Central Hong Kong Cafe

Frequent to Vivocity for my dinner, I discovered a pretty great Hong Kong style Restaurant – Central Cafe. The place was lively and crowded during evening, rather bustling pleasant. Authentic look and bright décor, old-style Hong Kong artist’s photos were visible on wall. Took a glance of their Menu, food was followed by photo. Hardly grabbed staff attention, it was obviously short-handed. The cup was uniquely adorable, Milk Tea served warm and creamy. Just a simple drink, taste was slightly sweet then bitter afterwards. Silky smooth, it gradually developed an intense tea aroma. Frankly speaking, I was quite disappointed for my order. Tasted like instant noodles, diluted soup was given. Added in pork meat, sausage, chicken wing and veggies, texture was too mushy. As if putting in all unrelated ingredients into one bowl, I was struggled to finish up the noodles. Savouriness was okay and nothing to complain about, but sad for noodles, maybe I preferred something bouncy flavoursome meal. Service charge and GST applied, pricing was slightly overpriced.…Read More

Though a little pricey, I still occasionally purchase some items from Central's takeway counter for my tea break as I love how the ingredients have soaked up all the soup and flavours after being simmered in it for so long.The takeaway counter is located near the entrance of the restaurant, and you can see sticks and sticks of different ingredients simmering in the soup (original/mala). My favourites are the radish, and pig skin. Radish and pig skin are known to really absorb the flavours of whatever soup/gravy they are immersed in, just like a sponge! Hence I love how each time I bite into the radish and pig skin the soup will ooze out This time I also tried their sotong ball, which turned out to be average. They also have quite a number of sauces for you to mix in but I've never tried them as it's good and flavourful enough without any sauce. …Read More

Stepped into Vivo's Central Cafe for a quicky lunch after spotting its quirky vintage exterior. Serving up simple cheap Hong Kong food fare, we enjoyed our visit as each item ordered delighted our tastebuds.Wanton Mee was soft and springy with ample seasoning and wantons provided. They didnt scrimp on the food despite the low prices so that is a huge plus point.Crispy duck rice wasnt too bad 2 eggs atop a bed of rice and a sprinkling of other ingredients.Well flavoured, this was a simple bowl of maggi notes with spiced pork cube and vegetables. Confort food which we kept teasing our colleague to pass us money to help her cook Maggi MeeNot a favourite Dan Fan Mian, this version was more soupy than peanut version which I like. The soup is soft and springy which makes it easily for slurpng it down. I wouldnt called this dan dan mian, instead Minced Meat Noodle soup will be more apt!Soft and packed with ample pork floss, this is a yummy starter before the meal.The thing I love most in this trip, is the Ying Yang which came in an old school design cup! Keep grabbing shots of it still my colleague want to whack me. Taste wise it is ok, but it would be better if it could be thicker.***VERDICTWith their cheap prices and yummy simple food, this is place where I foresee myself heading back to at least twice this year. Definitely worth a visit when you are down and about at Vivocity!…Read More

Living opposite vivocity, I often walked past Central at the basement because it is just opposite Giant the Supermarket. After having eaten at Hongkong cafes a couple of times, I know that you can get cheap and filling food, but no quality. Variety… maybe. Its more a marketing concept targted towards youngsters who wanna dine in a restaurant I guess. Anyway my bf wanted to try for once at last so here we are on a weeknight.I often saw people taking away these skewer things much like the ingredients of yong tau foo with szechuan spicy gravy so i had that on the side. It looked good and tasted very very spicy but as it was already 8 plus there were limited types of skewers left. Nevertheless they were good and I would most likely come to take away here some time!I chose a ngoh hiang kind of thing, a fish cake and the chinese radish. Actually the latter was the best! Its the cheapest item but it was definitely cooked for very long so it was soft and absorbed the full flavour of the szechuan soup. They also came served in 4 types of sauce- the brown is a sesame peanutty kind, the 2 red are spicy/sweet spicy and the white one is a horseradish one which taste a little like a milder wasabi. I liked the peanutty the best!The prawn dumpling soup is one of the better ones I had tasted in a HK cafe. They were huge and only came at $7 a bowl. Much bettet than the $6 one at the Food Republic on level 3. =P They each had like 2 prawns in each one! Soup was also very flavourful as well. The only bad thing is the skin is a little thick, but a great dish if you are hungry yet want something healthy.Angmokia didnt eat lunch that day so he loaded up on the Pork chop baked rice. It was also much better than Kim Gary… more flavour, pork chop was tasty on its own.. look how sinfully cheesy it is!And for fun we order the fried fish skin for appetisers.. these were alright.. but tasted a little like out of a packet.. not fresh like the ones at bosses.. but overall, not too bad as a snack. We were sorely disappointed they had no dimsum though… not even the most basic siewmai and hargow! Oh well, I guess we cant ask for too much since they already surpass our expectations in terms of quality..…Read More

