jimswside wrote:lunch - no, dinner - yes.

if there is room that is.

Unfortunately, from what I experienced earlier this week at the height of lunch, there should be plenty of room for an early dinner.

I just passed the menu on to someone else I know working in the Loop.

p-g Thanks for the tip !! had a very tasty and relaxing lunch at HK Cafe earlier this week.
I'd be up for either lunch or dinner.

Stopped in for lunch today and the place was packed by comparison to previous visits...more people dining in than I'd ever seen at one time, and a steady stream of take-out customers during the course of our meal.

Had the string beans and the ma po tofu. Loved the former, great texture and flavor, but the latter tasted like bland stir-fried tofu and veg (peas, carrots, scallions) without a hint of Szechuan peppercorn or black bean. The proprietor must have noticed my sad expression as he quickly brought some chili sauce with which I was able to somewhat rescue the dish.

jimswside wrote:lunch - no, dinner - yes.

if there is room that is.

Silly 'wabitt...always room.

JSM wrote:p-g Thanks for the tip !! had a very tasty and relaxing lunch at HK Cafe earlier this week.
I'd be up for either lunch or dinner.

I will make sure you are notified. Glad you enjoyed it and I love the free wi-fi when I manage to have a minute or two for lunch.

kl1191 wrote:Stopped in for lunch today and the place was packed by comparison to previous visits...more people dining in than I'd ever seen at one time, and a steady stream of take-out customers during the course of our meal.

Had the string beans and the ma po tofu. Loved the former, great texture and flavor, but the latter tasted like bland stir-fried tofu and veg (peas, carrots, scallions) without a hint of Szechuan peppercorn or black bean. The proprietor must have noticed my sad expression as he quickly brought some chili sauce with which I was able to somewhat rescue the dish.

So glad to hear that business is picking up for them. I know that they do a decent take out business for the jewelry folks, but a brisk loop busines lunchers will ensure they sustain a viable business.

These folks are seasoned restauranteurs, they notice everything and always at the ready. Very nice and professional. Do ask Florence about the family's impressive experience sometime, it's quite interesting and impressive.

You are probably aware, but every ethnic group of chinese makes a different version of ma po tofu. As far as the cantonese are concerned, a little coloring (dark soy sauce) and a slight dash of chili is all it takes for mapo. While for the northerners, the ma requires the numbing szechuan peppercorn redolent with red chili oil. At cantonese resto, my preference is tofu in a white sauce with a slight kick of chili or none at all, it's all about the tofu. Other times, nothing beats a steaming hot stew of szechuan ma po swimming in red hot sauce. Again, personal preference and upbringing.

KL1191, we must have been there at the same time...I was there yesterday from 12 to 1, sitting in the south west corner table with a colleague. Great meal and lovely service. Not sure how to upload photos here or I would! Hot & Soup soup was spot on, as was egg roll and most importantly, the Szechuan chicken with peanuts...super super good. Proprieter explained that everything was home made, even the sweet & sour sauce served with the egg roll. And the chili sauce. Would agree with the person who said that these guys are restraurant professionals. Water class and tea cup always full. FANTASTIC value for $7.45 at lunch. Will definitely be back.

For pix, take a look at my blog. (I hope that's okay--I know Chowhound frowns on people linking to their blog.)

Update: Thanks to Moderator Gary for hooking me up with photo instructions. Here's my Szechuan chicken with peanuts. (Kung Pao?)

petite_gourmande wrote:You are probably aware, but every ethnic group of chinese makes a different version of ma po tofu. As far as the cantonese are concerned, a little coloring (dark soy sauce) and a slight dash of chili is all it takes for mapo. While for the northerners, the ma requires the numbing szechuan peppercorn redolent with red chili oil. At cantonese resto, my preference is tofu in a white sauce with a slight kick of chili or none at all, it's all about the tofu. Other times, nothing beats a steaming hot stew of szechuan ma po swimming in red hot sauce. Again, personal preference and upbringing.

Yes, I expect variation in the ways different ethnic groups prepare a particular dish. I guess in this case I was somewhat mislead, by the chili pepper icon on the menu, into believing that their preparation might bring some heat. I will happily admit that the tofu was of excellent quality...but after the robust flavor of the Szechuan String Beans (which were served first), its delicate flavor was rather lost on me.

