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.
***
See more photos in our Hong Kong Station Flickr album.
One last item I had was the doner kebab ($7.50), comprised of Turkish lamb and chicken sausage, slaw, chili-mayo and cucumber yogurt sauce. As you can tell by the ingredients, it was a excellent mashup of flavors and textures. On my next visit, I’ll probably order the Swedish meatballs ($6.50) or the Drunky Ducky ($8; made with maple bourbon duck sausage).
Following is a guest post from Andrea Mace, an organizer of the annual YPNYE, held Dec. 31 at the Hilton in downtown Madison.