I have patronised this restaurant for many times and every time we choose to have our dinner here is because of convenience and is not very crowded. And of course, the price is considered quite reasonable.They renovated the restaurant and now compared to the previous look, more Hong Kong style restaurant type of ambience. They play Cantonese songs too. Everything looks so retro. Their wall and floor tiles, decorations and even their chopsticks holder.Takeaway CounterYou can choose to dine in for more variety of food in their menu or there is a takeaway counter where you can grab a bite from a limited selection of fishballs, beancurd skin, pork meat balls and so on. And if you are dining in, you can also pick your choice from the counter and they will serve up to you. We picked a stick of fishball, porkmeat ball and beancurd skin each. The sauce plate contains 4 different types of sauce for you to mix with your food. Chilli, sweet sauce and so on. Price is about $5 for 3 sticks. You can choose any one of the sticks, I guess. This choice of sides is still okay if you are just grab a quick bite. The taste is quite average. I probably think that they should use those steamboat type of fishballs rather than the fried type. The soup base be it curry or some others, it can absorb the taste better.DrinksI ordered a YinYang Pearl Tea ($2.80) for myself and a hot Ginger Milk Tea ($2.00) for my boyfriend. Actually both the taste are so-so. Nothing to pick on. But I was so into their cup and not their drinks. It is so cute and makes me wonder where I can get them. Snap quite a few shots of their cup.Crispy Duck Meat Rice $6.90My boyfriend had this and it worsen his mood. The rice is below the egg. Sunny side-up with a light soya sauce on top, a typical food which we can cook at home. Initially I thought is some fried rice but actually is not. Just plain white rice. The duck meat and vegetables are not fresh. The duck meat are harden, taste like those leftover from yesterday. And the looks of those vegetables simply turn you off. The only thing that is fresh will be the sunny sideup and luncheon meat, which of course must be cooked on the spot. Definitely not recommending this.Sichuan DanDan Noodles $5.00I had Sichuan Dan Dan Noodles and when they serve up this noodles, first thing that comes to my mind is why the soup so diluted and not red enough? My impression of Sichuan food is spicy and so the soup base should be like red hot chilli in colour. So disappointed. There are only strips of cucumbers and minced meat. And yes the taste is spicy but I don't know why the noodles taste bland. The noodles used should be those for ramen. But really for one thing, the noodles did not absorb that soup taste. Not enough at all. The taste is so separate. Totally nothing to rave about. I'm not gonna recommend this too.The final bill is $19.66 which is reasonable. However after so many times of patronising this restaurant, the food taste never change or I should say no improvement. Only the restaurant look improved. Maybe it depends on individual because you still see customers flowing in on and off. Had tried some others in their menu previously. Still average taste but I guess this time round, our picks worsen the impression we had for their food. Maybe if you are not picky, go for the simple Noodles with luncheon meat and sunny side-up. Yes we can cook that at home too but if you are lazy and want something light, can choose that. At least it meets my very minimum expectation on noodles. For full review and more photos, please visit http://mingmingisstella.blogspot.com/2013/07/food-review-central-restaurant-at.html…Read More

Almond Milk Tea – Hot ($2.50) : Oh the almond powder is one big lump at the bottom of cup. Even after I dissolved the lump, not much of a almond taste in the drink.Freshly Squeezed Cucumber and Lime juice Drink ($2.50) : refreshingFried Spare Rib in Dan Dan Sauce Noodles – Soup ($8.00) : A bit spicy but nice. Bowl very small.Central Trishaw Noodles – Soup ($6.00) : Wanton-style noodles with pig skin, hotdog, hard boiled egg and white radish.…Read More

