throughout the day, and wonder… they must be doing something right.
Sometimes you just need to do one thing right, and only that thing.
And do it so bloody fecking well that nobody can replicate it. You become the expert and go-​to for this. Wash, rinse, repeat, and become the undisputed champion.
Of course it helps when you have been doing it for years. But you never stray from a commitment to quality and consistency, and that is the key point that many miss.
維記咖啡粉麵 (Wai Kee Coffee and Noodle) has been a staple of Sham Shui Po for decades. Their flagship product offering is an ethereal and incredible pork liver soup, and their pork liver prep is also very solid.
While they have other things on the menu similar to other HK cafes, they do the pork liver soup so well that if you do not try it here, you haven’t really visited Wai Kee, or even Sham Shui Po area.
These guys are so successful that they opened up two additional spaces on the same street to handle overflow and crowds (and all 3 locations have lines!).
Pork liver is a rather challenging ingredient. Cook it too long and it becomes dry, chewy, and unappetizing. Undercook it and you are essentially flirting with danger if the product is not clean. And as fresh as you can get, there is always that taste that drives people away (kind of like how people dislike sheep and goat for being too gamey).
Yet WK makes some truly amazing pork liver, and a rich deep lightly sweet pork liver broth that is indeed the stuff of legends. Their liver does not have that weird taste or aftertaste, and it is not just a matter of using ginger. Don’t think anyone has been able to figure out their secret.
Yes they have other offerings on the menu, but you really want to have a bowl of pork liver soup with either macaroni, rice noodles, or instant noodles. If you don’t want pork liver slices, spam and egg is a safe choice. The broth will have some bubble/​fat, it’s not molecular cuisine, but is part of the flavor.
Their iced coffee is good, way better than Australia Dairy Company.
Another must have item is their french toast, with kaya jam (coconut based) on the inside.
Simple food, comforting, yet done at such a ridiculously high level.
Don’t expect beck and call kind of service here. More like local style, no nonsense, efficient.
They deserve their success and to some extent, arrogance if they want, since they have the quality to back it up.

Wai Kee Noodle Café Hong Kong 維記咖啡粉麵 is a tiny café serving foodies and locals with infamous pig liver instant noodles 馳名豬潤麵. Although they also offer French toast and jam toast, but it by no means draws in the crowds.
Pig liver instant noodles 馳名豬潤麵 perhaps does not strike a common tourist as a destination as does Apliu Street market 鴨寮街 (for electronic items, batteries, Hi-Fi’s and mobile phone knick knacks), nor Golden Shopping Centre 高登電腦中心 (for computer goods); nor even Pei Ho Street 北河街 (for street vendors and hawkers); but if you had a taste of its thinly sliced velvety liver than you too would part seas — ok, maybe not as dramatic.
Beef Slice Noodles: blanched to just cooked perfection and floating in the same delicious clear broth as the pig liver noodles. I’m sure you would also enjoy this bowl of al dente noodles.
Wai Kee Noodle Café Hong Kong
Bear in mind this place is a dive and you are expected to pack sardines and share a table with 6 other people. Maybe not the best idea to come here after a full day of shopping in Sham Shui Po.