In/around Chinatown
Urumqi
Whenever I work in Space101 (my project space), I see this restaurant through my windows, because they are my neighbours. So it is inevitable that I have tried their food. I was very carefull, since I don’t like Turkish Cuisine and Uygur food has much of the Turkish style. So in honesty I can say, I don’t like all of the menu (I have really tried some dishes), but I do have my favorite dish, the Dapanji, a big dish of hand pulled noodles with on top a stew of chicken with herbs and peppers. Wow, this is soooo good, I really can eat it every day. I even made friends with the owners. That’s not because we are neighbours, but also they are that kind of relax people who will help you if they can. I don’t want to advertise too much for this restaurant, but really, i do advise everybody to try their food. Taste the real flavours of a different Chinese minority Cuisine. (reviewed November 2017)(This review is not in the booklet)
Street foodies
From the name you don’t know yet what you would get, but Street foodies is a Vietnamese street food restaurant. Really new and you have to notice it to get there. The entrance is really small, but the restaurant is actually above the building and quite big. We went there with a few friends and the restaurant was just opened for one week. So we accept if something would go wrong. Looking at the menu I could already see that this restaurant has actually no concept. There are some Vietnamese dishes you can order but you can also order fried chicken with fries what the hell! Anyway, we ordered many different dished, judge after eating right. But sorry, I find the Pho not good, the chicken with lemongrass was dry and expensive, the skewers were like you get it from the supermarket…….I don’t want to add more actually, I feel bad because the owner is such a nice guy. He and his young wife started this restaurant from love for food and their culture. They wanted to run the restaurant from the idea of what you can eat in Vietnam as street food, so yes, you can eat fries and hamburgers in Vietnam, so it’s also on their menu. But for me, no no, this is for me not what I expect or want to eat in a Vietnamese restaurant. Too bad, I hope they will survive or maybe I hope they will change their concept a bit. (reviewed September 2017)(This review is not in the booklet)
Orient Parel
Among the Chinese community this restaurant is better known as Jumbo (ZhenBao). This was the former name of this Chinese restaurant. This really hidden restaurant is to be found above a very expensive shopping street. Most costumers are therefore Chinese because it’s hidden not because of the shops. Western people don’t really know how to get here beside if a Chinese person takes them to here. Anyway, I know this restaurant for a long time already, not my favorite to come, not because the food but because of the cranky unfriendly manager/boss. I just don’t like him. So if I eat here, then it’s because other friend wants to eat here. Because the food is good, the price is good, and the service is also oke. It’s always packed with Chinese and sometimes even has a queue at the elevator. But for this review I went back after many months. We ordered some Dimsum. Then I noticed that they have this Japanese fish…….yes! This tasted very good. Other Dimsum were also oke. So actually I have nothing to say about this restaurant beside I just don’t like to come here because of the manager, so is my personal reason. And also, because I can’t store my stroller away here. People with small kids will find difficulties to fit in here. (reviewed September 2017)(This review is not in the booklet)
Tai Wu
Tai Wu used to be a very good dimsum restaurant. I say ‘used to be’ because I stopped eating there after the quality went down a few years ago. I also heard from friends that the quality and the service was really so sad that actually only Dutch people still came to eat there. Almost no Chinese costumers. But a few month ago, Tai Wu did a renovation. It was very traditional Chinese looking restaurant with red walls and dragons and more stuff like that. So I was curious how it would look now. Also what else they’ve changed. I went there with 3 other friends. It was my first time, for the others the second time in this new interior. The restaurant looks very clean now, modern traditional looking, you can say. It gives me the feeling like I really walked into a big Chinese restaurant in China. My friend told me they also finally changed the toilet. Before when you sit down, your knees will bump against the door (even for short people like me). For the food part……….huhmmmm They didn’t take the effort to renew the tableware. I have no WOW feeling for the food. It’s not bad, even better then the last time I visited, but no, not my favorite. Nothing special. And it looks like they have raised the prices. More expensive than other Dimsum restaurants where I go to. So, I guess, I won’t be coming here soon if I have a choice. (reviewed July 2017)(This review is not in the booklet)
