I shared my story in November 2018 about how the noodle brand,
Mee Ho Seng Kee, developed from a pushcart into a mall café and continues
serving their family recipe noodles to regulars and a new generation of noodle
fans.
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| Facade of the new-look Ho Seng Kee at level six of Johor Baru City Square |
Elton Ho, the third-generation operator of the Mee Ho Seng Kee
brand of noodles, took their family business to a whole new level when he made
the bold move to open the business in Johor Baru City Square.
It must have taken a great deal of courage and foresight for Elton
to make such a brave decision to move his family business, which started from a
one-man-operated-push-cart into a modern, air-conditioned café within one of
the most popular malls in our city.
This move to operate their noodle business within a mall café
was indeed a radical change that not only required a new service format but was
also traumatic for regulars.
As Elton braved the challenges that came with this change, he
welcomed new fans to his family recipe of noodles and was reassured when
regulars started to find their way to his noodle café in the mall.
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| The Chinese character for the word, Mian (Mandarin) which means, noodles |
When I was compiling Johor stories for my book sequel, My
Johor Stories 2: Interesting Places and Inspirational People, I decided to
include Mee Ho Seng Kee among the subjects under Heritage Traders and document
their family business for posterity.
Prior to my book launch in December 2018, I was pleasantly
surprised when Elton made a preorder of 30 books for diners at Mee Ho Seng Kee to
win them in a Lucky Draw!
Less than 12 months after my book was launched, I was thrilled
to discover that Elton had plans to expand his business and increase the café
floor space – double the space – and renovation was already in progress!
He explained that the renovation would take time because
business would still be on-going while the renovation of the kitchen and dining
area would go on stage-by-stage.
In early December 2019, I brought a visitor from Kuala Lumpur to
have a taste of Mee Ho Seng Kee and I also had a glimpse of the renovated
section of the noodle café.
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| Elton Ho behind the cashier's counter |
For a while the entrance to the café was temporarily shifted
to another side to accommodate the renovation going on at the original dining
area.
When we arrived at the reception counter, I observed the way
the queue of diners waited before they were welcomed to their tables.
With a larger dining area, I saw that there was a system in
place to seat diners in a smooth and orderly manner.
When I was in JB City Square again in mid-January 2020, I did
not miss the opportunity to drop in at Mee Ho Seng Kee to check out the
new-look and enjoy a meal of familiar noodles.
I was delighted to see that the café façade had changed, with the
entrance back to its original position and opened even wider.
Behind the cashier's counter, the affable Elton was all smiles
as he welcomed me into the café.
He was happy to introduce the new additions to the café menu
that included rice dishes, as well as traditional Cantonese desserts like Black
Sesame Paste and Almond Paste, which he was proud to say, were made from fresh
ingredients.
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| The brand name, Ho Seng Kee, is proudly engraved on the backs of these wooden chairs |
The interior decoration was neat and contemporary, and I when
I reached out to pull out my chair, I could feel some etching on the back of
the wooden chair.
And when I looked, I saw that the brand name, Ho Seng Kee
in Chinese characters, was engraved on the back of the wooden chairs!
Elton left the menus for me to pick my choice and assured me
that he will assign an English-speaking waiter to take my order.
It did not take long for me to select the Breakfast set of
original kon-lo-me or dry-tossed-noodles with a dash of chilli, that came
with a side of soup and a cup of hot brewed coffee.
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| My Breakfast set meal with a cup of hot brewed coffee |
When I took a sip of the hot coffee, I was impressed that it
tasted strong and rather good!
I was pleased that the taste and texture of their family
recipe noodles were as consistently agreeable as when it was served from the
stall that Elton and his father used to run, years ago.
I watched as the tables in the café quickly filled up with
diners who were arriving for a mid-morning snack.
And just as I finished my noodles, two bowls of warm desserts,
Black Sesame Paste (Black) and Almond Paste (White) were served to my table.
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| Black Sesame Paste [Left] and Almond Paste warm desserts |
Elton was proud of the Almond Paste, a traditional favourite
among the Cantonese, (even though we agreed that its unique flavor is an
acquired taste!) and was pleased to serve these quality desserts here.
I thought the rice dishes, snacks, brewed coffee and warm
traditional Cantonese desserts, all add up to a better dining experience at Mee
Ho Seng Kee.
When I saw a queue of diners patiently waiting to be seated, I
guessed that the consistently good noodles, customer loyalty, courteous and
efficient service, each play a part in keeping the Mee Ho Seng Kee brand in the
forefront of quality noodles here.
Mee Ho Seng Kee [Non-Halal] noodle café is located at Level 6,
Johor Baru City Square, Jalan Wong Ah Fook, 80000 Johor Baru. Open daily from
10am to 9.30pm.
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| A section of the diners in the new-look Mee Ho Seng Kee noodle cafe in JB City Square |
Read the Mee Ho Seng Kee story under Heritage Trades
in my book, My Johor Stories 2: Interesting Places and Inspirational People.
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