Since we were in the area one weekday evening, we decided to queue up at this famous Hai Kee Teochew Cha Kway Teow stall at the hawker centre at Blk 40A, Commonwealth Ave (also known as the Margaret Drive hawker centre), to see what all the fuss was about. I come here for lunch very often but have never tried the Char Kway Teow since the stall is only open from 5 pm to 10 pm (closed on Sundays). The uncle operates a one-man show, which partly explains the super long queue but is very friendly and obliging throughout.
After 40 minutes we arrived at the head of the queue .... although there were only about 12 people ahead of us (some ordered 4 or 5 packets). The stack of dirty plates waiting to be washed outside his stall towered high , I estimated about 100 plates as of 8pm? At $3 a plate and assuming he serves up 200 plates by 10 pm, that's $600 in revenue each day! Wow! Uncle fries each order of char kway teow individually, with a generous helping of see hum.
And the finished product, piping hot! Good wok hei and very generous with the see hum - I counted 14 fat and juicy hums in my $3 plate! However I am not so hot on char kway teow - too greasy for my palate - and the fact that its flavouring comes from the dark sauce rather than any natural ingredients - so I probably wouldn't queue up again for this. By the time we finished eating the queue had snaked all the way out of the hawker centre. I estimate those poor fellows at the back had a one hour wait in front of them.
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