Takumi
Sapporo Ramen from Düsseldorf! I had no idea what this was. Till some friends told me that this was going to be really good noodles. They all had tried these noodle soups in Düsseldorf itself and told me they were the best noodles they ate. Some friends who went to Japan even said it’s the quality as good as in restaurants in Japan. Well, I really couldn’t wait when this Takumi in Rotterdam Chinatown was going to open. The location is where the old fastfood restaurant Chinatown was and whenever I passed by I took a peek how far the renovation was. Then short after Chinese new year festival it seemed the restaurant was almost finished. Big stickers on the window saying ‘Japanese soul food’! GREAT. So when it opened, I asked three other friends to join me to try out. With four persons we can order different kinds of noodles soups and compare. And we did. Maybe my expectations were to high already at that point since I was really looking forward to eat here, and everybody was saying how good it was. But I found my noodles a bit disappointing. I had the Tan Tan Mien, originally a Sichuan dish. This was one of the few dishes which was kind of spicy. It was even for my taste a bit too salty. I thought maybe I shouldn’t order a Chinese noodle soup, so I tried the other soups also, and they were not really mind blowing good either. Surprisingly, there were also no soups with any kind of seafood flavor.
The soups were a bit too strong of flavor. The bowl is big, lots of noodles in it, but all four of us thought it has too less of other ingredients (let’s say meat). One friend didn’t finish his food, he was really disappointed. Since he was a meat eater, he was shocked there were only two pieces of Cha Siu in the bowl. And he thought he was going to get fresh noodles…… Nope, imported from Japan it said on the menu. Well, for the price you pay for a noodle soup, he preferred to eat a good bowl of Pho (Vietnamese noodles soup). We are spoiled I guess, because if you sometimes walk by Takumi, you will see long queue of people waiting to get in. It will surely not be my last time here, because I believe in second opinion. (reviewed February 2017)(This review is not in the booklet)
!Yes, as promised I went back to Takumi, at least twice already. They’ve gotten better. The flavor is much less salty and they even serve it with more meat. No queue anymore, I guess the newness is off now, but it’s still kind of busy. You can even sit outside now. Not my cup of tea since I don’t like my food to get cold too fast and I don’t like eating when people look at you if they pass by. (June and July)
Set
This is a small restaurant, but you can’t miss it; the entrance is Japanese style! When you enter, you will be greeted by the waitress or the chef. Go upstairs to sit down if you have more time to enjoy the meal. Or else stay at the entrance to sit at ‘fast eating’ corner.
The waitress will ask what you want to drink, but to order food you need to push the button which is on the table.
I like noodles, almost any kind. Ramen is Japanese noodle, this word came from the Chinese name for noodles ‘La Mien’, me think, which means pulled noodles. Well, the noodles are not pulled here. Not fresh either, but that’s also not expected since the prices are very reasonable. It is also not said that the noodles are fresh…..my mistake to hope for it. But anyway, I ordered a spicy Ramen soup. Many times already. It looked very delicious, almost as like manga drawing. The soup was really not that bad. It surprised me that the seaweed in the soup tasted really nice, never eaten it like this in Ramen soup. I finished all! I must say, if you get the soup, eat it directly. Or else the noodles will get soggy. (reviewed January 2017)(This review is not in the booklet)
Restaurant Pho
My in-laws are Vietnamese Chinese, so I learned to appreciate Vietnamese food. In the times that we my husband and I were still young and with no-kids, we would sometimes just drive to Paris for the great Vietnamese sandwiches and pho’s. Restaurant Pho has great Pho soups and sandwiches, but not that good as in Paris. Actually, I have not found a Vietnamese restaurant in Holland yet which has the Paris quality. Restaurant Pho comes most close to it though. I have already ordered many times for sandwiches to take away. I must say, you have to wait quite long for your sandwich. The girl making it does her best, and everything is done very clean, but its soooooo slow. Really if the sandwiches were just not that good, I really would never want to wait for it. Still every time I keep coming back. Most times if I visit the restaurant itself, I always order the traditional pho beef soup. Great flavor, but not that strong as my mother in law makes it. Still like it very much, and my daughter share the same opinion. She really just drinks the soup from the bowl: ‘mama, more more’. Ofcourse I remove all peppers first.
