Hua Zhu Restaurant

Recommended by an expat friend and decided to give it a try, but it turned out to be my worst decision ever. Tucked in a neighborhood estate at Queen's street, it was mostly occupied by expats on a Sunday evening.

Food & Pricing

Food was mediocre and did not justify the exorbitant prices . Their signature prawns cost $34 for merely 10 small prawns (not fresh even though they proclaimed that they use fresh and not frozen prawns) that were soaked in sauce that was forgettable. Vegetables, pork ribs and tofu cost about $20 each for a medium sized portion, which was fairly reasonable but of very average quality, likewise for sea bass which costs $50.

They should also have been more transparent with their 'miscellaneous' charges. Peanuts cost $3 per tiny plate, and there were 4 plates on the table when we sat down (i.e. $12). Wet towels cost $1.50 each. Thus, we paid an additional $24 for the 8 of us for things that we didn't request for nor need.

Service

Took 45 mins for the first dish to arrive after we made our order, this even though the restaurant was only half full. Service was really slow and rude, and the chilli sauce that we asked for never came until prompted several times. We ordered fried fish but after an hour or so, we were informed that the kitchen made a mistake and steamed the fish instead, and was recommended that we take the steamed fish instead. Given our overall experience, this error by the kitchen staff could be considered relatively minor.

Others

We were also erroneously charged for the soup, and unfortunately we only discovered this when we returned home. We had ordered and were served the fish maw with chicken soup, which was supposed to cost $30, but realised that they had charged $42 instead, which was the price of fish maw in crab meat.

Overall, this was really a bad dining experience for my family. Expats or tourists who are unfamiliar with but keen to try Chinese cuisine, please take my advice that you can have food that is much better at half the price elsewhere. Ask any local and I'm sure they can provide some recommendations. It amuses me too that the latest newspaper commentary on this restaurant was in 1988. If you like the quiet neighborhood ambiance, try something else in the area. I am writing this because no one should be paying such exorbitant prices only to get a false impression of good local food.