Hai Kee Teochew Cha Kuay Teow – Literally a One-Man “Show”

Telok Blangah Crescent Food Centre gets really quiet and dead after 3pm since most stalls only operate in the day, but not this particular row where Hai Kee Teochew Cha Kuay Teow sits. Hai Kee moved here more than 5 years ago, from Margaret Drive Hawker Centre, which Hai Kee called home for more than 4 decades.

With more than 50 years of experience, Loh Kwee Leng performs a one-man show, one plate at a time. And I really mean one plate at a time — even if the order is 5 same plates of cha kway teow. Loh skilfully whips up each plate, breaking each egg with a metal spatula before opening the cracked egg with just his left hand.

The 2 rows of tables in front of the stall are never occupied. It’s as though there is an unspoken rule that those who are queuing between these 2 rows get to sit facing away from the tables while waiting. An elderly man started queuing behind the first few standing patrons, thinking that that’s where the queue ends. Those who were sitting down became kan cheong (nervous) and started to stand up and closed the gaps (so kiasu omg). Soon, the elderly man realised the situation but was shocked to see that the end of the queue is at the opposite stall. Sheepishly, he said: “Oh, wah, so the queue is there?” I smiled and nodded.

Man, it was a super longggggg wait. The truth is Loh fries each plate in proper sequence really quickly, but somehow, the production of each plate takes at least 4 minutes. Some patrons will order takeaways of two to three packets, and that’s 12 minutes for each patron. When one batch of kuay teow mee (flat rice noodles and yellow noodles) was gone, Loh would fry the next batch, so that took up some time too. I waited at least 45 minutes for my 2 plates.

Despite the constant long queue, Loh was smiley and friendly, chatting with regulars while he continued his performance without getting distracted. When the queue got too long, Loh managed the queue by reminding his patrons to queue around the tables so as to not block other stalls. That is also probably why it’s almost impossible to occupy those rows of tables near Hai Kee as people will be standing around you watching you eat while they queue.

With only 1 price and size, Hai Kee’s Cha Kuay Teow ($4) is decent. Loh believes that cooking one plate at a time helps him to control the quality and I honestly appreciate that, but I feel that also allows for inconsistency to creep in. My first plate of noodles were mushy but not oily, and the second plate had noodles which were firmer, shinier, and slightly oilier. The wok hei was not very evident and I thought that the chilli could have been spicier.

Halfway through my meal, I was wondering “where is the lup cheong (dried Chinese pork sausage)?” I remember seeing it in the corner of the stall. I don’t really like lup cheong actually, so that was fine with me.

All in all, the overall flavour was not bad. There was additional fragrance from the crispy pork lard. Loh actually fries the pork strips daily, 3 hours before the stall opens. I also like that Loh fries his cha kuay teow with the right amount of dark sauce and eggs. The cockles were small but juicy and plump.

Before heading to Hai Kee, I was warned that Loh is usually grumpy. But Loh wasn’t at all. In fact, he was very cheerful and approachable. By the way, he scoops up lards from his condiment bowl and swings it to the wok like a kungfu-trained master chef (literally a one-man “show”). Also, Loh wipes off any grease on each plate before he passes it to his patrons. I will be back with my dad because I think people of his generation would love Loh’s cha kuay teow.

MissTamChiak.com made anonymous visit and paid its own meal at the stall featured here.

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You may also wish to check out our article on Hong Ji Mian Shi Jia, a stall that dishes out old-school wantan mee at Telok Blangah!