Hee’s Chinese Restaurant

Hee’s Restaurant in Mill Hill has closed. The chef has decided to retire and sell the restaurant. There is still Hee’s takeaway across the road which runs separately.

This is a very nice friendly restaurant where you are treated as a guest and not as a passer by. The food was well presented and like most Chinese restaurants offered the complimentary prawn crackers, with either chilli sauce or chilli oil or both. Whilst looking over there extensive menu, I ran out of prawn crackers which were immediately replaced at no extra cost. The portions were ample and the beer was perfectly chilled.

I ate here a couple of nights ago with my brother and my mother. We were attracted by their special Sunday-​Thursday discount: 15% off all food. You don’t need to make a reservation (we were seated almost immediately without one), but if you’re going to come at peak times (with their new discount, this means almost any evening after 7pm) it might be worth calling ahead of time, especially if you have more than four people.
We had the Sesame Shrimp Toast, Crispy Seaweed and a Quarter Peking Duck (the one with the pancakes) to start; followed by Sizzling Chicken in Black Bean Sauce, Szechuan Shrimp, Bok Choi and Egg Fried Rice.
Each dish was perfectly yummy. The Sizzling Chicken and Szechuan Shrimp had a solid amount of spice in them, and the Shrimp Toast was much fresher and shrimpier than at other restaurants.
I’ve knocked a few stars off for this venue for a number of reasons:
1) Service. Our initial waiter was quick, efficient and attentive, however we became the responsibility of a selection of other waiters once we were seated. One guy didn’t understand our order. One guy brought the duck, looked at us confusedly, and then took it away. One guy was not particularly attentive to our table.
2) Wait time. While our starters came promptly (and we allowed an extra five minutes of wait time because it was clear each starter had been cooked fresh), we had to wait almost 30 minutes AFTER we’d finished the starters to receive our entrees. This might be because we ordered at the same time as another couple of large tables, so the kitchen was overwhelmed with orders, but if you’re going to try to attract more customers mid-​week, you have to make sure you have sufficient staff to cope with the increased business.
3) Drinks. As with most (South and East) Asian restaurants, this is where businesses make their money. Hees has a fairly pricey drinks list. We ordered three cocktails, all of which were lacking a little in alcoholic content, and filled to the brim with ice (which, after five minutes, dissolved and diluted the drinks even further).
That being said, Hees is a really good restaurant for anyone in the NW London region — it easily accommodates families, couples and business types, and the food is truly scrumptious.

Although Hee’s could do with an update in terms of its ageing décor, there’s nothing at all wrong with the food that it serves: it offers well-​flavoured, interesting Chinese dishes at reasonable prices; and complements them with a sensible (if not hugely adventurous) wine list.
Meat dishes taste vibrant, and the cuts used are better than many Chinese restaurants — beef and pork don’t have any of the gristle that often lets things down.
What is also impressive about Hee’s is the quality of its vegetarian dishes. Greens are fresh and have a good texture, mock-​duck (or other meat substitutes) work well with the vegetables and other flavours without dominating them.
The take-​away service (from separate premises just down the road) is also top-​notch.

Hees has exceptionally good quality food. You can watch them cook it in front of you from the counter. You can see that the place is clean and hygienic.
I find the Chinese food here not to be oily as well and the time (I pick up from here, not takeout) to be ery fast.
I used to get the Kung Pao Chicken, which wasn’t battered at all, a rare and preferred Kung Pao trait.
There’s a certain way proper Chinese chips are done, and they do them here. If you also know the Chinese phenomenon, let me know.
The only thing I will say is the hot and sour soup is a bit thick and skimpy on the vegetables. It may just be a regional thing but I won’t order it here again