Hay Hay Kitchen

After a few hours of one pint curls and fending off prostitutes in Wan Chai, I was looking for a late night bite.
Enter Hay Hay. Well lit, English menus, and tons of other night owls chowing down on the chow. It was 2 AM, and you would have never guessed it with how full this place was.
I had the roast pork and rice with a little bit of green vegetable. Good eats at this time of the morning for less than 10 bucks. Considering the fact that a beer costs that much, good bargain. Ahhh… happy ending!

I used to come here almost every other night since my friends and I often had late night munchies and were living just a few streets away at the time. Located on a corner on the infamous Lockhart Road and open late, Hay Hay is a convenient place to stuff yourself after having a few too many pints at the pub.
Ordering at Hay Hay can be odd for foreigners — they provide menus, but when typically ordering a siu mei plate, you state the meats you want and whether you want rice or noodles. For example: «roast pork and roast duck rice».
Unfortunately, I have to say Hay Hay is, at its best, alright. On a good day, their meat can be pretty decent, but it’s not uncommon to get extremely lean or dry cuts or an imbalanced plate where there’s twice or three times as much rice as there is meat. Having visited (maybe a little too) often, I’d estimate that half of my visits resulted in drunken consumption of decent quality meat. However, the flavour of the meat is at least pretty good — their char siu has just the right amount of honey-​glazed sweetness, while retaining the smokey, roasted flavour that siu mei is famous for, and the accompanying sauce for the roast duck serves as a wonderful compliment.
On another positive note, Hay Hay beats its local competitors with its late hours — the last time I visited, they were open 24 hours, although Unilocal’s listed hours seem to say that this has changed. The price was also pretty good — with each visit, I usually paid about $ 20 – 40 HKD for a plate.
Be careful of language barriers — of all the staff that I knew at the time, only one spoke extremely broken English. I also can’t recall if they have English menus.
Honestly, there are quite a few other better siu mei places around Wan Chai, but if you’re having late night cravings, Hay Hay isn’t a bad choice. It certainly beats the neighbouring McDonald’s, at the very least!

A little floundered by all of the 2-​star reviews… but hay! Everyone gets to give their 2-​cents.
We came here for dinner after a day down by the water as my friend used to live in this neighborhood. It was her jam.
And I can see why!
We shared the shrimp wonton noodle soup, some veggie fried rice and the roasted bbq pork and duck. Honestly, it all just hit the spot. With a splash of chili oil, that wonton noodle soup was perfect. And the bbq meats were done just right. Not too fatty, not overcooked, just straight up comfort, this is what I have been craving Hong Kong bbq.
Cash only, if I recall.

The food isn’t bad, just ok. There’s much better options if you want good HK-​style food. However this does has the benefit of being open late so if you need a char siu fix at midnight you can count on it being there. But for lunch or dinner, you’re better off going elsewhere.
They also raised their prices considerably after they redecorated in «Tsui Wah» style — but the food didn’t improve with that price bump. Boo.

We were sold when we walked by the delicious display of meats. We sat down and ordered our typical favorites: roast pork, chicken, and a plate of veggies. The roast meat that we were given were all a bit too greasy and fatty. Not a good mix. The veggies, while the flavor was good, it came with a bunch of bean sprouts and other odds and ends. Not what I expected. I guess it may be better if either of us knew how to read Chinese. The bowls of rice that we are given are large! It was not proportional to the food we ordered which usually is good if we order the same number of dishes as there are people. Eh, I’ve had better.

After numerous shouts of Hay Hay! along with head bobs from side to side we enjoyed a big bottle of Tsingtao and a plate of noodles. Immediately we were thought Hay Hay was A-​ok!
I guess we were suffering from jet lag. As there was nothing open near our hotel we took a taxi to where we were told things were open still At 3 am the neighborhood looked shady and my friend was solicited by a woman from Zimbabwe. We decided to end our search as we were hungry and Hay Hay was open and well lit and beckoned us.
Hemingway yearned for the clean well lighted place and Hay Hay really is, as another reviewer mentioned, like a beacon on the dark streets. Not certain about the cleanliness, but it was definitely bright and inviting.
Our server didn’t speak English and I don’t get the idea too many Hong Kong tourists come by. But if you are out late at night in the Wan Chai area, head over to Hay Hay. I especially liked that a meal for two didn’t break the bank either!

