Xin Wang Hong Kong Cafe
Address: 907 East Coast Road, Springvale #01-03A, Singapore
Tel: +65 6441 8802
I lament the fact that the Singapore restaurant scene is dominated by pervasive copying of ideas and fads. We have the bubble tea craze…the Crystal Jade restaurant concept becoming the default eatery setup…the Hong Kong cafe boom…and the Sarawak Kolo Mee follow-up. I would say that this is due to the green eyed nature of the Singaporean business man having seen the success of the original, now trying their hand to grab a piece of the supposedly lucrative pie. What happens is soulless and frankly bad replicas.
I would say Xin Wang Hong Kong Cafe has a lot of catching up to do in the cafe scene.
The decor was pretty standard. In fact, it reminded me more of a fast food chain than a cafe.
The Iced Ying Yang Beverage (S$2.90) to start. Basically, we were paying about an extra S$1.90 for someone to mix equal portions of tea and coffee together. Yup…that is commercialism at its highest form.
The Har Gow or Prawn Dumpling (S$2.50) might as well be bought from a normal hawker. It was definitely not “Hong Kong” quality.
The Century Egg Congee (S$6.90) that my friend had. I suspect that the dish was HongKong-nised by having it named as congee instead of porridge.
I did not know that Char Siew Mee Sua (S$6.90) was a Hong Kong staple. I got a certain feeling that they were being quite creative in fixing up their menu. In addition, the waitress had original presented a dry version of the dish to my friend, Sky. After his complain that he had ordered the soupy version, the waitress made a trip back to the kitchen and magically appeared with his correct order - although it must be said that the ingredients in the soupy version looked very familiar.
I had eschewed the chinese dishes and decided to go for a more western approach for my dinner. Baked Spaghetti with Pork Chop (S$8.90) and Borsch Soup (S$2.90). The spaghetti was rather bland and pretty unremarkable.
And don’t get me started on the Borsche Soup. A lot of liberty must be taken for anyone to think that it was not minestrone soup in disguise. I must applaud their sense of innovation in this area.
At least the French Toast (S$3.90) looks decent. Oodles of sinful butter topping the sweet bread. That much unhealthy oil did translate into quite a good eat.
I will try to avoid Hong Kong cafes going forward….give me something original please.
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May 5th, 2007 20:51
Hi everyone …
Went to the Xing Wang at Marina Square last evening around 1.00am. Good thing is that it’s open 24 hours on Fri, Sat and Sun. Plus if you do drive, there’s ample parking next to the makan place.
Thing is, I’ve read about this place and realise that the servers (proven esp after last night) do not know the item by name, but know them by number! Not that it is a sin, but in my opinion, if I’m serving 1706 instead of knowing that I’m serving, say, a baked rice, my question is, does this create disconnection between the server (and therefore service) and the food??
This brings me nicely to my comment about the only 2 things we ordered. The Luncheon Meat and Egg sandwich was a disaster. The bread is the mega thick kind that cheap coffeeshop use for their toast (is about 2 cm thick, each, so that’s 4 cm of bread).
Then, the luncheon meat is 1 cm think, plus a super thin omelette. So, in proportion, you are eating 2/3 of bread when you look from the side *slap forehead*
I ordered another mistake. The papaya with almond was a hot dessert I thought might be better than a plain almond drink. First, the whole dessert was served out of half a papaya, and they digged a star-shaped hole in the middle to pour in the almond drink. Thought was quite nice… until I ate it.
The papaya was not sweet in taste at all, plus it was overcooked, so the whole dessert was held up by the almond drink. So, looking at it, I might have been better with just the almond drink …
Anyways, really, think I’m going there if I need a 24 hours town area hangout, but I will order a coke and no food. … can’t go wrong with coke right?
May 11th, 2007 14:26
actually…u can go wrong with coke. Not on the taste but on the sugar intake. With age and realisation that no matter how hard one exercises the belly is here to stay, I have painfully cut down on my coke intake…sigh
why must we make life so complicated..
May 11th, 2007 23:38
…heh heh …. diet coke??? (juz kidding …)
In any case, I guess moderation is the key … or else, we foodies end up not eating a lot of things leh … imagine Hokkien Mee without lard, Char Kway Tiao without hum, Laksa without coconut milk … … *shiver* …
Anycase, that’s the last last time I’m going there actually … Falls into the same category as Kim Gary (Vivo) and Central (Ngee Ann City) … ….
July 11th, 2007 00:36
u can try Crystal Jade Macau Cafe in Bugis Junction (opp food court)
July 31st, 2007 19:01
lol,this is great
July 31st, 2007 19:02
ya crystal jade is a good place for makan