If you have been to Hong Kong, you would have heard about Mui Kee as it is one of the more popular store in Hong Kong selling congee since 1979. Mui Kee started out as a small corner store at Mong Kok by Mdm Mak Mui. Today Mui Kee is entirely managed by her grandson Ah Tung. Mui Kee first tested the Singapore market with a 6 month long pop up store but has finally opened a permanent restaurant at Shaw Center under the Les Amis Group.
If you drop by during weekends, there will be a super long queue starting all the way from the taxi stand entrance of Shaw Center where Nam Nam outlet is located. As the outlet sits only up to 50 patrons at any one time and congee is considered slow food, the queue will take some time. The queue immediately outside the door has chairs for customers to rest.
You can also see the entire story of Mui Kee playing on the TV while waiting for your turn. The TV is placed right outside the restaurant entrance welcoming customers.
Their heritage story is also played out in these window stickers.
The restaurant itself is small and basic with a long service counter where the cashier and the drinks counter is located. They also provide small baskets under each table for customers to place their bags due to the lack of space in the restaurant for additional chairs for placing bags.
The tables are placed pretty close to one another due to the lack of space so you are expected to finish your meal and exit instead of sitting around for chit chat. The fish collage on wall looks extremely classy and vibrant at the same time
There are other parts of the restaurant showing older Chinese decorations supporting the heritage of the brand
The menu is very extensive unlike the one in Hong Kong where only congee and some side dishes are served. They also have clay pot dishes, steamed rice rolls ( only in the day), noodles as well as some other fried vegetable dishes.
Talking about Hong Kong, everyone who has been there would know that their century egg is very famous as the center of the egg is soft and runny and extremely delicious. At Mui Kee, you can also order a plate of the century eggs to either add on to your congee or eat on its own with the pickled ginger provided
One of the more popular side dish is the cold drunken chicken which is served cold with a tinge of Chinese wine. The chicken is quite tender but I find that it is too cold for my liking. I get that it is a cold side dish but it felt like it came right out of the fridge.
I ordered the raw fish as we can no longer find this is Singapore where raw fish used to be a staple for congee for Cantonese. The fish served here is amberjack which is more like the Japanese sashimi grade of fish and is also sliced quite thickly unlike the traditional Cantonese raw fish. I liked that the traditional seasoning of soy sauce, sesame oil and lime is used with lots of ginger and spring onions but the texture of the fish just didn’t feel right although it is a nice dish.
They have the normal range of congee with up to 9 flavours and also the premium range which has crabs, scallops, abalone flavours to choose. They are generous when it comes to the ingredients in the congee and the consistency of the congee is really smooth without any grains. The ingredients where also fresh, juicy and perfectly cooked. The only downside is that I found the congee too bland and had to add soy sauce for taste. The congee also turn watery pretty fast throughout the meal which is not a good standard for congee.
Overall, I think it is a place that will sit well with the elders as they serve traditional Cantonese street food with a lighter taste for people who do not have heavy palates. Perhaps the clay pot dishes will be better in flavours and the rice rolls which we did not get to try.
Address: 1 Scotts Rd, #01-12 Shaw Centre, Singapore 228208
Operating hours: 11.30 am to 2.30 pm and 6pm to 9.30 pm ( full day operation for Sat and Sun)
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