I was invited to Honolulu HK Cafe a few weeks after they opened their first branch in SM Aura, around the end of February. I was also going to Hong Kong a few days later, so I thought that I would check out the original, too.
HONOLULU COFFEE SHOP Hong Kong (Wan Chai Branch)
On our way back from an early dinner at Kam’s Roast Goose in Wan Chai, we walked to Honolulu HK Cafe, which was on the same street (Hennessy Road). We always walk past it on the way to Kam’s after getting out at the Wan Chai MTR station Exit A4 – I remembering noticing that the bakery takeout section was popular with the locals and the breads are almost sold out every time. The bakery doesn’t look like much — it literally looks like a neighborhood panaderia here in Manila in the 1980s 😀
Honolulu Coffee Shop was opened in the 1940s and is considered the oldest and original cha chaan teng in Hong Kong. They were first popular for their drinks, but now they are known for their egg tarts.
So on this trip, I made it a point to check out the original Honolulu Cafe. This is what it looks like inside:
We weren’t able to try the short order food. The place looks relatively clean, but it’s such a throwback to eras gone by. I don’t think I’ve seen any restaurants like this since those 80’s Hong Kong martial arts movies 😀 We decided to have some coffee / tea and a few of the pastries that weren’t sold out.
HONOLULU HK CAFE SM AURA (lower ground floor, beside BDO)
I went back to the SM Aura branch of Honolulu Cafe last week and I’m glad that I gave it another try. It’s now my favorite place to get Hong Kong-style cha chaan teng food! We even went back the next day to have dinner there.
To order, just fill up this slip:
I was able to try many dishes during my visits to Honolulu HK Cafe, but here are some that I liked:
Egg Tart!
Honolulu HK Cafe’s Egg Tart (P50) is the quintessential Hong Kong-style egg tart! There are two rival egg tart bakeries in Hong Kong – Tai Cheong Bakery and Honolulu Coffee Shop.
I tried Tai Cheong’s egg tart a few years ago and remember being underwhelmed. I was expecting a flaky crust, but it was a shortbread crust. I remember thinking “this is it?”.
I wasn’t able to try Honolulu’s egg tart in HK because they were sold out when we went there, but the Honolulu Cafe at SM Aura still makes a much better egg tart than Tai Cheong’s, in my opinion! I wasn’t impressed on my first visit back in Feb, but the egg tart I had last week was really good! The crust was very flaky and tender, yet not soggy. The filling was soft, egg-y but not too sweet.
Hong Kong-style egg tart is different from Portuguese-style egg tart – HK-style has a flaky pie crust usually made with lard or shortening, with an egg-y filling; Portuguese egg tart usually has a crust made with butter, similar to a puff pastry, and a creamier filling.
Beef Curry
The food at Honolulu HK Cafe SM Aura has improved a lot since Feb! I highly recommend their Hong Kong Curry in Casserole (Beef Brisket, P328) – this was a more generous serving than similar HK style beef curries from other restaurants that cost around P500!
The Beef Curry pictures below are taken with my phone during my last visit. I don’t know why it’s showing up orange, but it’s actually still yellow.
Honolulu HK Cafe’s Beef Curry has just the right amount of curry and spice, and it’s very thick and creamy (I deduced that they use coconut cream). Chili oil is drizzled on top. The flavor is balanced.
We nearly fought over the sauce! I was doing death stares watching J getting more spoonfuls of sauce and worried that there won’t be enough left for me 😀 The curry sauce was that good and great with rice. I asked if we could get extra sauce and thank goodness, they gave us extra curry sauce. Fight averted! 😀
I noticed that the beef brisket was boiled separately from the curry sauce. I know it’s a common food prep method at restaurants, so I don’t really mind it. The curry sauce was really good and makes up for it.
Curry Fishballs
The aroma when we got our order of Curry Fishballs hit me with memories of walking the Mong Kok night market. It’s just fish balls in a curry broth, but it is a staple street food of Hong Kong and almost every street food kiosk along the night market has it boiling away, tempting shoppers with the curry fragrance wafting in the night market air. Honolulu HK Cafe’s Curry Fishballs (P198) gets the smell right, although I wish the curry sauce coated the fish balls more to turn them yellow, too!
Bo Lo BBQ Pork Bun
Bo Lo Bun literally translates to “pineapple bun”, but it’s only called a pineapple bun because of its crackly top. It is very similar to the Japanese melon pan. Honolulu HK Cafe’s Bo Lo BBQ Pork Bun (P60) has Chinese pork bbq filling (asado) encased in a sweet, crumbly bread that isn’t too thick relative to its size. This is better than asado siopao! I like this better than Tim Ho Wan’s version, whose “bread” has been getting thicker lately.
Try to order it when it’s freshly baked!
Deep Fried Prawn with Salted Egg Yolk (P488)
Juicy, springy shrimp that’s coated in salted egg yolk batter and fried. Also pretty good but best for sharing! By my third shrimp, it was getting too heavy (nakakaumay), even though it was really delicious.
Baked Chicken Rice in Portuguese Style (P278)
This is Hong Kong-style boneless fried chicken (no breading) on a bed of egg fried rice, and then the whole thing is generously covered in the same curry sauce as the Beef Curry, and then it is further blanketed by melted mozzarella! It is baked and the sauce / cheese was still bubbly when served.
You get egg fried rice, you get boneless fried chicken, you get the delicious curry sauce, AND melted mozzarella. If you still want the curry sauce but are staying away from beef, try this instead 🙂 My order had boneless chicken thigh, which fortunately, is my preference, but I am not sure if they also use other cuts of chicken.
Notes to self:
I keep forgetting that I don’t like the pork chop baked rice because I prefer the pork chop thicker and battered, and yet I ordered it on two visits because the picture on the menu looked so tempting. Try something else, Karen! 😀
Next time, I want to try their Sweet & Sours and the Chicken in Orange Sauce. I am also curious about their Claypot Rice – claypot rice (煲仔飯) is another night market staple that takes years of experience to make perfectly.
SUMMARY
If you miss Hong Kong-style cha chaan teng food, Honolulu HK Cafe is the place to go! I love the ambience at their SM Aura branch – it is clean and bustling, but still evokes the decor of old Hong Kong, especially with those square tiles! Prices are also affordable compared to HK prices.
Must-orders for me are:
- Beef Curry
- Egg Tart
- Pork BBQ Bo Lo Bun
I look forward to trying other dishes next time!
Honolulu HK Cafe
Lower Ground Floor, SM Aura Premier, C5 Road Corner 26th Street, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/honoluluhkcafeph/
