The sign says, “If you haven’t dined at Hees, you haven’t dined Chinese”. I popped by the bright red building to chat to Wynsome Wong about her experience in co-creating an Auckland institution.
“Hees has been here for 33 years – and I’ve been here from day one. It’s the longest-established Chinese Restaurant in Auckland. It still run by the original owner and is on the original premises – everything’s original!
“It wasn’t me who had the idea to open the restaurant – it was my husband’s idea. He was a trained Chinese chef from Hong Kong. He came here as a chef in the late ’70s and worked as a chef in one of the Chinese Restaurants in Auckland. A few years later – he thought it was about time he started his own! The restaurants he started was very small – nothing like the size you see today! The function room created about three years ago, when we expanded the restaurant can seat up to 40 people – it’s one of the things that makes this restaurant special. It’s great for company functions and private parties – it’s very, very popular for that. The function room is now half the size of the restaurant – it was a huge expansion for us! Hees hasn’t always been this big, but it’s always been at 599 Mt Eden Road – and it’s always specialised in seafood.
“Most of the time, people who want lobster do choose their own! Diners can choose their own lobsters – the size, the colour – it’s all up to them. We also have live fish, and other seafood – sometimes crabs, clams and so on. Now it’s winter, and it’s a bit slow – the fishermen find it too cold! That’s why you don’t see too many today.
“We also do general Chinese food as well as seafood. Yum Cha is the main feature of our lunch menu – it’s so popular nowadays. Yum Cha is popular because it’s affordable, and there’s a lot of variety to choose from – a lot of people like it. For dinner, we serve a la carte.
“We’ve got very authentic Chinese decorations. You won’t find any like them in Auckland. Decorations in other restaurants are quite modern-looking, but ours are Chinese and authentic. The décor is original – some of it is from 30 years ago when the restaurant opened! But a lot of customers like it, especially the European customers, because they don’t get to see décor like this very often. We have been hired by a lot of a high-profile companies like Telecom, and TelstraClear, and other big companies in the past to shoot commercials for their companies – this is one thing we’re proud of – and another reason to keep the décor!
“We serve all sorts of food here! Our cooking is more in the Cantonese style – it’s one of many styles of Chinese cooking. Szechuan cooking, for example, is very hot and spicy, and Shanghai cooking specialises in pastry, dumplings and all that. Cantonese cooking has a lot of variety within it, and a lot of different tastes, but generally speaking it’s not spicy-hot, so it will suit most people. We do have other styles of food to offer – nowadays, more and more people are into vegetarian eating – we have a wide range of vegetarian dishes! And if you don’t eat seafood or meat, you can always as the waiter or the manager – we can always thing of something that will suit you – we can cook whatever. Anybody that comes in here – they won’t be disappointed.
“As the owner – I have to say every dish is my favourite. If I have to name one, I’d have to say sweet and sour pork – that’s a must in all Chinese restaurants. Even after eating it for so many years, I still love it.”
Today you can grab a half-price voucher to spend at Hees. Plus, check out our Facebook page for more photos.