Decided to try this place on a whim, as prices on the menu still seemed quite affordable. We tried two dishes off their signature noodles menu. I must say, they were surprisingly good. - Central trishaw noodles (中环车仔面)There were quite a few mixed ingredients for the trishaw noodles. The curry fishball was quite good, the curry flavor managed to permeate inside - quite spicy and tasty. The two pieces of white radish were boiled till soft, sweet and flavorful. The soya-sauce marinated chicken wing was good as well, the marinade got into the meat. As for the fried pig skin, it was also cooked soft and went well with the dish. The soup base is flavorful and with added spice to it - I suspect they added a bit of the curry sauce used for making the curry fish ball. But the soup probably had MSG added inside, so I did not dare to drink too much of the soup, even though it was really tasty. The noodles were very springy ("QQ") but i wished they gave more as the portion is a bit too small even for a lady.- Golden mushroom beef noodlesThe soup base is similar to the central trishaw noodles but without the spiciness in it. There were generous amounts of thinly sliced tender beef. Sliced preserved vegetables were also added inside. The same springy noodles were used in this dish as well. Generally a good dish, especially if you like beef.- Signature noodles menuMight come back again for a casual, affordable meal.…Read More

I liked the Ma La (麻辣) flavoured fishballs very much. The price is $2 per stick and 3 for $5. If you choose to dine-in, you have to paid an additional 10% for service charge. Well, I decided to dine-in today because I wanted to have something else other than the sticks (串串). I ordered three sticks, fishball, beancurd skin and prawn balls.There were three different types of sauce to go with this, chilli, mustard and sesame. I loved the chilli sauce. The mixture of the three was very good as well.In addition, I ordered this Hong Kong French toast ($4) with Yuan-yang (tea plus coffee) ($2). The toast was good especially when you eat it hot. Highly recomended.…Read More

Our first time eating at this restaurant and frankly I was attracted to it when I saw the front counter was serving all assortment of food from fishball to radish dipped in this red spicy looking sauce. I ordered some to dine in along with the other orders, the chicken cutlet noodle and seafood noodle. All tasted nice but the spicy dish of food was a real winner to me, the radish was well cooked and absorbed the sauce well and quite spicy but really brought a burning sensation down to my throat and just loved it!…Read More

have been craving for curry fishball for a very long time since it is one of my favourite snack in hk. that day was walking around with my boyfriend at vivo and i saw curry fish ball means must try! when i smell the curry i knew it wont taste as nice as what i ate in hk but when i tried the fish ball i think it was slightly better than what i imagined. i think the main problem comes from the huge fish ball which is very different from the hk style. the store also sell other snacks which makes it look like an oden store. so next time i will probably try other snacks but not the curry fish ball…Read More

my girlfriend was craving for curry fishball so we happened to pass by Central which sell curry fishball so we bought one stick to try. it was not as nice as i expected it to be. i can taste the curry but i think the fishballs did not soak in the curry for long enough time so the meat inside still taste quite blend. there are other fish cake snacks available which i might consider trying next time…Read More

First visit at this Central restaurant in Vivocity. Firstly, the service wasn't really up to standard. Probably not local due to her accent. Don't really like her ATTITUDE! Food wise was just average. Perhaps food court ones are nicer! Hate the noodle, there's this kind of yellow noodle smell which is too strong! Beef was soft but had a little smell. Not really fresh. I only took interest in the bowl as you can see from my uploaded photo, it's attached together with the soup portion. How cool! …Read More

Thin slices of cold tofu with pork floss in between each layer. Sweet and cold combinations. Tofu is not silky smooth and the pork floss are all wet, soggy and lumpy. Too expensive for this kind of dish. If you are someone who prefers sweet dishes, this should be suitable for you. I personally do not like it. It's somthing new to test out though. Seriously no harm trying but once tried, i don't think i'll ever crave for it !There's housefly zooming around the place. So, is it hygienically clean? NO!!!!…Read More

love durian so much that u want to eat it with everything. u are in luck, central offers a fusion of hong kong and singapore food. they have durian fried rice, a little weird but i dare not try it. i guess it was for those very adventurous in eating.i tried their lok lok, or chuan chuan, it is cooked in hot water then drizzled with gravy. yummy!i love their fried calamari! coated in delicious batter, it is fried till golden brown, the sotong was really huge and crunchy! they have this special chilli sauce on all of their table, the chilli sauce is sweetish and spicy at the same time, a little oily though, but it really went well with the calamari.i also tried their toufu with pork floss, didnt expect it to be cold, but it tasted very refreshing. the gravy poured on it was salty, while the pork floss gave it a sweetish taste. it would have been better if it was hot. but nevertheless, maybe they wanna give customer the refreshing feel.for service wise, the uncle was very friendly, he tried to make small talks with us, that made us feel quite comfortable.but price wise, a little pricey...…Read More