The Gala Café of Tsuen Wan
I was born the same year as the Gala Café of Tsuen Wan. I have not heard of it until last year, but thankfully it was not too late.
For forty years, Gala Café was the local favorite in Tsuen Wan. It was especially famous for the egg selection on its menu: omelets fully stuffed with ham in a generous egg pocket; two-inch thick egg and beef sandwiches, egg milkshake and egg custard dessert. The former owner, Mr. Mak, was 74 years old in 2018. He was retiring. The decision was to close Gala Café at its fortieth year.
The news got out and the fans of Gala Café came to say goodbye. Mr. Chan was one of the patrons. He has been to the café a few times, and he has talked to Mr. Mak before. As an owner of two Japanese restaurants, Mr. Chan knew the value of good restaurants. He wanted this memory to live on. He entered into the discussion to buy the business from Mr. Mak. Mr. Mak sold the business for 34 million.
While 34 million for a small café seems like an astronomical number, this was only the beginning of a long and hard-earned journey. Mr. Chan knew full well that the business could only go on if he manages to maintain the former high standards that Mr. Mak has kept for forty years. Therefore for six months Mr. Chan took up every post in the café, from cooking food to making drinks, from serving food to busing tables.
Maintaining the standard of the café’s key menu items was the single most important factor of success. Mr. Chan learned the techniques of making egg dishes, how to make the soy sauce for the famous soy chicken wings, and how to fry the wontons to an indelible crispiness.
Although Mr. Chan was most concerned with keeping up the good name of Gala Café, he has also innovated some new items, such as the crunch Ovaltine, and variations of the French toast, such as red bean and Ovaltine crunch.
I have not had the chance to visit Gala Café before Mr. Mak retired, but I did make it out to Tsuen Wan on two occasions this year. I was very happy with the quality of food and the whole dining experience.
The café is tucked away in a very busy district in Tsuen Wan. The 10-minute walk from Tsuen Wan West station to Gala Café was quite an experience. I proceeded from the well-groomed Nina Mall and Tsuen Wan City Walk, right into the heart of the din and hustles of street stalls and wet market. In fact, only when I lined up for my afternoon tea today did I notice that the café was right next to a pork table. It brought a smile on my face as I saw a huge cockroach slipping through the many attempts by the hostess to crush it (this was outside of the restaurant). Perhaps that the surrounding environment was not the best, but that was itself the reason why it was a place of local memories. Its roots sunk deep into the everyday routines of local life.
Let’s see why I think the food is great. In my first visit, I went for breakfast and ordered the “small omelet.” It is in fact a big omelet, with lots of ham. When I call it a “local favorite,” there are certain indicators why it is a “local’ take on food. As soon as the waitress set down the dish, I smelled Maggi. I do not like Maggi, but when I tasted the omelet, I understood why a dash of Maggi made it flavorful. It added a touch of complexity to the taste.
On my second visit, in light of my intention to blog, I went all out and ordered the egg and beef sandwich (on tasted bread), their famous soy sauce chicken wings, and the fried shrimp wontons. I topped these off with the crunch Ovaltine.
I like these dishes more than the omelet last time. The soy sauce chicken wings was the most impressive I think. It meets Mr. Chan’s explanation of why it is good: the chicken wings are braised in soy sauce only when orders come in. They come to the table warm. In that way, the freshness of the meat and the body of the soy sauce are equally prominent. Many foods that are braised in soy sauce lose their natural flavors because the sauce is usually overwhelmingly sweet. But that is certainly not the case with these soy sauce chicken wings at Gala Café.
As to the other dishes, perhaps I will let them speak for themselves here.
Sources:
A Patron Takes up Gala Cafe, Hopes to Preserve Old Fashioned Cafe Dining Culture.