The egg pancake with pork and shrimp filling is really worth waiting. This always takes longer than other dishes, but then you really get the crispest egg pancake ever. The filling can sometimes taste a bit heavy seasoned. So it is recommended to eat it with the lettuce which comes with the dish. (reviewed January 2017)(This review is not in the booklet)
Kampong express
This might be the only Malaysian restaurant in Chinatown. A small hidden restaurant which you only know to find it if somebody tells you where it is and how to get there. So I tell you now. The restaurant opened in March 2017, but I knew it was coming somewhere in October 2016. Coincidentally I met the owner and Chef cook of Kampong express. He was so talkative and kind to give me more information about peppers and their spiciness (because he also makes his own pepper sauce) I was busy doing a project about peppers for a pepper tasting. So when I heard he will open up a small restaurant where he would also use and sell his own pepper sauce, I was really looking forward for the opening of his restaurant. I really went at the first opening day to eat. I tried the Daging Rendang (beef stew) and I was sold. This was so good that I find it was a pity not to be able to try other dishes. So I decided I must go back again very soon. I think since they have been open (for one month when I write this review), I have visited the restaurant already at least four times. Yes, I tried most of what’s on the menu now. For the review, we took another friend so we could order a dish extra. I just want to show that simple food can be really really good. The favorite of my photographer is definitely the Laksa and the home made pepper sauce. For me, I like the Laksa also a lot, but the fried fish is also good, the Daging Rendang is great, the green beans in pepper sauce is delicious…….can’t choose. And don’t forget to try the Jendol (the traditional green jelly coconut drink). So yes, it sounds like I have found another favorite restaurant. I am telling all my friend to go try once, I am telling everybody who I meet who loves food…..maybe I shouldn’t because to be truth, the restaurant is actually meant to be a take-away restaurant, so there are only four tables where you can sit down and eat. Luckily for me, my mini museum is only three minutes away from Kampong Express. And last but not least, Gloria (the young lady serving) is really the nicest girl ever, perfect service! The chef cook is her father and the older lady who works in the kitchen as well as at the counter is her mother. This is really cooking from the heart to bring love to your belly.(reviewed April 2017)(This review is not in the booklet)
Restaurant Chinatown
Fast means really fast here. When you have just half an hour for lunch and still want to eat something healthy, you come here. You can finish a bowl of hot noodle soup filled with Peking Duck or stewed beef in half an hour. Get in, order, eat, get out! This is probably my most favorite lunch restaurant when I am out for work. Personally I am not a bread and sandwich person, unless it is for breakfast – Lunch must be hot for me. At home I also prefer eating noodle soups; Kong Tjai Mien, the one with the beef flavor. Restaurant ChinaTown [Formerly ChinaTown Fastfood ] is very popular among (Chinese) students, tourists, lunch breakers, and also Chinese couples who come to do Chinese grocery shopping. I see many aged couples come here to order congee and a side dish. They seem so content, and the place makes me feel like being in China or in Hong Kong. The waiters (all female) are very nice and polite. They prefer to take your order directly, but you also can take your time. You can see that especially are treated with respect and patience. The only male waiter running around is the owner of the restaurant. (Read all about the yellow heart and mind of Kawing in this guide.) I told him also that he reminds me of my favorite uncle. So yes, I really like to eat in this restaurant, I feel like eating in a familiar place, reliable, homey and well priced.
