Hai HONG — Restaurant in Makassar

UPDATE 06/08/2022: DOWNGRADING to two-star.

Burnt-coffee, almost-raw eggs, very-dry and tasteless yellow rice. It was very crowded though, and the service was, while friendly, the staff appeared confused. It's been quite similar experience on a number of recent visits too.

What a pity! It was one of my favourite traditional coffee shops in town, now I very reluctant to recommend others to visit.

Let's see what happen on the next visit, if ever I manage to visit again.

PREVIOUS REVIEW (may no longer valid):

Sometimes the best thing to do to really understand about a place is to see how it wakes up. And that's where places like Hai Hong shine.

Don't expect cafe-style service, La Marzocco machine, and English greetings here. Instead, you'll see what the locals do before they start their day.

A strong coffee, Kaya toast and half-boiled egg, and also nasi kuning. Occasionally, friendly chat with people across your table, or even the owner!

The service is fast, and efficient, the people who work there are friendly and energetic (exactly what you need to see in order to start your day!).

Do try their Nasi Kuning. I can't say it is the most complete and delicious, but it is well-portioned, well-presented and the taste, somewhat, very "local" yet tasty.

They also provide some locally sourced snacks.

Equally important, they are very very decent priced.

Now, bear in mind that people do smoke here (then again, if you want a true glimpse of the locals, there you go), but the place is well-ventilated, so you should be able to survive.

All in all, if you happen to be a tourist, and would like to experience the real "local" atmosphere, skip Starbucks and head to Hai...

If you expect a truly good morning coffee, served with a warm welcome, then LOOK NO FURTHER.

Visitors to Makassar, this is definitely a good place to sample local snacks as they offer variety of small cakes, savouries, etc.

Located strategically on the big road with relatively easy parking, decently priced.

The highlight (and the most memorable) part of this coffee shop is definitely the SERVICE. I notice the owner and the entire family work together with their staff to deliver that legendary customer service.

Well done, Hai Hong Pelita! Keep up...

Resto with the ambience of “peranakan” (mix between local and chinese). A recommended place for breakfast with the comfortable space and serve various kinds of local food. You can have a small meeting with your colleagues or friends while taste the makassar snacks such as fried banana, jalangkote, panada, gogos and etc, or if you prefer to have some main courses you can order like fried rice, fried noodles, toast bread and so on.

The price is very reasonable and the service...