Review | New Hong Kong restaurant review: Woo Cheong Tea House – stewed chicken in clay pot at Wan Chai spot was perfect, but skip the egg tarts
- Almost everything we tried at the new Cantonese restaurant, which takes the place of The Pawn in Wan Chai, was good, save for the too-sweet Bailey’s egg tarts
- Don’t expect to be able to read the menu if you go at night, but do get the stewed chicken in clay pot with abalone, ginger and spring onions
We had one major complaint about Woo Cheong Tea House, the new Cantonese restaurant by the Classified Group, which takes the place of The Pawn in Wan Chai on Hong Kong Island – the menu.
Whoever thought it was a good idea to have a small, thin, sans-serif font in red printed on pink paper was wrong, wrong, wrong.
It might work during the day, but at night – with the restaurant’s dim lighting – it was very difficult to make out. I had to read the entire menu out loud to my guests, who couldn’t see it at all.
We visited on the first day the restaurant was open to the public, and had a friendly, enthusiastic waitress who, when we asked for recommendations, said all of the dishes were good. We were inclined to take that with a grain of salt, but from what we tasted, she was correct.
Sadly, we couldn’t have the Woo Cheong premium barbecue pork because it needed 24 hours advance notice, but we were happy enough with the honey-glazed barbecued pork (HK$288 [US$37]), which was succulent, thickly sliced and had a nice amount of char.
The deep-fried crispy tofu (HK$98) was very well done, with a delicate coating around the soft bean curd. The pan-fried soy prawns (HK$328) were large and juicy, with a bouncy texture.