Hey Kee Hong Kong Seafood | Dai Pai Dong Experience in Singapore
HEY KEE adds to the Singapore food scene an experience right out of Hong Kong dramas – the dai pai dong (大排档) experience. These open-air food stalls used to dot the streets and alleys of Hong Kong and are becoming increasingly rare. Occupying the space at the former Singapore Badminton Hall, HEY KEE serves up comfort food made from fresh seafood.
The interior design boasts vibrant aesthetics – from the vivid red chairs to green banquet tables and the vintage posters of renowned celebrities adoring the walls. The little details are bound to bring back memories from the 80s/ 90s era. For those waiting in line, there is a retro-styled bus stop created for you to sit and wait, or to take photos! Onto the food, HEY KEE is huge on flavours. We had a few of their signature dishes, starting with the “Typhoon Shelter” Style Stir Fried Crab ($98 per kg). Crabs are stir-fried over high heat with garlic, scallions, chilli peppers and fermented black beans. Those crispy bits go well with rice (or porridge, which was what we had). Don’t underestimate this Signature Claypot Seafood Porridge (price according to seafood choice) – it is cooked with a similar chicken soup base, with fresh seafood of your choice. You can handpick your favourite seafood straight from the live tanks to craft your own bowl. We saw that many of the older diners ordered this during our visit. A quintessential dai pai dong dong is the Pan Fried Beef Tenderloin Cubes with Potatoes ($36.80). Tenderloin beef cubes are tossed with house-made black pepper sauce and potatoes and served on a hot plate. A dish that we recommend is the sizzling kai lan with dried prawns in claypot ($23.80). This is not your usual greens – it is kai lan with packed full of flavour and wok hei. When served, it truly sizzles in the claypot, hence the name.The deep fried cuttlefish with salt and pepper is addictive, a contrast between the crispy batter and the chewy interior.The star of the meal has to be the Steamed Soon Hock with Chopped Yellow Chilli ($9 per 100g). The fish is so tender and those chopped yellow chilli – they pack a fiery punch! My tolerance for spice is not that high but I find myself reaching out for more of the chopped yellow chilli to go with the fish because it lends fragrance to the dish apart from just the spice itself.
Hey Kee is definitely worth a visit and to sweeten things, there is no service charge on the bills here.
