For as long as I can remember, I have been eating at Hong Kong BBQ and loving it. My mum brought me here as a little girl when she was first cultivating me to live up to my Asian roots so I could learn to love one of the meats she loves most in the world. Duck. (Probably second only to goose - not that you can find proper asian style goose in Perth these days.)
I try to take everyone I know there and the reaction is the same. They fall in love.
It's a busy Cantonese restaurant that is full of both Asians and other races which my friends often joke that the best way to tell if an Asian restaurant is any good is to look for the Asians. I prefer to just trust my tastebuds and the fact that I've grown up on this food.
There are a few dishes here that I'm prone to ordering. The pork and century egg congee is one of the best in town by far. Salty and almost creamy in texture. It isn't stingy on either of the toppings and is packed full of spring onions.
Then there's the fried beef kway teow (or you can get it char sui). For some reason there's almost no places in Perth where this actually is what it should be. The noodles are always broken, there's an overload of soy sauce or the flavours are just completely wrong. Usually I'll go to Ten Ten for this dish in Victoria Park, but Hong Kong BBQ is actually one of the better ones I've tasted in Australia.
But when it comes down to it, 99% of the time my ordering is the same. Either duck dry noodles or the combination duck and char sui ones.
I need to say this with absolute certainty so there's no room for ambiguity: Hong Kong BBQ is the best duck I've tasted in Perth.
I know whenever I say this people feel the need to throw up names like Good Fortune or Four Seasons but I've tasted both of those and I can wholeheartedly say that if you want to dispute my claim, please go to Hong Kong BBQ first. Spare me the bad aniseed experience that others have provided.
The duck here is cooked perfectly. The meat is juicy and of actual meat. There's the right meat to fat ratio and the fat sits somewhat rendered in between the meat and that gloriously shining skin. And the servings here, well they're definitely not to be complained about!
On this day in question I'm here with my work girls who have taken me out for lunch to celebrate that its my birthday. Yes this is the start of what is going to be an epic week of eating I am thinking. But that is the best way to celebrate after all.
They both love the char sui here and I have to agree with them. While duck is always my first choice, the char sui here is wonderful. Succulent and sweet, the marinade used is sticky without being over the top. And the little burnt ends get this wonderful caramelisation that can't be faked.
My dry noodles are plentiful underneath a mountain of meat, the vegies a great combination. They all sit in a flavoursome sauce that swans around my plate happily. And the best part, if you love chilli, you need to ask for the chilli oil they make here. It is hot and delicious and so moorish I could eat it on it's own.
This is definitely a rave blog today but that's because for the last couple decades, I've been eating here. And it's still as good as it was the first time I came.
0 comments:
Post a Comment