Posts Tagged ‘Chinese’

Hong Kong Station

Saturday, March 7th, 2015

It’s easy to drive or even walk past Hong Kong Station without noticing it, but there it is, just a few storefronts away from Lucky’s on Regent Street. If you’re seeking non-Americanized Cantonese food, this is a good place to go.

(One word of caution: the restaurant is not heated (well). The times I’ve gone this winter, I’ve had to keep my jacket on, like most of the other patrons.)

What will get you coming back again and again is the cart noodle. First you select a type of noodle ($4), such as egg noodle, pho or udon. I enjoyed both the Japanese ramen noodle for its familiarity as well as the thick noodle Cantonese style for its ability to pair with other ingredients.

From here, you pick one of three soup bases. The pork bone soup and the beef bone soup are absolutely delightful–you can’t believe a broth can taste this good (not too subtle, not too powerful). The other base is pungent & spicy soup.

Lastly, pick a topping ($1 each), ranging from shrimp balls to Chinese sausage to bok choy. I thought the pork belly was flavorful and the beef honey tripe was tender. The portions are commensurate with the cost, so if you’re looking for a robust meal, pick several toppings.

Among the appetizers, I tried the five-spice beef shank ($6.25), which is thinly sliced beef served slightly chilled with some garlic sauce. This is a fairly bland dish, requiring heavy use of the chili oil that sits on every table. Meanwhile, the egg rolls ($3) were densely packed with meat (shrimp and pork, along with shredded taro) and perfectly fried.

Onto the entrees. The roast duck with mei fun noodles ($9.50) is bursting with flavor. The duck is plentiful and not overly greasy, and the vegetables actually complement the flavor instead of serving as filler. If it wasn’t for the cart noodle, I’d always order this dish.

The satay beef chow fun ($8.50) was delicious, too. The stir-fried beef and noodles are covered in a thick sauce (known as “wet-fried”). I recommend letting this dish “set” a bit before you dig in. Other entrees include beef, pork or chicken in a clay pot, braised eggplant & diced pork and sauteed cuttlefish.

Hong Kong Station is open Tuesday-Sunday for lunch, dinner and carryout. You can generally find street parking on Regent Street, especially on the north side.

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See more photos in our Hong Kong Station Flickr album.

Hong Kong Station on Urbanspoon

VIP Asian Cuisine

Sunday, July 27th, 2014

It’s been a long time since I was inside the building that VIP Asian Cuisine occupies on Odana Road. I never went to Little Manhattan, Tres Amigos or any of the nightclubs. In fact, I think the last time for me was when a Chinese buffet was there, though I can’t remember its name.

The point of this trip down memory lane was that the moment you walk inside VIP Asian Cuisine, you don’t think anything else could have been in the beautifully remodeled space. A large sushi bar resides in the center, surrounded by tables, a private dining room, even more seating in a side room, tearooms (in which you sit on pillows at a low table) and a full-service bar, all basking in a nightclub glow.

It will likely take you a while to get through the separate Japanese and Chinese menus, each of which is chocked full of items from the more familiar (e.g. Kung Pao chicken, crispy duck and chicken teriyaki) to the less familiar (e.g. stir-fried frog, braised pork feet and lamb and sauerkraut noodle soup). There’s also a sushi menu, so let’s start there.

I wanted to order the Love Boat ($60), which has 10 pieces of sushi, 18 pieces of sashimi, a California roll and a special roll of the day, but I didn’t have enough people willing to share this with me. Instead, I selected the On Fire roll ($13.95), savoring its crunchy spicy salmon that contrasted well with the black pepper tuna inside. I have my eye on several other rolls, so I’m looking forward to future visits.

It sounds silly, but I was impressed with the Gyoza (six for $6), as they were packed with a tasty pork mixture that contained hardly any vegetable filler. Another hit on the appetizer list was the spring roll (two for $4), which was all veggies in a knock-out crispy shell. I actually ate it as part of the Salmon teriyaki bento box ($10), a steal that also includes soup or salad, rice and a four-piece California roll. And lest I forget to mention, the salmon was super flavorful.

Surprisingly bland but still delicious was Mao’s braised pork belly ($12.95), which sits atop baby bok choy and shiitake mushrooms. I think the broth could have been a bit stronger, but I would still order this dish again.

I didn’t have any dessert, though the Oreo Tempura (six for $4) sounded tempting. Instead, I enjoyed a bottle of Ozeki Nigori ($11) from the large cocktail menu.

VIP Asian Cuisine is open every day for lunch and dinner.

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See more photos in our VIP Asian Cuisine Flickr album.

VIP Asian Cuisine on Urbanspoon

U-Like Asian Buffet

Saturday, July 12th, 2014

Sometimes a name can be deceiving. When I heard U-Like Asian Buffet was taking over for the space formerly occupied by China One on the west side, I thought it was going to be a gimmicky restaurant. But, I still welcomed a recent invitation to dine there, and I discovered a completely revamped establishment that takes food–and decor–seriously.

After chatting with Sunny, one of the co-owners, I understood why. His years of restaurant experience (mainly in New York) and attention to detail are evident, even in the bathrooms, which also are renovated.

The buffet ($8.95 at lunch, $12.95 at dinner) includes mostly the Chinese food you would expect–General Tso’s chicken, lo mein, dumplings, etc.–but also items like frog legs and crawfish, plus some American items and desserts, as well as a sushi station, a noodle station and hibachi grill. I’m guessing that’s why the price is a bit higher compared to other buffets.

Typically at places with all-you-can-sushi, you’ll find mostly vegetable-based sushi rolls. At U-Like, I was delighted to find more meat-based sushi, including dragon rolls (with eel) and salmon nigiri.

You can pick the ingredients you want to make a bowl of noodle soup or a mixed grill plate. I’m a big fan of pho, and that’s what I obviously chose. The broth was so good that I avoided adding Sriracha to it, like I normally would with pho. I would have eaten a second bowl if I wasn’t saving room for the rest of the buffet.

If you’re not in the mood for all-you-can-eat, you can order off the lunch or dinner menus.

Besides the selection, the other thing that would prompt me for a return visit is the sake bar, which is a new addition to the space. With all the businesses in the vicinity, it seems like it could do a mean happy hour, if you can get over the fact that you’re in a buffet restaurant. I sampled two perfectly chilled sakes, and I mention the temperature because too many restaurants mistakenly serve sake at room temperature.

U-Like Asian buffet is open every day for lunch and dinner.

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See more photos at our U-Like Asian Buffet Flickr album.

U-Like Asian Buffet on Urbanspoon

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