Hakka Hut

There's something very familiar about going to a Chinese restaurant. No matter what city you might be in, there is always a couple of dishes that are sure to be on the menu. For my family, we will usually order a fish scent eggplant casserole for me, round beans for Jason, sizzling beef for mum and prawn balls for dad. If we have a large group, there will mostly always be Peking Duck.

This kind of ordering can get quite bland sometime so I always find it quite a treat when we dine out with other families and let them do the ordering. We were invited to Hakka Hut by my Uncle's family (it's one of their favourite restaurants) and got to sit back and enjoy someone else's favourite dishes.

We arrived quite early on a Saturday night and I'm told we booked quite a few days in advance. It turns out that it was quite a good move as the restaurant filled up incredibly quickly. The tables were very close to each other and there was barely enough room for the poor servers to squeeze between everyone's chairs. 

Inside was noisy - proper Chinese restaurant noisy - the kind of noisy where you don't have to embarrassingly tell your parents to tone their voice down because it might disrupt the other diners. This was especially good because my grandma and her sister haven't really mastered "inside voices" yet...

Peking Duck, First Course - $55.00 for two courses

We started off with the Peking Duck, of course, and it went down a treat. The pancakes were extremely fluffy but I thought that the serving size was a little stingy compared to other restaurants. 

Peking Duck, Second Course

The filling for the second course was a more generous size. The filling included "xue cai" (a preserved vegetable, literally translated to "snow vegetable") which gave it an earthy flavour.

Sweet and Sour Pork - $20.00

Sweet and Sour Pork is not something I usually order when going out because my parents dub it a "white people dish". This, however, was incredibly crunchy while the sweet and sour sauce was not too strong, as can be the case with other restaurants.

Steamed Blue Cod - Seasonal Price

It was a little hard for me to take a photo of the blue cod as some hungry diners had already started spinning it away from me. The fish was perfectly cooked and the soy sauce had a slight sweetness to it.

Round Beans with Minced Pork - $20.00

The round beans flavoursome and tender. I liked the texture of the pork mince and that the beans weren't overpowered with black bean sauce. It was delicious but I was a bit disappointed with the portion size.

Steamed Prawns with Garlic - $28.00

The garlic steamed prawns were incredibly fragrant and I appreciated that they were already peeled. The bed of vermicelli underneath was a great way of soaking up all the juices too.

Homemade Tofu - $20.00

The homemade tofu is similar to the deep fried tofu we order at many other restaurants. The crispy outer,  with the creamy eggy centre, provided the perfect texture contrast.

Taro and Pumpkin Casserole - $28.00

The Taro and Pumpkin Casserole is a recommended dish on the Hakka Hut menu. The floury texture of the taro and pumpkin complimented one another, but the savoury taro tasted strange against the sweet pumpkin. I must admit, my taste buds were confused. My mother enjoyed the contrasting flavours though.

Beef with Seasonal Vegetables - $20.00

The stir fried beef was one of my favourites of the night. Each piece of beef was tender and covered in a light garlicky sauce. The gailan, although thick, was well cooked and crunchy. 

Fried Noodles with Soya Sauce - $12.00

Lastly, we ordered some noodles for my little cousin who likes plain food. For a dish that is flavoured only with soya sauce and some onions, I found the noodles to be quite tasty. The noodles were especially good at soaking up the yummy sauces from the other dishes.

Having other people order my meal is quite a treat. It was nice to try out others' favourite dishes and knowing that we share some favourites. The food at Hakka Hut was delicious, although I found the portion sizes small for the price.

Hakka Hut is found at Unit 21, 44 William Pickering Drive, Albany, Auckland.