Was invited to lunch for a surprise holiday treat: Steamed Garlic Lobster on wide rice noodle

It was beautifully prepared, to the perfect doneness, sweet and succulent. The entire lobster was chopped and cracked into manageable pieces then reassembled into the shape of its entirety. They kept salt to a minimum to allow the freshness to shine through, but enough garlic to make it sing. The liquor from the lobster drizzled onto the noodles for a perfect pan 'gravy' (no starch added for goopiness), just natural juices.



Noodles drenched in sweet lobster au jus:



A party tray of Broccoli Chicken came out of the kitchen, couldn't resist a pic, a tray is about $40. We ordered from them before for office functions, and it was very nice. They have a party tray menu, or negotiate for items from the menu and make it a party tray. Broccoli Chicken is pretty boring, when there is fresh lobster.



NOTE: Lobster is not on the menu, but if you call at least a day ahead of time, they may be able to accomodate your request.

Emboldened by the posts from my "crew" here,
last night the daughter and I stopped in here for a bite of dinner after some shopping and theater.

A little challenging to find, and we were the only ones there at 6ish.
We had the walnut shrimp,
and the BBQ pork with Chinese green vegetable, which turned out to be mixed vegetables.

Both were quickly prepared and brought to us, and were very tasty.
The shrimp were a classic preparation, lightly deep fried and coated with that sweet mayo sauce,
The pork was large thin slices, with bok choy, napa cabbage, carrots, straw mushrooms, and zucchini.
We were so hungry we forgot to take pictures and laughed about it half way thru.

One other person stopped in for take out while we were there.
When we went to leave, most of the building entrances were locked and alarmed and we had to leave by the side back door, which was the only door open.

I made it in for lunch. I thought it was a pretty good amount of food for $7.95. The hot and sour soup was better than most, and the egg roll fresh and crispy. I think it's more like a fried spring roll. I had Mo-Koo chicken spicy. It was chicken stir fried with celery, carrots, mushroom, zucchini, in a brown sauce, it says on the menu, chinese greens. I thought it would be baby bok choy or some other green vegetable, but it was not. I don't know that I'd get it again. It was ok, not great. I also had the steamed rice, they list brown rice (which is an up charge of $2.25-rip off) , but they were out of it, or didn't make it or something I didn't quite get.
I'lll be back when it's too cold to walk an extra block to Oasis. They need some music or something going on in there. it's eeirly quiet. There were a few tables that had people when I left around noon. The chinese guys that were sitting at one table, had a nice plate of baby bok choy and fried tofu, it looked very appetizing. Looks like the way to go there may be family style.

Three of us ate there yesterday. I had the Mandarin beef with 'chinese greens', sesame chix and aother chix dish. The place was not fully occupied during the peak lunch hour. They have to get a sandwich board for the street level and a neon sign for the window to attract walk in. The hot and sour soup was tepid but the rest of the food was piping hot. The sesame chix was good-not too sweet and crunchy. The beef was a tad bland-I will order spicy next time. The greens are disappointing-basically cabbage and some onions and zuchinni. My husband has eaten there several times and they give him extra chili sauce which he likes. The people are so nice and it is such a mellow atmoshpere. You get a ton of fresh cooked food at basically the same price as 65 and Panda and it is way better.

Judging by my one visit, the off menu stuff is far better than the run of the mill standards that are so prevalent on their menu. I hope they take the initiative and print up a "secret menu". I think they are doing themselves a real disservice by not featuring the food that sets them apart from other run of the mill Loop Chinese food joints.

Had lunch there today, solo. Late-ish for lunch---a bit after 2:00. Was alone in the dining room reading the New Yorker (and probably looking like a New Yorker cover while doing so---perhaps a Sempe, but more likely a Booth).

Just had the lunch special and for $7.45 ($8.20 w/ tax), thoroughly enjoyed myself.

The main good thing, was that while a superficial glance would not reveal much difference between this food and other standard issue Mandarin with shiny sauces and too much oil and salt, tucking in seemed to reveal that everything had been chopped or sliced recently, by a human, evidently right in the vicinity.

