Eating and drinking in temple is a norm during festive or praying session but a restaurant inside a temple is something peculiar. As odd as it sounds, Restaurant Hai Choo is located inside a Tua Pek Kong temple which has history of more than 100 years, and the food serves here is more than vegetarian. The restaurant is operated by the family third generation currently, and the cuisine serves here is wonderful with a wallet-friendly price tags. Expect to appease your appetite here with some Siam influenced dishes.
When we first stepped in, the feeling of dining here kind of odd. Furthermore, there were no other diners as it was late (9pm). Despite all these hindrance, rest assured you will be rewarded handsome if you dine in here.
The Longhead Grunt Fish Siam Style (白皂鱼; RM 35) is a definite gem here. It was served piping hot with an ongoing fire to keep the fish hot. A bowl of soup is given complimentary for us to top up and that made us fall in love with it. Its acidity that comes with a little numbness is dangerously addictive, making us taking in more and more of the soup despite the heat is slowly mounting in our lips and palate.
Kappa (RM 10) is nicely cooked in a thick and spicy chili sauce. The Kappa freshness is proven and the sauce complemented it well. To balance the diet, we had another plate of vegetable (RM 8) which did not disappoint.
Few years back in 2013, I came to the restaurant once and was recommended to have either Or Mee (dark noodles) or Peh Mee (white noodles) by the Tauke Nieo. I recalled trying the Or Mee, which was really dark in colour due to frying it with a special dark soy sauce, and the texture of the noodles were not too soft or too hard that made it enjoyable.
Checking the Internet revealed some other worthy try dishes here would be Prawns, Steamed Scallops and Kerabu Tofu. Hope to come back here in future to try them out.
Restaurant Hai Choo
151, Jalan Pekan Cina, 05000, Alor Setar, Kedah.
Operation hours: 7pm - 2am (Closed on Sunday)
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