Hong Kong Restaurant 161 High Street Phone 793-829 B.Y.O.

Press, 9 February 1983, Page 17

Hong Kong Restaurant 161 High Street Phone 793-829 B.Y.O.

(By

HANS PETROVIC

The term, "Chinese Smorgasbord," can conjure up several bizarre images — not necessarily bad but still peculiar.

For instance, it sounds equally odd to talk about a Swedish chop suey or a kosher pork and black-bean sauce.

Nevertheless, the Chinese smorgasbord has become a pleasant addition to the variety of meals available in Christthurch at lunchtime.

There are several in town and the suburbs, and my most pleasant and interesting addition to the list is the one at the Hong Kong Restaurant.

■ I have been told that the Hong Kong has offered this lunchtime smorgasbord for quite a few years now - but fluctuating in quality. On the other hand, I was also informed that the kind of cuisine (pardon my

French), has improved considerably recently. For example f have heard many good words about the Hong Kong's excellent version on won tons. These proved to be very nice, and our group of three would have eaten at least a dozen. (The only warning is that won ton weighs differently in metric).

The Hong Kong is a typically small restaurant, in the old Chinese tradition, at the southern end of High Street; it is not one of the new, classy (expensive) types of eating houses for this ethnic food which are starting to mushroom in Christchurch. Yet. to me, the food was good. Walking in with two friends. I was surprised to see how many people were there, and how little food .there seemed to.be at the far ■end of the restaurant — but enough to cater for all. If may be best just, to report what was oh that table: Chicken and sweetcorn soup, beef with vegetables, shrimp omelette, young chow fried rice, Indian mee goreng, chicken and black bean sauce, deep-fried won ton, and a bowl of. sweet-and-sour sauce.

As always, the sweetcorn soup proved bland, but was helped by a special request for soya sauce, which was served in a small jug and

The other starters were melon and ham ($4.90), farmhouse terrine ($4). spinach with cream. parmesan .cheese and nutmeg ($3.45).

was sufficient for the two ladies and me for the whole meal.

The restaurant also advertises to serve South-East Asian dishes and. 1 guess, this was the Indian mee goreng, which consisted of noodles (and things), with chilli sauce and five-spice flavouring.

That was nice. as was the chicken in black-bean sauce, consisting of bigger-than-usual pieces of chicken and an excellent sauce.

In fact, everything was considered first-class cooking; and, at $7 a head, the meal was sufficiently large and good to keep us thinking about Chinese cooking for the rest of the day.

Refreshments of any kind, ranging from Chinese tea to fruit juices, are included in the price. The Hong Kong Restaurant smorgasbord is open from noon to 2 p.m. each weekday, but if you are going to be late, don’t come after 1.30 p.rm

and a stuffed brandied pear salad ($3.90).

Inquiries were made as to the standard of the meal by our waitress, who appeared

genuinely concerned that we were enjoying the food.

As the only waitress working that evening, she was also extremely efficient with

no diners kept waiting. After a short break, our mains arrived: fillet of beef cordon bleu ($12.90) for my friend, while 1 chose saddle of rabbit (59.801. . The medallions of beef were topped with ham. cheese and asparagus and arrived more than medium rare - but were still consumed with relish. My only concern in choosing a dish cooked in herbs is that, sometimes, the chef can be a bit heavy handed. It was a relief to taste a subtle blend of herbs and beautifully tender rabbit.

A bowl of salad (consisting of lettuce, tomato and cucumber) and a dish of hot vegetables (potatoes, courgettes. and carrots) accompanied the mam meal. The servings initially appeared light but were more than sufficient.

Their specialty area, however. was in desserts. I have always considered a dessert trolley a cunning idea because it defeats even the best willpower.

As it slowly made the rounds, every diner succumbed to a' sweet. Fresh fruit, home-made ice cream, blueberry and lemon cheesecakes. a choux pastry concoction with strawberries and cream were just too tempting to pass up. Out choices of both the blueberry cheesecake (very light) and choux pastry were delightful.

The menu, which is changed monthly. also offered a cheeseboard ($2.50) and liqueur coffee, but we chose to finish the meal with plain coffee ($1), .