The eggroll, in a light-colored flakey wrapper as opposed to the standard thick, crunchy, blistered type (which, frankly, I also enjoy), was filled with veggies that appeared not to have been frozen. It turned out to be a bit oilier overall than i expected, but not bad. The violently colored dipping sauce needed it's flavor to come a bit closer to it's color in punch and presence, but again, not bad.
Hot and sour soup also looked as if the ingredients had been cut on premises, by a person, and actually put in the soup. The soup itself was a bit thick, but not the viscous sludge one so often finds, and the heat was nicely balanced allowing other flavors to come through. I could have used a bit more on the "sour" side, but still enjoyed it.
My orange peel beef was very nice. There was honest-to-God peel. And whole dried red chilies. And the shiny sauce was neither sweet nor tasteless, nor was the dish drowned in it.
The side of fried rice was virtually greaseless and by no means an afterthought.
The waitress was very friendly and I look forward to returning. Could be one of my favorite cheap lunches in the loop---combining price, ambience, and fresh food in hard-to-find proportion.
All in all, I prefer a bit more flavor/seasoning punch in almost all my dishes, but what they do, they seem to do consciously in a consistent style. It's a nice, plain, pleasant room with enough space to meet people and talk. It gets you nicely away from the street noise and weather, which so many inexpensive storefronts can't do. A real little find.

I've had the salt and pepper fish on the lunch special menu a couple of times and it's decent by any standard and a great option in the Loop certainly. It is a spring roll rather than egg roll that comes with it. I think it says that on the menu and I greatly prefer spring rolls anyway. I've had the dry beef chow fun a couple times. It's okay and certainly better than anywhere else I can think of in the Loop but could be a little drier, if that makes any sense.

The people running this place are beyond nice.

Did anything come of a lunch/dinner? I went there today, and if the lack of lunch crowd is any indication, you may want to do it soon. I had a lackluster lunch today. Really quite terrible. The soup and egg roll was good as always, but the schezwan beef was a gloppy deep fried mess. It was very sweet, which I was not expecting at all since it had a little red pepper next to it on the menu. I also wasn't expecting the beef to be coated and deep fried. I just didn't think to ask on this menu item. The only vegetable was a sprig of steamed broccoli. Wish there was a lot more of that. I asked her a question about the hot beef noodle soup, but she didn't really understand the noodle question said they were thick. that didn't mean much to me, but I didn't want thick noodles in any case.

Is this in the old Maller's space (the deli)?

jlawrence01 wrote:Is this in the old Maller's space (the deli)?

Others can confirm, but I think it is. The old fashion diner counter is still there, swiveling counter tools and all. Art deco like green formica counter. The coffee maker is used to be brew hot water for tea now.

jlawrence01 wrote:Is this in the old Maller's space (the deli)?

Yes.

We're thinking of stopping by for a late(ish) lunch. Seems like a good bet is to ask for something custom (crispy chow fun with veg and tofu would be one idea). Since we're not meat eaters, any other ideas? Thanks.

I would really like to nominate this place as well. Given the neighborhood, you really can't get any more GNR than this. It's the kind of place that you would expect to find in the middle of any neighborhooods or Chinatown, rather than in smack dab in the Loop.

Like Aroy and Spoon, their "american" chinese is good, but their more authentic items are better. Any of their chow fun noodles are delicious. Their sweet & sour dishes are my favorite as well. If you like S&S, ask for the HongKong style s&s pork version. It's sliced pork that is floured just enough to be slightly crispy and soak up all the delicious sauce rather than a thick battered.

Whether you work in the Loop, spending a tourist day with out-of-town friends or family, unfortunate court date, or other business in the Loop, it's a great choice for lunch instead of the usual chains or large restaurant group franchises. And for dinner, it's even better, it's BYOB.

Mention that you saw them on LTH, and ask for recommendations on more authentic options. Perhaps, one of my favorite, a funky steamed ground pork "cake" with salted fish. It's not really a "cake", they use the term due to it's shape after steaming. Wonderful with steamed rice, and some fresh greens simply sauteed with garlic on the side. The stir-fried "dry" green beens is really good, too.

petite_gourmande wrote: Perhaps, one of my favorite, a funky steamed ground pork "cake" with salted fish. It's not really a "cake", they use the term due to it's shape after steaming. Wonderful with steamed rice, and some fresh greens simply sauteed with garlic on the side. The stir-fried "dry" green beens is really good, too.

I'm having a biz lunch at HKC later this week; I intend to have both the steamed pork cake and the beans.

David Hammond wrote:

petite_gourmande wrote: Perhaps, one of my favorite, a funky steamed ground pork "cake" with salted fish. It's not really a "cake", they use the term due to it's shape after steaming. Wonderful with steamed rice, and some fresh greens simply sauteed with garlic on the side. The stir-fried "dry" green beens is really good, too.

