Hui Shi Jia is a popular restaurant with several outlets in Guangzhou. I understand from my local colleagues that it is doing so well that it has recently even opened an outlet in Shanghai. Hui Shi Jia serves Cantonese cuisine and is well frequented by locals. The popularity of the restaurant leads to queues forming daily during meal times. The restaurant does not take reservations. When we arrived at Hui Shi Jia’s Binjiang road outlet at 5.45pm on a Thursday evening, it was already full. We were 2nd in the queue for a small table.
The restaurant has a large and comfortable waiting area for patrons, furnished with comfortable sofa. They even serve drinks and cookies which patrons can freely enjoy while they wait. The cookies were delicious. We waited 45mins for our table. In the meantime, we just relaxed on the sofa and used their free wifi to serve the net. When we were finally seated, we were glad to be seated at a table next to the central pond in the restaurant.
Hui Shi Jia is known for its clay pot dishes and our local colleagues had recommended the eel dish which you have to order by weight. Since there were only 2 of us, we went for the smallest serving which was 250gm.
Instead of plain rice, we order the waxed meat clay pot rice. It is rice cooked with waxed meat (preserved meat and sausages) in a claypot. The cooked dish is then mixed well at the table by the waitress before it is dished out. I love the char rice bits that are stuck to the claypot. They are crisp and fragrant.
While waiting for our table we save a video clip of their dishes in the waiting lounge and the roast pigeon caught our eyes. So we order one to share between the 2 of us. The skin of the pigeon is crisp and the meat tender and juicy. It was delicious!
Another recommended dish by our local colleague was the goose intestine. It was really good. Crunchy! A simple stir fried dish and yet so Yummy!
Lastly, I couldn’t resist ordering my favourite pan fried foie gras. I wasn’t sure how a Chinese restaurant can do it well and so kept my fingers crossed. The serving that arrived was a large slice for each of us and nicely pan fried. Crisp on the outside and creamy on the inside. Just as well done as any western restaurant. They even serve a sourish apple juice with this dish to help you take away the oiliness of the dish. Very thoughtful. Certainly enjoyed the dish and was so glad I ordered it.
My colleague is a soup person and so ordered a single serving of the the winter melon soup which i passed.
We were so full and had no room for dessert. Total bill for the 2 of us came to RMB441. I thought it was reasonable for the amount of food we had. Truly an enjoyable meal. Well worth our 45mins wait.
After dinner we walked along the river. Weather was comfortable and there were many locals enjoying their evening stroll. There was also a group of middle aged ladies doing their group dance. An interesting sight.
The view of the city and bridge across the river colourfully lit up was very pretty. After the short stroll, we took a taxi back to our hotel. I hope you like reading Guangzhou, Sept 2016 – Dinner @ Hui Shi Jia post.