Ph. 753-8838
I am a Chinese food addict. There, I’ve said it. As a
matter of fact, when I started writing Dining Out I had to exercise extreme
self-discipline to restrain myself from writing back-to-back reviews on every
Chinese restaurant in
A half dozen family members - fellow
addicts - showed up at my house wanting to be fed. I had not ordered food from
the Hong Kong Restaurant for a while. The set “dinner for eight” seemed like a
good deal. It featured ten dishes for only $87.50. I arrived at the
Inside as I expected, given the time, there was just one
table with diners. They were enjoying food - piled high on their plates - from
a buffet station along the wall. It was loaded up with several different
dishes, all issuing calling card clouds of white steam. The food looked so good
I had an impulse to pull up a chair and tuck right in.
The room was spacious, long and narrow featuring plenty of
green or shades of and several round tables with black coloured tubular metal
chairs. The walls were decorated with traditional pictures of Chinese images
and scenes. A feng shui master would have approved of the placement
of an aquarium close to the entrance in a north corner. Apparently an aquarium
filled with goldfish increases the energy of a room. That helps bring more
customers to the restaurant, which, in turn, increases revenue. After staring
at the lucky goldfish for a few minutes I looked up to see an employee bringing
a boxful of carefully packed brown paper bags from the back of the restaurant.
My heart fluttered. In no time I was unpacking the same bags in my
kitchen.
The Hong Kong Restaurant’s dinner for eight began with won
ton soup. The word won ton means “swallowing a cloud.” That’s what the little
won ton dumplings floating around in the soup are supposed to look like. It’s a
good description. I loved the soup. The broth had lots of fresh chicken
flavour. Additional taste came from bits of chopped scallion and a few slices
of barbecued pork. The delicate won tons were filled with delicious ground
pork.
The egg rolls, like the battered chicken balls - that came
with sweet and sour and pineapple sauces - were pretty much the standard fare
found in most Chinese restaurants. However, the honey garlic spareribs were not
quite what I had anticipated. I was expecting glossy, very dark, sticky ribs
with roasted flavour, the kind you have to pry apart from one another because
they’re so stuck with honey. The Hong Kong Restaurant’s ribs were grey and not
sticky at all. They were tender with a certain level of sweetness but most of
the honey was floating around in the bottom of the styrofoam
container in a liquid. The substance seemed to be a combination of rendered
juices and condensation.
Cantonese chow mein is a favourite of mine and the Hong
Kong Restaurant’s version did not disappoint. I thought the inclusion of
several tender pieces of calamari was a nice addition, although a few shrimp
would have been welcome too. The pork was juicy and the vegetables - broccoli,
green pepper and onion - were crisp. The compulsory noodles were a tad soft.
The beef and green peppers, along with the Hong Kong
Restaurant’s basic chicken fried rice would have made a nice meal on their own.
Several thin slices of beautifully dark beef swam in a deep,
rich gravy with slices of green pepper and onion. A few slices of bright orange
carrot gave some extra colour and flavour. This dish matched well with the
golden brown fluffy fried rice that seemed never ending despite us only having
one container of it.
Have you ever tried dai dop woey?
You should. It has a little bit of everything. The
Obviously I can’t comment on the table service at the Hong
Kong Restaurant, however, the counter staff was quite friendly and efficient
when I collected my order. The gold fish were well behaved too. I’m not sure if
those shimmering beauties are bringing in customers but I wouldn’t be at all
surprised if the food is. The Hong Kong Restaurant’s dinner for eight is a hit
with this aficionado.
The Chinese dinner for eight at the Hong Kong Restaurant
cost $87.50 plus GST.
The Hong Kong Restaurant was wheelchair accessible and the
noise level was low.
Best Points:
Large servings and flavourful food.
Areas for Improvement:
Try another spareribs recipe.
Ratings Category:
The Hong Kong Restaurant’s dinner for eight gets 8 out of 10 points.
7
points = satisfactory, 7.5 = good, 8 = very good, 9 = excellent, 10 =
perfection