I'm having a biz lunch at HKC later this week; I intend to have both the steamed pork cake and the beans.

Do call ahead and order in advance. Ask if they have the sesame balls as well. It's a nice finish with good cup of jasmine tea.

As a treat one day, they picked up some live lobsters steamed with garlic on a bed of chow fun. OMG! I was so glad I didn't have to share it anyone. It was plate licking good. I think I did manage to slurp up every drop of garlicky lobster liquor under the guise of spooning up the last bit of chow fun.

I popped into HKC for lunch recently, and I enjoyed it. Unfortunately, this was an unexpected visit and I was not armed with a device that could access LTH and help me order, so I winged it. The sauce for the orange peel beef had good flavor and an impressively thin julienne of orange peel. I like the dish despite the fact that the meat itself had little flavor and was coated with something that came out unpleasantly mushy. The hot and sour soup was good enough, though it could have been both hotter and more sour for my taste. I enjoyed it more with the addition of the still-relatively-tame housemade chili oil. Friendly-as-can-be staff and good food. I'd go back.

We started, upon Florence’s suggestion, with Crab Rangoon, one of the more maligned of Americo-Cantonese dishes.



My dining companion and I had 8 of them between us, and we ate them all. They were very delicate, hand-formed pastries, and yes they contained krab not crab, with an indiscernible amount of cream cheese, quite tasty and nice. I liked them.

Petite-gourmand suggested the steamed ground pork cake, and I dug it:



Like much mild Cantonese chow, this dish benefited from house-made chili oil; it was quite elemental: meat, salt, pepper, sugar, and a little soy sauce (according to Florence). Satsifying, and The Wife enjoyed it the next day for lunch (she thought there was rice in there, too, but I doubt that).

I hadn’t been in this building since 1970, when I bought a Longines watch on sale (75% off) for $50. When I take this watch in for cleaning, the folks behind the counter marvel at the jewel movement: “Where the hell did you get this?”

I like this place. All of it.

Did you order the steamed ground pork cake with salted fish? Or just plain? Dried mushroom?

Florence couldn't believe that gringos would like something as funky salted fish.

I don't think there is any rice in the ground pork cake. They do add some flour or starch for binding as well as that smooth slick texture, but not sure about actual rice. They don't usually add any fillers such as rice in it, rice flour at times in things such as turnip cakes.

We prepare it at home at times, but it's not easy getting that texture, consistency, and flavor just right. At home, it tends to get too hard and dry.

They are classic Cantonese so the flavor is more subtle and clean, which is more reminiscent to soothing home cooking comfort food.

petite_gourmande wrote:Did you order the steamed ground pork cake with salted fish? Or just plain? Dried mushroom?

We ordered it plain.

I think Florence's suggestion of the Crab Rangoon was based on her assumption that it would be something we'd like.

David Hammond wrote:

petite_gourmande wrote:Did you order the steamed ground pork cake with salted fish? Or just plain? Dried mushroom?

We ordered it plain.

I think Florence's suggestion of the Crab Rangoon was based on her assumption that it would be something we'd like.

They have a version of crab ragoon that doesn't have cream cheese, which is more like a shrimp paste that I like. Any excuse for fried food and the sweet and sour sauce. I still like me, my American Chinese eggroll. The banana that I am.

petite_gourmande wrote:

David Hammond wrote:

petite_gourmande wrote:Did you order the steamed ground pork cake with salted fish? Or just plain? Dried mushroom?

We ordered it plain.

I think Florence's suggestion of the Crab Rangoon was based on her assumption that it would be something we'd like.

They have a version of crab ragoon that doesn't have cream cheese, which is more like a shrimp paste that I like. Any excuse for fried food and the sweet and sour sauce. I still like me, my American Chinese eggroll. The banana that I am.

That sounds like the one we had; there was a shrimp taste but the coloration screamed surimi.

Banana, hunh? Haven't heard that one before.

Banana, hunh? Haven't heard that one before.

The term 'identity crisis' was mentioned, until the more constructive and chic term, 'global citizen' came about. Spotty to be sure, but somewhat global, nomadic.

Sometimes we're also known as twinkies

Both Yelp and Foursquare are reporting the Hong Kong Cafe has gone out of business. Anyone know the story?