Old Hong Kong Kitchen at Novena Square 2

This is one of those places that I have resisted writing about for a long time: It's really good and reasonable, a few people know about it already, and it's a place that you hope no one else gets to know about because it's crowded enough and we already have enough people to fight with for a table. We discovered Old Hongkong Kitchen while strolling through the mall, and like every good Singaporean, we pay attention when we see long queues because it usually means the place is cheap, good, or both.

We've been going to Old Hongkong Kitchen for about a year since discovering it, and the food has been consistently good. The only problem I have is with the parking - I'm not sure that the ramp at Novena Square complies with our BCA requirements to have a minimum turning radius, and I don't really like parking at Square 2.

Back to the food. They serve a pre-meal appetiser ($0.50) that either consists of braised peanuts or a mixture of tou kwa, ikan billis and black bean. I think the peanuts are better.

Pork with Preserved Egg Congee ($6.20). We always order the porridge as a staple item, and it's easily as good as the ones at Crystal Jade or any other Hong Kong restaurant. The portion is decently-sized, the porridge smooth and the servings of pork and century egg are also fairly generous.

Steamed Shrimp Dumpling ($4.20). Good quality har gow here - the skin is firm yet soft, ie. it holds together and doesn't fall apart when you pick it up, and yet it's not too tough and chewy. The prawns they use are fresh and flavourful, in fairly large solid pieces.

Steamed Flour Roll with BBQ pork ($3.80). One of my favourite cheong funs in town - the flour roll bit is really nice and soft, and it comes steaming hot. Plus the soy sauce isn't too salty.

Deep Fried Yam Dumpling ($3.20). Crispy on the outside, and soft on the inside. The filling was pretty tasty, and the wu kok wasn't oily. They must have taken the time to drain the oil off properly before serving.

Shanghai Meat Dumpling ($3.20). The acid test for xiaolongbao is whether the skin breaks or not...and all 3 passed! It was decent, although this may not be the best xiaolongbao in town. But no complaints.

Steamed Shrimp and Pork Dumpling ($4.20). Difficult to comment since I'm not a big siew mai fan, but the shrimp, like in the har gau, was really fresh and came in solid pieces.

Steamed Glutinous Rice wrapped in Lotus Leaf ($3.80). It came steaming hot, and had a wonderful soft chewy texture. They also include a bit of minced lap cheong, minced pork and salted egg yolk.

Steamed Carrot Cake with Conpoy ($3.20). The lor bak gou comes steamed with dried shrimp, lap cheong and mushroom, and is extremely tasty. You can still see solid shreds of the white carrot, and the texture is better than those super-mashed up ones.

Steamed Barbeque Pork Bun ($3.20). Fairly standard item which we enjoyed, and came steaming hot.

Steamed Mushroom Dumpling ($3.80). I thought it tasted a bit strange, and it wasn't particularly exciting. The skin had a good soft texture, but the mushroom filling was a bit confusing, probably because there wasn't enough dried mushroom.

Barbeque Pork Puff Pastry ($3.20). Reasonable, but I think the Plume version in Doncaster can't be beat!

Mini Egg Tarts ($2.80). They used to have a bigger version and we were sad to see that they've now downsized to the mini version. This means too little egg, too much pastry. The larger ones were absolutely divine...smooth and sweet egg filling with flaky pastry, while the small ones taste just as good, but the proportions are not quite right.

The service is usually pretty good, and the food arrives fast coming straight out of the kitchen, ie. they don't let it sit around on a bench leaving it to get cold before bringing it to the table. Staff are attentive and the tea is topped up frequently as well. Best of all, the meal usually costs us about $50 for 2 people, inclusive of tea, which we feel is extremely reasonable given that we are absolutely stuffed and happy by the time we tackle the egg tarts.

Reservations are essential for Sat and Sun brunch/lunch, but don't actually guarantee that you manage to get your table at that stipulated time.

Old Hongkong Kitchen
10 Sinaran Drive #02-76/91
Novena Square 2
Tel: 63977023Open 7 days a week, 10.30am-11pm.