Tsing Kei Chuen | Korean Street Is Just A Hype & Myth?

Price: $$

Cravingness: ★★★☆☆

A sudden crave of Korean food, I brought my family to the renowned Korean street in Kimberly Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. I picked Tsing Kei Chuen at random. I walked in and made a reservation. The waiter who served me, seemingly a Korean, did not understand Canton so speak English when you were in the restaurant. There were also waiters who could speak Canton, so watch your luck if you don't want to speak English.

When I came back at 7.35, there were a few people queuing outside the restaurant. I was glad that I made the reservation. The restaurant is décor in simple brown and white. The restaurant is pretty small but the seating is spacious with a large rectangular BBQ tables surrounded by mostly block seating, no wonder people had to queue up outside. The ventilation system seemed functioning efficiently as I did not smell a strong scent when I stepped into the restaurant.

Originally I was not planning to have Korean BBQ but dishes, yet my parents had already ordered Set A ($400 for 2-3 ppl). We chose Beef Rib Barbeque, Ox Tongue, Mixed Seafood Pot Stewed, Spicy Fried Rice Cake and two cans of beer from the set and an additional order of Korean Pork Belly and Mix House Pancakes.

There were 11 side dishes that came right after we made our order. The kimchi was average, not particularly spicy. The colour was lightly red, seemingly not fermented enough. The bean sprouts were fresh, savory and delicious. Potatoes were sweet and soft, but not mushy. Noodles were delicious yet slightly on the soft side.

Beef Rib Barbeque/ Ox Tongue/ Squid

When the raw meat arrived, the waiter helped us to cook the meat immediately. Very nice service, but I would not mind barbequing the food myself. The Beef Rib Barbeque came with 2 large bones along with several meats. The beef were nicely seasoned and tender. The beef attached to the bones were fatter and juicier. I personally like the have the bones more. The Ox Tongue was nice but was not savory enough so saucing was essential. I did not have the squid, my dad had it all.

Spicy Fried Rice Cakes

Spicy Rice Cakes is my favourite dish at all times, but Tsing Kei Chuen’s was not something I like. The sauce was not spicy enough and was more on the sweet side. The rice cakes were chewy but some were undercooked, where part of them were soft and part of them were hard. On the other hand, the other ingredients e.g. veggies seemed to have over-stewed, which were soft and lacked of texture. My sister and I felt very disappointed at the dish. A good comment about the dish was that it came smoking hot. (Literally heaps of smoke)

Mixed Seafood Pot Stewed

The soup tasted very nice! There were lots of ingredients within the pot, several medium sized shrimps, squids, onion, peppers, tofu etc. The taste of seafood permeated the soup and was perfected by the mild spiciness. Although the portion was small, I managed to squeeze two small bowls out of the pot. Delicious!

Mixed House Pancakes $180

Upon ordering, the waiter told me the preparation time of the dish was 30 minutes. As I ordered the dish right at the start of the dinner, I did not really mind waiting. The whole reason I ordered the house pancakes was because I was indifference between their ranges of flavour available on the menu. So I picked the most expensive one as it seemed to have included everything. When the pancakes arrived, I was in shock. First the plate was huge. Secondly the pancakes were not pancakes at all, but were lots of assorted fried food and a few pieces of kimchi pancakes at the side. No wonder it was called the mixed house pancakes.

All of the elements on the dish were meticulously prepared, and I love the colour combination. Most of the pieces were fried food like 煎饟三寶 which were topped with fish paste. I particularly love the green pepper. The green pepper was fat, very fresh with lots of juice, soft centered but crispy at the skin and was a great pair with the fish paste. Despite the green pepper, mushroom and the shrimp, it was difficult to tell what the food is by its outlook. The dish was generally good and definitely worth trying out.

To conclude, I think Tsing Kei Chuen has adapted too much local adaptation. Saying that, I mean the dishes they provide were not totally a genuine Korean taste, as most were not spicy at all. If you go to Korea and visit any store in random, I could assure you whatever you order it would be hell spicy(but nice).

Furthermore, I was not satisfied with the sauces too. Most of the sauces tasted like they were diluted, from soy sauce, salt mixture (for pork belly) to the soya paste that came along with the lettuce. I felt most discontented with the soya paste, it was extremely diluted which did not give a paste texture anymore, not to mention it was not savory enough. I understand this street is renowned for Korea food but I wonder whether the food quality were up to the hype and myth.

Tsing Kei Chuen Korean Restaurant 清溪川韓國食堂

Address (E) Shop 1&B, 1J Kimbery Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Address (C) 香港尖沙咀金巴利街1號JA&B舖
☏ 2367-8895
Reservation Available? Yes
Walk In Possible? Yes

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