Hunting Hong Kong Waffles in London
For many years, the food stalls around Chinatown were a great stop-off for me, good, fast and cheap. Originally, the stalls were around the section of Newport Place at the top of Newport Court, protected from the road by red bollards, you could even sit on the steps of the old pagoda and eat.
Here’s a link to a picture of what Newport Place used to look like - on Alamy
The stall I frequented made Hong Kong Waffles(Google Search), which are egg waffles in a bubble-form and I would have mine with a vast amount of Nutella, folded and wrapped in a paper bag. Eating this while walking down the road was a show-stopper, as gawking pedestrians sudddenly felt hunger pangs and looked to trace my steps back to the stall.
The stalls had tacit rental agreements with the restaurants and shops they were parking outside, with the shops providing electricity and cables hoisted overhead with poles. Until one evening, when Newport Place was clear of the stalls, with nobody around. Hungry, I walked down Newport Court and noticed that a couple had moved further up Charing Cross road to the sheltered section oppsite the few bookshops left. And I was especially pleased to find my usual stall there. They explained that they’d all be turfed out and luckily made a deal with restaurant just here. The husband-wife team were from China, trying to make a living, but tonight it was just the guy on duty. He asked if I was hungry, I said yes, and he said, I know what to make you, I make something special for you. Which he did. Delicious. No idea what it was called.
The couple had a baby, maybe a year younger than junior, who would usually also be in the buggy if I was down there on a Saturday, but recently, I hadn’t see them with their kid. The guy explained that the baby was back in China with his in-laws, while they worked here. They’d not seen them for nine months. That must be very hard, I offered. He said, it was, but much worse for his wife. I’ll bet.
We used to visit regularly on Saturdays for Hong Kong Waffles with Nutella, until one day, everything was gone, and things started shutting down. Eventually, the ground-floor of the entire block was rebuilt and right out to the pavement, no more sheltered undercroft to hide from the rain, and it all looks like this now.
What it used to look like, complete with stall
I honestly still hunt around for the stall, but it’s long gone, they’re long gone, I hope they’re doing well.
We went to one of the new shops down Newport Court that advertised Hong Kong Waffles, and I’m sorry to say that it was absolutely fucking horrible, slightly burnt taste and fake Nutella, at about twice the cost. If I could remember who they were, I’d tell you, but I can’t. A complete disaster.
Anyway, I was thrilled to find a short video I’d taken of the stall one evening while he was making me some food.
