Hwa Ting Restaurant — Restaurant in George Town

The restaurant is repurposing an old shophouse. By redesigning the interior of the shophouse, it breathes new life into it. The “new” still holds on to the local cultural heritage by using furniture and interior decoration from the same era (not all, but most of them). From the outside, it doesn’t show much; you might miss it if you don’t look closely. All the shophouses in the area have identical facades. What makes the difference is they put a green neon sign of a noodle bowl and their name outside, and they use glass windows on their door so we can see the inside of the restaurant. The inside is very spacious; they manage to place the tables nicely. On the front side, they have six tables for four people and two tables for six; on the isle, I think there are another three or four tables for four people; I’m not sure if they use the second floor as a seating area too but if so I think it able to accommodate another six tables for four people. Now let’s discuss the food; most of the menu they sell is Malaysian-style. They sell a la carte and a set menu (with sides). At that time, we ordered salted egg chicken chop (there's also a set menu option for this), braised pork set menu (we got the pork, egg, rice, relish, peanut, vegetable, and soup), the third menu we choose is pork fried rice, and for a drink, we choose milk tea. The salted egg chicken is well cooked, and the salted egg sauce is in the perfect amount. You can taste the crispiness of the batter coated with the salted egg sauce. What makes it even better is that their sauce is not oily like other salted egg sauce dishes 3/4⭐️. The braise pork set menu is in perfect amount; it is not too full but simply enough. (If the pasta has an “al dente” term for perfectly cooked pasta, I can say their food is all al dente 🤩), the baby bokchoy still has its crunch when you bite it, and the crispy pork fat gives it another layer of taste and texture; the braised pork belly melts in your mouth with its rich, sweet flavor, the sweet and sour relish made of cucumber, carrot and radish will brighten your day, and the seaweed soup will complete and balance all of the different flavors 4/4⭐️. The pork belly fried rice 3/4⭐️ The fried rice is nice; they give a generous amount of pork belly, but it is more on the bland side of taste. If there is soy sauce and pepper, I will surely put some in it, and it lacks the smokey charred smell from a wok. If I may suggest, a sprinkle of crispy pork fat will help the taste and texture of the dish. I forgot the exact name of the milk tea, but it is too heavy for me. Its thick ingredient makes it too sweet and thick, very different from what I used to have 2/4⭐️. We had a good dining experience at the venue and enjoyed tasty food, so we will be...

Signature spicy san tan mee (dry) with wonton in tomyum soup - a carefully crafted dish.

The noodles is al dente and filled with lard aroma. If you mix it with the spicy paste, it gives an additional layer of flavour with the slightly burnt chilli but not overwhelmingly spicy to cover the lard aroma. If you mix with coconut milk, it further enhances the body by adding creaminess and sweetness to the noodles. So do not mix everything in one go, then you will have 3 different tastes.

The char siu is the right cut of pork which helps to remain tender after being grilled. But as a Hongkonger, I'd prefer it to be thicker-sliced for more juicy and a better texture. The crispy pork on top was fried to perfection - crispy on surface but remains juicy inside. The cuttlefish is semi dried and has a chewy but not rubbery texture. The sauce of the cuttlefish was a bit too strong for me to taste the natural flavour.

My only disappointment would be the wonton tomyum soup. Not that it's bad, the wonton and soup are both great by themselves alone but they don't go well together. The wontons are nicely seasoned that I believe dried flounder powder was added but the aroma was completely covered by the tomyum soup. The meal would be perfect if I was served with clear broth. There is a reason that Cantonese people always eat wontons with clear broth which doesn't overpower the beautiful flavour of fresh prawns and dried flounder.

If you are patient enough to read till this point, please do visit the restaurant again to try their other menu items. You can tell the chef is a genuine food craftsman and with that passion, other dishes...

High level, elevated hawker food. And the price reflects this accordingly. What you get though is an air con environment, nice decor and good environment to dine at.

As for the food, if you like fried pork lard, you will likely love this place. They seem to use a lot of it in all their food. As far as the roasted pork curry noodle go, the curry is a little light but I love the flavour balance. Goes well with the noodles and not too spicy for me.

The roasted pork noodle is basically wan tan mee but I must compliment the delicious aroma and the yummy sauce with the crackling fried pork lard that made it an enjoyable dish. Coming to the fried rice, it had a whiff of wok hei and generally nice but a little wet for it to stand out. Maybe a little drier and it would've been much more delicious.

The pork porridge is the soupy version and not the gruel version. I found it simple and filling with good amount of ingredients in it. The mango beancurd pudding dessert brings a refreshing end to the meal. An uncomplicated yet soothing taste to finish up. In short, a comfortable cool place to have food but pricepoint is for...