SOME readers are too young to remember Tin Tin Chop Suey, one of downtown's busiest late-night noodle shops when we had a downtown that was hoppin', before the days of urban renewal and before the street cleaners appeared. How Wun is true to
Tin Tin legacyThe street cleaners can't start their work until every car is towed out of the way, after certain hours on certain days, but who keeps track and who can even see the signs?
So it was my beau's car that was hauled off to Sand Island while we dined at Mini Garden, which by the way closes now at 11:30 p.m. (It used to close at 2 a.m. but that was before customers started getting their cars towed - thus turning a $10 dining experience into a $120 one.)
But I digress. Back to Tin Tin, which closed in 1985, a victim of an earlier cleanup, the Pauahi Urban Renewal Project. That restaurant is gone for good, but those seeking to relive the old days need look no further than tiny How Wun Chop Suey in Kapalama. It's here that former Tin Tin cook Hoi On Yeung settled 11 years ago.
What's more, customers can count on How Wun to keep its long hours, to 3 a.m. most days. It's another old-fashioned concept - a throwback to the days when an obligation to the customer meant something. Today there are many examples of restaurants closing earlier than their posted hours.
IN spite of Tin Tin's larger than life reputation, it was just a hole-in-the-wall and How Wun is no different, with seven tables to call its own. All that's missing is the Chinatown ambience. But some would question whether anyone needs the hustle and bustle, traffic and parking woes. There's plenty of parking in the lot How Wun shares with Diner's on North King Street.Where Tin Tin was known for its jook (rice soup), pork hash with duck egg and cake noodles, How Wun's specialties are a Scallop Soup ($6.50), Stuffed Eggplant ($4.50) and Lemon Chicken ($4.50).
Fresh bamboo shoots give the Scallop Soup an especially pungent bouquet and flavor. Yeung brings out all the sweetness of fresh eggplant in the pork-stuffed dish. The tough skin is left on here to prevent the eggplant from getting too mushy in the wok, but the skin peels off easily.
And make no mistake, How Wun does fine by the likes of its cake noodles and pork hash, which one can get topped with salted duck egg ($5.50) or salt fish, a dish reflecting hard times when families needed to stretch their protein source. Today, even though steak is easy to come by, we find the humble old ground pork dish just plain addictive.
Crispy Gau Gee ($4) is distinctively large and cushiony, with a meaty pork filling that goes way beyond the raisin-size portion one can expect at other chop suey houses.
And even a dish as simple as Fried Rice ($4.50) starts with long-grain, jasmine-scented Thai Fragrant Rice, that cooks up firm, lending a nutty texture to the dish that's dotted with minced char siu and green onions.
One may find occasionally that the pork doesn't taste as fresh as it could, and the sight of Yeung in his, ahem, "seasoned" apron may be off-putting. But for every person that cringes at this thought, there will be another thinking, "That's my kind of place."
How Wun Chop Suey
Where: 1311 N. King St.
Hours: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 3 a.m. daily except Sunday, when the restaurant closes at midnight
Prices: About $10 to $15 for two; cash only
Call: 845-8983
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