8 out of 10 times I come here and order noodle soup with stewed beef and shrimp dumplings – Shui Kau. I am a meat eater, so sometimes I order rice with 2 kinds of roasted meat. They roast all meat by themselves. If you come really early, when the restaurant has just opened, you might have to wait 10 minutes longer, because the roasting will not be quite done yet. So it’s really fresh from the oven – makes me even more want to wait for it.
Good to know: my noodle soup costs about 10 euros. The portions are generous. End 2016, Restaurant ChinaTown [Formerly known as ChinaTown Fastfood] will be moved to Westersingel 1. The menu is expanded to what you’re used to in a Dimsum restaurant. The noodle soups are still on the menu and as good as they were. (reviewed at June 2016)
Oriental Express
Beneath The Calypso (one of the newest buildings of Rotterdam), just ahead of Rotterdam central station, there is Oriental Express. A Chinese restaurant which might look big at the outside but in fact is quite small when inside. The counter is at the entrance, so you will be greeted directly as you enter. Behind the counter you will see roasted meat hanging, homemade of course. The menu is like every Dimsum restaurant: a lot of choices of Dimsum and different dishes. Just look at the pictures of the food and write down the numbers you want. Try to sit next to the window; then you have a good street view, almost like you are watching television.
My favorite dish here is Lap Cheung (the steamed rice with Chinese sausage) and Lap Yuk (salted pork belly). It is served in a wooden pot and looks really authentic. This is the only restaurant where this can be ordered and will be served in this style. For inside information, the salted pork belly is marinated by the lady owner of this restaurant personally. She also works in the restaurant every day, running around in the kitchen and serving food. Read a bit about the yellow heart and mind of Yin and her husband Kawing in this guide. This is also the restaurant where I come to eat with groups when I do tours. The restaurant has a perfect location, just at the opposite to the entrance of ChinaTown. (reviewed at June 2016)
Spicy Temptation
This restaurant was already in my view for quite a long time, but I have never dared to go in. I had mixed feelings about this location. First it was a very good Dimsum restaurant, then it went bad. Then another restaurant came and went, because of lack of costumers. Suddenly there was Spicy Temptation…..In the beginning I didn’t see anyone eating there. I didn’t hear anyone in my network who ate there. It scared me. The new owners didn’t even bother to fix up the interior a bit, still looks very ugly with that long wall of mirrors. No decoration at all.
But I can’t avoid it anymore. A friend insisted going to eat there with me, and a bunch of other friends. She went there before and she said it was goooooood. I didn’t believe her, my mistake. Because the food was really goooooood. Very authentic, Sichuan cuisine I guess. No nice plating or matched plates. One dish came as if it was served in a metal sink bucket as used in China. I had to laugh a bit, since it reminded me of my grandma. And wow, soft fried tofu was really good. We also ordered a whole fried fish in medium spicy sauce, double thumbs up! One dish that one of the friend really want to try out at home is the corn cake. Looks so simple but tastes very nice. I think kids will love this. I really enjoyed the food. We even had some laughs because our waiter was the funniest Chinese man ever. Beware if this bald Chinese waiter comes to serve you, he will make you laugh with his funny face expressions and conversations. He really treats you as if you are regular customers. He will also give you unsolicited advises of what you need to order, my advice, take it. My first time here, but surely not my last…(reviewed January 2017)(This review is not in the booklet)
In Center of Rotterdam
Oldtown
This is a restaurant which shows how a small restaurant can be very attractive. The style is simple, the food is authentic and all food are prepare in a very open kitchen. One chef cooking but all ladies taking the orders and serving the food are also helping in the small kitchen. The thing what gave me a warm feeling was the warm welcome which you get from the ladies. They look like your aunties and they smile a lots. Even thought their Dutch or English are not their best languages, they talk patiently and will explain you whatever you ask. When we can for lunch, their were more Dutch guests then Chinese guests. This is not a typical large dimsum restaurant, but morely the trendy fast and clean restaurant for younger foodies. The food is great. Very fresh and authentic. Oldtown has beside Chinese dishes also a variaty of Malaisian dishes, because the owners are Malaisian Chinese. The lady boss makes the Roti (pancakes) fresh on the counter, afront of your nose. Nice show. Good restaurant for small groups. I will certainly put it on my favorite list. (reviewed December 2017)(This review is not in the booklet)
