Good Food Guide: Café Kong Chi Kei

Café Kong Chi Kei is a shop I used to frequent with my mother when I was a child. The shop owner has since passed the business to his son and those who used to work there have retired. Although lots of things have changed, the taste of the food remains the same. This is an old traditional noodle shop, located near Mercado Municipal Horta da Mitra.

I like the coffee here the most. They have stayed true to the most traditional brewing method using a brewing bag, which requires great technique and experience. The handmade coffee has a unique sweet and sour taste. “Dai pai dong” is full of flavor and has a particularly distinctive taste. In addition to noodle soup, the shop also supplies sandwiches, toast, fried flour noodles and fried rice noodles.

Besides coffee, dry fried rice noodles is another favorite of mine and I order it every time I visit. The fried rice noodles here are cooked to perfection and it brings out the best in the ingredients. It has strong soy sauce flavor which, together with some bean sprouts, is very tasty. It is a very simple dish but when I try to cook it at home it is never as good as this, so whenever I come here – either by myself or with friends – I must order it.