Finally came to check out Hei Hei for a Restaurant Week lunch on a Saturday. We called to book,…read morewhich we needn't have done, as we were the first to arrive when they opened at 1 pm. By the time we left an hour later, there were only about 3 or 4 tables of customers. The restaurant is very appealing - dimly lit with lots of black and red, good for an evening. When it's too quiet in there, the main sound you get is the Chinese pop music piped through the system. While the servers were very friendly, they don't all speak English - we tried to ask one a question, but she utterly couldn't understand us no matter what we did. Which is fine, just makes it slightly difficult to communicate a request.
We started with a soup each - hot and sour, and chicken with sweetcorn. Both had that slightly thick, glutinous texture that Chinese soups have. I liked the roast pork strips in the hot and sour soup, making that one our clear favorite. The other soup was very mild and quite sweet from the corn, but not a whole lot going on otherwise. Honestly, I wouldn't really bother with either of them - they're fine, but they've got nothing on a lovely Thai soup with coconut milk and lemongrass.
The next starter was crispy aromatic duck served with these very thin pancakes, hoisin sauce, and vegetables. These were actually great - we assembled them like little tacos. Loved the flavor of the hoisin, the crunchy vegetables, and the savory duck all together. The pancakes are so thin and light, they aren't too filling.
For the mains, we got stir fried chicken and prawns with vegetables and cashew nuts served in a shredded potato basket, and crispy aromatic lamb in peking garlic sauce. We got a side of stir-fried pak choi, and "special" fried rice - I think it had some prawns in it. Both dishes were tasty - the lamb was the clear favorite. Although the presentation of the chicken/prawns was really cool, it was a very mild dish without much distinctive taste - just meat and vegetables in a sticky, shiny Chinese sauce. The lamb had a much stronger flavor, and was indeed crispy, and just felt really unique to have lamb at a Chinese restaurant. The sauce here was sticky too, but it was red and loaded with chili flakes, and was actually pretty good. Pak choi and rice were nothing very special - shame, as I love fried rice normally, but this was pretty bland.
It's really hit or miss here. I'd come back again, but most of the dishes we had were just that typical sticky, gloopy Chinese food type. Not that they don't taste nice, but I just don't find that texture very appealing. I'd say, try the more unique offerings on the menu for the best bets, and you might get a pleasant surprise.