Hanoi
Well, I guess we have another Vietnamese restaurant again. So many in Rotterdam center now that it dizzled me. This one is small and next to a small Vietnamese sandwich (Bahn Mi) shop, which I really like. Hanoi is said to be quite good, so I will give it a go. When you come in you realise this small and simple restaurant is run by housewives, the mama’s who usually only cook at home…yes yes, I like! So we sat down and ordered the usual stuff. Then after a few minutes it stroke me that the lady serving us is throwing all the ordering paper, crumbled, down to the stairs where the kitchen is supposed to be. First I thought she is throwing away small garbage, but she kept doing it. I laughed so hard about this. This is really like Asian people solving small problems, I love it. The food is served very fast, hot and gooooooood. We looked at our beefballs swimming in the soup and found it very different of shape, not so round and goodlooking. Could it be homemade? We asked and the lady appoligised for the balls not to be so pretty, because yes, they are homemade. Ooooo, we really don’t mind, because they really taste much better than the frozen ones from the Chinese supermarket. The beef sate (skewers) are also very nice, worth to try. Next time I come here, I will try some other dishes, because my guessing is that this restaurant is going to be one of my favorite. And the prices?…The cheapest Vietnamese restaurant I know in Rotterdam. A Pho is only €9,99. Very affordable and money well spent!!(reviewed October 2017)(This review is not in the booklet)
Wagamama
I know Wagamama from when I was a student in Amsterdam. I love this concept but was not thrilled by the food. But I visited Wagamama many times in Amsterdam and also in Antwerp. So since a few years we have a Wagamama in Rotterdam. I never got the chance yet to try out because is a bit off from the centre and my husband was not willing to go there. So I took my five year old daughter with me. She liked the seats, she could look into the kitchen and watch how the cooks make her food. She could look at the street and pretend it’s a living television. We ordered a famous noodle soup and 2 kinds of snacks. It was good. She ate all the gyoza’s. I found it a bit odd, why were the gyoza’s deep fried? Never had it like that before, but because they were therefore very crunchy, my daughter loved it. She wanted a second portion…….. next time my love. She also liked the noodle soup. Told me the cook did well. For my personal opinion, the food is so-so. I won’t come here if I have a choice. (reviewed August 2017)(This review is not in the booklet)
Noo.Me
A friend advised me to try this new noodle shop. She said that the concept is really something different. Since this noodle shop is not in Chinatown, it took a while before I really got the chance to visit it. I went there with two friends and two kids (our own daughter of four years old). We ordered three different kinds of noodles soups: the Laksa (Malaysian), The Pho (Vietnamese) and the Noodle soup with soup dumplings (Chinese). The servings were generous and the flavors were very authentic. Especially the Laksa was really really good. Our daughter were slurping the noodles and drank the soup like they were not fed for a whole week. Well to keep short talking about how good the food was, I prefer to tell you something more about the concept behind this restaurant. We talked to the young owner of this noodle shop. He was kindly and willingly to explain his idea behind this noodle soup. He wanted to start a restaurant where people could taste the authentic flavors of home style cooking. His idea to achieve this was to convince the grandma’s and the grandpa’s to prepare some of their specialties secret recipes. So sometimes you can taste dumplings from grandpa Li or special cake from grandma Wang. You have to be quick though if you want to taste these limited specials, because when it’s sold out, it really means sold out you would probably need to wait another month for a second chance. So this idea does not only provide a chance to eat really home cooking from older Asian generations, but also gives these grandma’s and grandpa’s a new hobby to look forward. Its inspiring to meet these kind of young entrepreneurs who are creative, respects the cultures and older people and also have great mindset how to get there where they want to be. Thumps up! (reviewed March 2017)(This review is not in the booklet)
Bij Bao
