Hong Kong Cafe

I love breakfast. Simple as that. I just love waking up in the mornings, especially on the weekend, and getting breakfast ready with the papers in front of me. I'm such a morning person (as you can see). But at the same time, I am one of the most boring people as well. I can eat the same thing for breakfast every day of the year if given the option. All I really eat for breakfast is either a bowl of muesli (untoasted please!) on weekends or a slice of bread with nut butter and jam on weekdays. See? And not only that, it is the same nut butter and the same brand of jam and the same brand of muesli all finished off with the same brand of milk. However, I look forward to breakfast nonetheless. Yes, how un-foodie.

BUT!! That does not mean that I do not enjoy all other things one may eat for breakfast. I think its just that I could not be bothered to make something different every morning. On holidays, I always take advantage of the breakfast buffet spread, indulging myself with waffles and pancakes, smoked salmon and ham, scrambled and boiled eggs, fresh fruits and juices. Mmm. It was, after all, at a hotel breakfast buffet that I tried maple syrup for the first time. And I'm glad that I did because I always have maple syrup with my waffles and pancakes from now on. Living in Singapore, I have an even wider array of choices than the usual Western breakfast items. I've had chwee kueh (steamed rice cakes served with shallots), min jiang kueh (chinese sweet pancakes with a sugary peanut filling), chee cheong fun (penang style steamed rice rolls doused generously with a sweet black sauce), various kinds of baos (steamed breads with all sorts of filling like roasted pork, lotus paste, chicken, red bean), kaya toast (toasted crustless white bread spread with pandan flavoured coconut jam), the list is endless.

Having said that, the only better thing than having breakfast bright and early to start the day, is eating breakfast for dinner. And I did just that today. I had a typical breakfast item for dinner at Hong Kong Cafe along East Coast Road. Hong Kong Cafe has been opened since 2004 and is the first cafe to sell Hong Kong style cuisine. Lately, Hong Kong cafes have been popping up all over the island like those beavers you see in Whack-A-Beaver games at arcades. Such hype, such commercialization. I am 2 years late, but I guess its never to late to try something new. They sell the typical Hong Kong fare like thick toasts, noodles, fried rice, congees,\ and dimsum. I was there for the toast.

Apparently, what makes the toast so special is the thick sliced white bread that has been pan fried so that is is soft and fluffy on the inside with a thin crisp layer on the outside. I decided to have a chef and tv recommended item - French Toast With Peanut Butter ($3.00). I had visions of gooey peanut butter melting slowly over a thick slab of white bread with that crisp shell. What I got was two regular slices of white bread with a thin layer of peanut butter spread between them, all dipped in egg and fried so that the toast becomes a yellow square that looks almost like a block of bread crumbs. Hmm.... right, not quite what I had in mind. The taste? Just as boring and disappointing as it looks. Too much bread with too little peanut butter, slightly soggy and quite a pain to cut into bite-sized pieces. But the experience was made just that more unfulfilling when my toast came with a square of butter on the top. I a) don't take butter and b) already told them that I did not want butter. Sure, I'll put butter in my baking but I don't like the taste of it so I never have it directly (yes, I love my food. But I don't want to end up quite so rolly-polly). So... I had to wait for them to make another one for me, though credits to the waitress (all, by the way are from mainland china.. working in a supposedly authentic hong kong cafe =S) who apologized. I also had an Iced Milk Tea with Grass Jelly ($3.50) which tasted ok. I mean, its just milk tea with grass jelly. Can't really go wrong with that can you?

Overall, I did not see anything at all that seemed to convince me why this place, as well as all the other Hong Kong cafes, is so popular. I am starting to think that because of all the hype that these places are receiving, that Singaporeans do believe that this is exactly what people eat in Hong Kong. My mum is from Hong Kong, and she has never had thick toast before. However, I still do want to try their regular thick toast. I wonder if its any different. From what I have seen from orders of other tables is that the regular thick toast isn't covered in that strangely gold shell but is the regular white colour of .. well, regular white bread.

Hong Kong Cafe received 2 bowls from Makansutra but I honestly do not think it is worth those 2 bowls. Well, at least I can say I've been there, done that.