Ode to the Nighttime Chinese Restaurant

Anyone who has ever spent a night out in Rotterdam has probably been there: Hung Kee eatery, also known as the ‘Nighttime Chinese’ of Witte de Withstraat.

Here you can go until dawn for the best hangover cures. Affordable, fast and, as many a Rotterdammer can confirm: delicious too. If it were up to our editorial team, every city would have a Nighttime Chinese restaurant.

Chinese-Indonesian comfort food
Asian food is almost always a good idea, but especially after you’ve had your fair share of beers, wines or cocktails. Hung Kee’s menu doesn’t offer haute cuisine, but simple Chinese and Indonesian dishes packed with flavor. Think crispy stir-fried dishes with vegetables and, for example, octopus, prawns or chicken, for nam (crispy fried pork belly) with white rice or noodles, steaming broth with dumplings and gado gado.

In the middle of the nightlife
As befits a good late-night hangout, Hung Kee is located right next to various nightlife spots, such as Witte Aap (once named the ‘best bar in the world’ by Lonely Planet and perpetually packed ever since), the tropical Tikibar, arty-party spots Worm and Wunderbar, Nieuw Rotterdams Café (NRC), and the pubs De Zondebok and Het Zwarte Schaap. After a sufficient quantity of alcoholic drinks and dancing to the beat, this makes it easy to roll on over to the night’s penultimate stop.

Open until dawn
A true Nighttime Chinese restaurant lives up to its name by staying open nice and late. During the week, you can come here until 5:30 a.m., and at weekends until 6:30 a.m. If you like, you can also drop in for a bite from late afternoon onwards, but experience shows that the dishes here really do taste best after a night out.

No-nonsense decor
Don’t expect fancy decor or service. The interior of this late-night eatery is practical and simple, and you have to create the atmosphere together with your fellow night-out and snack buddies. You don’t come back here for the warm ambience, but for the food.

Hung Kee
Witte de Withstraat 61-B
3012 BM Rotterdam

Open weekdays from 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. At weekends, it stays open an extra hour, until 6:30 a.m.