This is really a home style restaurant. Bij Bao is small but very cosy. They have an open kitchen, so you can see the chef cooking your food. Yes, there is only one chef! I saw him chopping fresh vegetables for every individual order, while most restaurant chop their vegetables during preparation in the morning. Maybe this chef doesn’t want to have waste; chopping for every order means no throwing away of any leftovers. The waiter is kind of strange. He speaks Dutch, English, Cantonese and Mandarin, but none of his words are very understandable. So it’s a good thing to put your orders by writing numbers on a piece of paper. The food comes whenever the chef has finished preparing it – very Chinese. So don’t wait for eachother’s dishes, just share! You can’t order alcohol, so beer has 0% alcohol – «malt bier» as we call it in Dutch. What I like most at Bij Bao are the cooked dumplings and the fried spare ribs, marinated in garlic. The dumplings remind me of the ones I have had in China. And the spare ribs are really my taste: soft meat, with lots of garlic, a nice dark fried color… I just eat them with my fingers. I think I can finish this whole dish if I let myself go. The green beans with minced meat are also recommendable, very authentic! (reviewed at June 2016)
Grand Garden
This big Dimsum restaurant is situated in a NH hotel. Some years ago, it was an Indonesian restaurant that probably didn’t go well. I remember that when the restaurant was just open, not many Chinese people noticed it. It’s not very visible and you have to know well how to find it. But now, after some years, even Dutch people can find Grand Garden. The place is ideal for business lunches or dinners, since the seats are spacy and the waiters speak Dutch as well as English. The restaurant interior is quite Chinese and maybe a bit over the top; imagine big pots with plastic blossoms in it. Not very ugly, but you have to like the style. The restaurant has large tables, so groups are welcome. Families with kids and strollers can also easily store their stuff away. They have a stage for weddings as well. For non-Chinese: notice the golden phoenix and dragon hanging on the wall; that’s the place where families of the groom and bride are sitting during Chinese wedding banquets.
Well, I often eat here with my family – as we are those who come with stroller and kids – and sometimes with friends who have kids. (Sometimes half the table is actually kids, but this is no problem here; they are used to it. They have enough kids chairs too. The food is good; everything is freshly made and served hot. After dinner, they offer you Tong Shui (sweet sugar soup dessert). I think it’s only offered to Chinese people – since most Dutch people thinks this soup dessert is really strange. (reviewed June 2016)
Asian Glories
This is not a typical Chinese restaurant where you can find the average Chinese person eating Dimsum. Asian Glories is more high class, more expensive, more towards fine dining. Most guests are Dutch people who are willing to pay a bit more for better service, nicer presentation, a relaxed environment, good wines, and the friendship which is built during years of being guest here. Don’t go here if you are really, really hungry and want to eat piles of steamed Dimsum; that is not possible. You need to take your time when you eat at Asian Glories, sit back and relax, and prepare to get spoiled with really good food. The interior design is really classy, traditional Chinese, with white table linen and nice wine glasses – They have their own sommelier.
Years ago I already heard about Asian Glories. People were saying they had found the best Chinese restaurant in Holland – even mentioned in the Michelin guide. I got curious, but only recently I got the opportunity to visit the restaurant. At first I felt really sceptic about Asian Glories, asking myself how a restaurant this small, and hidden in a side street of the city shopping center can be good? And how come my friends never told me anything about it? But after visiting the place myself I have understood: This is not a restaurant to go with my own friends (Most of them are really loud and eat a lot – if we would eat here, we would get bankrupt), because this is not a regular Chinese restaurant. But believe me, I really got the best Dimsum in Holland ever. They have soft shell crab – I adore any kind of crab, fresh steamed scallops with glass noodle, Peking Duck in (homemade) pancakes and more. The menu is small, and most guests eat in courses, so if you want to have all food served at the same time, you need to ask for it. Read more about Asian Glories and the yellow heart and mind of Kevin Fan. (reviewed July 2016)
San San
During the times that my parents ran a Chinese restaurant, I learned to eat really spicy. For a certain guest, my father made the Peking Soup (sour spicy soup) with a lot of pepper in it. This customer was used to spicy food because he had lived in Indonesia for many years. Every time he prepared this soup, my father made a bit more so I could also have some. I still order this Sun La Tong in restaurants, but for me, my father’s soup is still the best – I miss him.
