Hua Seng Hong @ Bangkok

The first time I went to Hua Seng Hong was at their honten in Bangkok’s Chinatown. It was one of my Dad’s favourite Thai-Chinese restaurant and his must-visit stop for his shark’s fin and roast pig fix.

Hua Seng Hong 和成豐 has expanded over the years from a warm and cramped restaurant in Yaowarat (Bangkok’s Chinatown) to a popular chain of Thai-Chinese restaurants located in more spacious and air-conditioned high-end malls like this one in CentralWorld.

The menu is Teochew-rooted Thai-Chinese cuisine. Teochew had migrated to Thailand since the early 18th century and have left their indelible mark in all levels of Thai level. Over 50% of the local Thai-Chinese have Teochew ancestry.

Braised Shark’s Fin Soup with Crab Meat หูฉลามเนื้อปูน้ำแดง

According to the restaurant, the shark’s fin soup used sustainable, non-endangered species that can be be harvested without any repercussion to the population of the sharks. Before you start flaming me for not environmental friendly, some of the fins used may to be shark’s to start with.

Priced at a mere Baht 480 (~S$20), it was a generous portion of shark’s fin stewed to perfection in a piping hot, thick and flavourful soup served in a claypot. We could not help but order one each.

Shark’s fin is a tasteless soft bone that is eaten more as a symbol than a delicacy. However there are no other substitute that would go well with this brown savoury sauce. I have tried cartilage, faux shark’s fin and other crunchy ingredients, nothing come close to the real thing.

Stir fried Kale with Salty Fish

Thai kailan has always been a regular at my home’s dining table but sometimes they can be quite old and fibrous because of the long distanced travelled. I was never disappointed by the ones I had in Thailand. And served the salted fish bits and oyster sauce, this was the perfect vegetable dish for the dinner.

Fried Oysters with Egg on Hot Plate ออส่วนนิ่ม

Most of the oysters from Singapore for our classic orhlua (oyster omelette) came from Thailand, so it is definitely fresher when we eat them in Bangkok. The oysters did not fail the expectation, but the orhlua cannot compare to the street hawker versions that we had. However the liberal use of potato starch for the ออส่วนนิ่ม

Baked Spiced Goose’s Webs with Egg Noodles
ขาห่านอบบะหมี่

Very peppery was the first impression I had with this dish. But the caramelised braise that was used to stew the goose webs (feet of goose) came through nicely. The collagen from the goose web melted into the sauce leaving behind a melt-in-mouth skin and sticky, gooey goodness of the sauce. Alas, there was too little sauce for the noodles and the noodles were overcooked.

Deep Fried Sea Bass Fish Sauce with Spicy Mango Salad
ปลากะพงทอดน้ำปลา เสิร์ฟพร้อมยำมะม่วง

This is an Esan inspired dish using sea bass instead of the common tilapia. Som tam (spicy green mango salad) served with sea bass butterfly-cut and deep-fried to a crisp.

You can eat it without the salad, but the best way to enjoy it in my humble opinion was to pour it over the entire fish.

It was an early dinner for us, so the place was almost empty. It has a modern decor with Tiffany-blue seats and colour scheme. The service was OK, but the waitresses did not understand English. Get you Google Translate ready. Many communications were done by pointing to the picturesque menu. The food was quite good, so there’s no need to go back to the Yaowarat honten to enjoy cheap and good shark’s fin.

ฮั่วเซ่งฮง Hua Seng Hong 和成豐
Central World 6th Floor. Front of ZEN.
Tel : +66 02-646-1043

Visited in Jul 2022