This place is seemingly harmless, easy to order for a gweilo like myself, nice selection of roast meats and noodle soups… But after the THIRD time I found hair in my food, I vowed to never go again. Fucking gross.
BUT if you do insist on braving it and soldiering through the random hair, check out the fried pigeon. I’m tellin’ ya, it’s a tasty treat!

After numerous beers in the Wan Chai area, this place is like a glittering beacon of hope. Food for the drunk masses and late night crowds, there is something about roast meats after a belly full of liquor!
I can’t say that the roast meats here are fantastic but they do their job and hit the spot. I would rather a plate of roast duck/​goose/​suckling pig anyday over the standard western fare of burgers, pizza or kebabs!
The walls to this place are covered in photos of the menu so those who don’t speak the lingo can easily order by merely pointing!

Hay Hay Kitchen is an authentic Hong Kong style roast meats café/​restaurant. These roast meats restaurants are fairly common, you’ll probably seen load of them all across Hong Kong, displaying their roasted goodness in the shop window. Personally, I think Hay Hay Kitchen is probably one of the safer bets in Hong Kong, especially if you are a non-​Chinese speaking expat or visitor.
The menu is fairly standard, of course the most popular dishes are the hanging roasted meats in the window. For significantly less than HK$ 100, you can have three types of roast meats, with some vegetables and a good dose of rice, and a couple of beers, and still be less than HK$ 100. Other delights on the menu include noodle dishes, fried rice dishes, vegetables, and pretty much anything fried with Spam and eggs. This particular Hay Hay Kitchen (there are any few dotted around Hong Kong) also occasionally serves the clay hot-​pot dishes. You will see when they’re doing this, as there is a man cooking these outside the storefront.
Lunchtimes at this branch are crazy, with queues extending right into the street. If it is this busy, you can queue up and share a table with someone, or just plump for takeout, and go and sit in Southorn Gardens. Dinner times are a bit more reasonable, but it can still get busy, so maybe engineer your dining time to be a little bit later. What I do love about this restaurant though, is the late opening time, which means you can grab a fairly good late night snack after bar-​hopping in Wan Chai, without having to resort to the chain burger shops.
Give it a go if you’re feeling brave; don’t forget to rinse your cutlery, and never look in the kitchen. Also, with this particular branch, do not, under any circumstance, use the outside toilet. Wait until you get to a nice bar and use the facilities there — you will thank me for it.

The definition of shovel food is being able to use only a fork, or spoon, and transfer food to mouth without pause. Usually this means the food needs to be broken up or otherwise small enough to fit on a spoon without having to cut it up with a knife. Hay Hay’s Kitchen, in Wan Chai, is where I go to get my dose of shovel food.
The place is always full so when I go alone I’m forced to share a booth or bench with a stranger, no biggie, I’m there to shovel not to socialize. If crowd gets the better of you there is another Hay Hay’s on the other side of the basketball courts. Their menu is the typical local restaurant — fried rice, fried noodles, soup noodles, chicken wings, and, of course, the hanging poultry. 90% of the time I order a fried rice dish. They taste good, can be finished within ten minutes, leave me full, and are less than $ 50. Add a bit of chili sauce and we’re in business. In this day and age, when an hour lunch break is spent waiting in line, what more can a man ask for?
When timed correctly I’ve been with a group of friends. Beers are as cheap as the food making it an ideal spot to have a late dinner before moving to the nearest bar, about thirty meters away. You’re not going to find anything fancy here, just simple, affordable shovel food. But, let’s face it, nothing lightens your wallet like fancy does.