Wah Lok Ice Room – Sheung Wan
Created: 1940s
Operates: Tea Restaurant
Address: 16 Sheung Wan Street East
Photo by Tay Wong
Compared with other traditional ice houses, Wah Lok is more low-key, rarely giving interviews in the past, let alone running social platforms. The shop is hidden in a narrow corner of East Street, and passers-by will pass by as long as they are a little fast. In fact, Hong Kong has a history everywhere, and the "Chinese Music Ice House" was recorded in the 1949 "Overseas Chinese Daily Hong Kong Yearbook", which proves that Chinese music has been in business as early as the 40s, and its history is almost the longest of all existing tea and tea restaurants in Hong Kong.
The starting point of the Wah Lok Ice Room was in the 1940s, when Yu Tak Wah and Chan Lok planned to operate the Ice Room, located at the junction of East Street and Hollywood Road, and each of them named the new store after one word, so the Ice House was called Wah Lok. Yu Chen and the two belong to Uncle Lang, and the ice house is just one of the family businesses. With the continuous development of the family business and the increasing scope of business, there is no time to take care of Huale, so the idea of selling the property is born.
The ice room was later taken over by Ma Jianhao, who was known as "Ma Hao", who used to work at Wah Lok and was responsible for cleaning chores in the store, and his treatment was only "food but no work", that is, he was paid but did not pay, and slept in the booth at night. After that, he transferred to Wu Yuen Kee Restaurant, and he had dozens of Hong Kong dollars in labor costs. One day, when he returned to Huale Coffee, the boss stepped forward and asked him if he would be interested in taking over. After thinking about it, Ma Hao decided to give up, so he raised funds through the bidding committee, and with the help of relatives and friends, he finally got his own business.
However, in the early days of the operation, the finances were not very rich, and even the "money-making tools" such as stools and tableware were still owned by the old shopkeepers, and the Ma family had to pay to rent them. In order to save money, everyone has to wear many hats, and in the case of Ma Hao himself, if there is a shortage of people on the floor, kitchen or water bar, he needs to fill it immediately. Even though his wife is at home taking care of their children, she still needs to help sew coffee and milk tea bags. At that time, the opening hours of Chinese music were very long, from 7 a.m. to 12 p.m., all day of the year.
Fortunately, God rewards hard work, and the business of the ice house is finally good, especially the proportion of takeaways. At that time, there were many handicraft workshops in Sheung Wan, and the workers tended to stay in the factory for lunch, so the restaurant arranged for two people to deliver the food, hoping to take more lunch takeaways. As for the dine-in business, the entrance of Wah Lok was initially set up at East Street, and the entrance was changed to Hollywood Road at the time of Ma's House, which helped attract people from the street to patronize the street.
In fact, apart from the reset of the entrance to the ice room, Wah Le has not renovated the partition decoration, but the indoor environment is still good. Because the former shop was a pawnshop, the high floor creates a sense of ample space, and the bunk area is large and spacious, even if there are card booths on both sides of the store, there are enough empty spaces in the middle to put four more round tables, and the dining environment is not crowded. The kitchen is located deep in the shop and is prepared by three chefs, including a variety of pasta and pasta. Moreover, as a veritable ice house, Huale also made lotus seed ice, red bean ice and pineapple ice in those days. In addition to the main dishes and shaved ice, there are also a variety of cakes, such as egg tarts, cocktail buns and pineapple buns. Initially, the bakery was located on the upper floor of the ice room, but later it was moved to Square Street, mainly considering that it was easy to cause fire when baking full cakes.
In the past, wooden buildings were seen in many places in Sheung Wan, but after the war, the Hong Kong government began to rebuild it, and the demolition area covered the original site of the ice house. The Ma family intends to continue the business and hopes to find another shop in the same area, but the process is difficult to say smooth. As the bunk operation of a restaurant must comply with the Fire Services Ordinance, including ventilation and fire protection requirements, there are not many bunks in Sheung Wan that meet the standards. The deadline for moving away is approaching, and the search for bunks has been fruitless for a long time.
Just when there was no way out, the boss of the neighbor "Super Copper and Iron" worked hard to relieve Ma Hao's embarrassment. Known as "Playing Copper Super", it is a frequent visitor to the Huale Ice Room. He learned that the owner of the nearby Chow Kong Kee Chicken and Duck Shop was interested in renting out the shop, so he took the initiative to contact the owner and paid a deposit on behalf of the Wah Lok Ice House to help the Ma family successfully rent the current site, so that the Ice House could survive the crisis and continue to operate. The neighborhood friendship between this boss and the tea customer, the Ma family did not dare to be ungrateful, and it is still talked about today.
In the 90s, founder Ma Kin-ho felt that his health was getting worse and he arranged for his second son Ma Wai-lun to take over, and the ice house gradually added new food products, including stir-fried spaghetti and oyster meat floss, and the menu became more and more diverse. Recently, Mrs. Ma Wai-lun's wife, Luk Mei-yee, took over the family business, and in the face of the local restaurant for a long time, revitalizing the business has naturally become the top priority. At present, Huale plans to change lunch to regular meals and serve them all day, which is more in line with the needs of guests. In addition, the Ice House has recently opened a social platform to build a closer relationship with customers, using the new method to continue the tradition of Chinese music valuing people.
Huale has been relocated, but the decoration of the current site has not been greatly changed, which has not reduced the feeling of a traditional ice house. In particular, the two patterned wall tiles are in good condition, creating the main tone of warm colors in the interior, without the slightest sense of "nostalgia".
In addition, there is still a mirror plaque hanging on the wall, which was presented by the Bugong Sports Association to congratulate Huale on its housewarming. After half a century, it is inevitable that the corners of the mirror plaque are slightly rusted and peeled, but the commemoration of the owner's friendship is still hanging in a conspicuous place. Of course, the size of the shop is not as good as it was back then, but the environment maintains the simplicity and elegance of the 70s and is not dilapidated, which shows that the maintenance is quite careful.
The features of the ice room are not only the interior decoration, but also the taste of the food. Hua Le's curry has a unique flavor, and pork chops, egg buns and dry stir-fried spaghetti are quite popular. Sitting in the ice room and tasting oyster meat floss, paired with a cup of Hong Kong-style milk tea, it immediately becomes both "trendy" and "Hong Kong", such an experience is really rare.
Looking around Hong Kong today, the old ice houses are closed one after another, and the shops are over 60 years old, and there are even fewer of them who know how to value the history of the shops and properly preserve the old things. Recently, the Huale Ice Café has been actively changed, or there are occasional places that have not been perfected, but it is okay to give one more chance, and I believe that the experience will be better when you visit again.
Price reference list :
breakfast
Continental breakfast: $41
Imitation Abalone Ham Macaroni/Milk Cereal: $38
Noodle soup breakfast: $36
Mori Breakfast: $38
Tomato beef/fish fillet preserved egg/ginger beef: $38
Spelling sandwich: $30
Regular meals
招牌猪扒/牛扒 配意粉：$53
鸡扒/鸡翼 配意粉：$51
Choose 3 Ham/Meat/Sausage/Omelette with Spaghetti: $48
Signature noodle soup: $48
Signature Spaghetti Curry (Beef/Meat Slices): $48
Pork Floss Oyster (Rice Noodles/Rice Noodles/Izuzen Dice/Udon): $53