San San is a Chinese restaurant serving dishes from the Sichuan kitchen. Its true Sichuan food is spicy, spicy and spicy, but this doesn’t mean they don’t have non spicy food. The resraurant doesn’t have an immense menu, but you still need to make choices. The interior looks really Chinese, like a Chinese restaurant in China. Most times when you come in, the Chefs will also take a peek of you, so you can just peek back, hahaha. To find San San is not really difficult. Although it’s not in ChinaTown, it is still in the center of Rotterdam, in a side street of the big shopping area, towards the cube houses. For the non-Chinese speakers: San San means «three three»; this is the house number of the restaurant.
I have once gone to San San with Yiyu (she is the photographer of this FoodGuide, and a good friend of mine). Yiyu is from Sichuan so I wanted to eat there with an insider, to hear her opinion. Well, San San has passed! Even Yiyu said their food is really Sichuan style, which means not adapted to the western taste and thus as spicy as it should be. The funny thing of the Sichuan spiciness is that it doesn’t give the same feeling as when eating a normal pepper. This Sichuan pepper is really spicy in the first few seconds, then your mouth will get a bit numb – but the spiciness won’t get stronger, even when you keep eating. Well, the numb feeling will stay in your mouth which makes you think the food is too spicy. But I had no burning feelings in my throat or stomach. I guess if you can’t handle spicy food, you can ask for less peppers. Or maybe you could ask for adding more peppers… I have now tried several dishes. I really like number 1: Garlic Bacon and number 83: Pork and Sichuan peppers. Next time at San San, I want to try the Crab in Sichuan sauce – Looking forward to it already! (reviewed at July 2016)
Hung Kee
Hung Kee is taking me back to my dating time with my husband. Back then, when we were young, we went out with groups of friends. At midnight, after dancing around like crazy or getting a bit drunk, we got hungry and wanted to eat good food. Then there was Hung Kee: This is still the place to be when you get hungry at late hours, because Hung Kee is the only (Chinese) restaurant which is open till 5:30 a.m.! (The Chinese name Hung Kee means: Family Hung’s, no night day.) Hung Kee is located in Witte de Withstraat, known as the arty farty street of Rotterdam. It used to be a bit «dangerous» to walk around there: lots of coffeeshops, people dealing or some-times even shootings – but nowadays, it’s all allright. Many hip restaurants have settled there, really nice bars where you also can sit outside, many arty shops and galleries… Witte de Withstraat is really for the artistic ones among us.
Don’t think that only Chinese youngsters eat at Hung Kee’s, you see many different kind of people, young, old, white black or even purple, nothing is weird to the waiter anymore. So if the waiter is sometimes grumpy, you shouldn’t get angry – Although most times he is really very friendly – sometimes he has to deal with guests who are drunk or don’t behave properly anymore in those late hours. For me, the best dish at Hung Kee is Sate Kambing (lamb meat on skewers with sweet Ketjap sauce). Although, the best comfort food is rice with different kinds of roasted meat (phonetic Cantonese: Sil Yeh Fan) or the thick noodles with different kind of meat, fish balls and fish cake (phonetic Cantonese: Tjap Huy Tjauw Hoh). And if you order all three dishes, you pay only 26,50 euros. This is really cheap! And the quality of the food, well don’t expect a Michelin star, the food is good, the plates are royal, the service is fast. (reviewed at July 2016)