Hong Kong Restaurant of Memphis on Elvis Presley Blvd…read more...
You know what, first impressions the Hong Kongnese owners seem like as*holes with that Ronny Chieng "Give me your money and f*ck off vibes.." but hey, you know what, they get a pass.. I totally understand....when you in a neighborhood and you once gave a damn about dining in, then COVID hits, and everything is worn down, carpets need revamping, wallpaper needs proper care, customers *some* are difficult to deal with, as a owner, you say, "f*ckit, if they want our food, they come stand in line and do take out."
And so it was at that moment, having driven my rig into the WhiteHaven Plaza, making sure I didn't piss off the patrolling security and walking into this forgotten time capsule that I realized....what is this place ....social security and family help services....a dimly lit lamp of an Asian Pawn Shop owner taking orders at a window with a warm spot light on him, with green hues around...a ton of black people....hear me out, this is culture shock.. I've lived in South Dallas before, I've been around black folk...but to be the only Asian customer in line, and for the entirety of the 1 hours to 2 hours there not seeing any white people....that's a first! Well...come to think of it, living in Los Angeles over the decades...never really venture out to Compton or Crenshaw back in the days to have Chinese food, so if this many Black People all line up and spend their hard earned monies on Hong Kong Restaurant.....must be some DAMN good Chinese food.
AND YES!!!!!! After placing my order and getting everything packed in a paper bag, I dug everything out went right in and I said, "Hong Kong Uncle and Auntie....you guys have EVERY RIGHT to be A**holes....Keep serving the community!!!" Food was Grade A in a Grade F environment.
The Hong Kong Original Chicken Wings...you know what it reminded me of? You can't really find these in LA...it's like Foil Wrapped Chicken marinaded in Teriyaki, White Pepper, MSG, and Cinnamon, then fried. So much goodness, so much flavor, and having not had anything remotely close to foil wrap chicken since...2017 when I was working in a remote kitchen in bum f*ck nowhere RockSprings Wyoming....this was a piece of heaven!
The Hot & Sour Soup...靠!!! 真他媽好喝!! Sorry translation, "so f*cking good!!!" I wanted to light a cigarette up indoors (because this place gives off indoor smoking permitted vibes) and just slowly savor the hot and sour soup packed with so much ingredients, not overwhelmed with bamboo shoots, with decent amounts of mushrooms but not those woodear shroom, this is American Hot & Sour Soup 2.0, the evolved form that fits non-Chinese people palates, and I downed an entire Large Container of it, not a drop wasted!
And then I move onto the holy grails....Hong Kong Restaurant House Fried Rice and Kung Pao Chicken!
Since I'm a traveling blue collared tourist, and don't really get to experience the dining scene in a town like Memphis unless I'm at a nearby Logistics Hub experiencing some down time and I get to explore town....having not tried any other Chinese restaurant and this being the only other fried rice I've tried between the states of Oklahoma, Arkansas and Tennessee.......
Hong Kong's House Fried Rice is singlehandedly probably the best Fried Rice I've had since my days back in 2018s working up in Greeley Colorado with a Guangzhou Super Chef and up in Monterey California with another old timer Chinese Chef when they used to make staff meals and you thoroughly enjoyed the fried rice, every overnight grain, coated with msg, soy sauce, scallions. Onions, garlic, thrown into a Wok with High Bursting Flames, charring each grain, giving each grain that solidarity, smoking flavor....ya, this is the type of fried rice you can only experience with true OG Chinese Chefs, or at the very least, the owners need to know the elements that goes into making genuine Cantonese soy sauce fried rice. Absolute chef's kiss. Here in a worn down Chinese restaurant, with owners that really just DGAF, but they kept the soul of the food intact, they look toward retirement, maybe look towards getting out of there, but because they make Good food, and they love money more, and people just keep lining up for takeout here making Panda Express look amateur....I'm gonna say it...Uncle and Auntie are the most low key millionaires......
As for the Kung Pao Chicken, a tad bit too much gravy, but I finished it all in two sittings. Americanized Kung Pao Chicken, way better than Pandas.
So to all the tourists on Yelp Questioning this place. This is probably the equivalent of Elvis Presley's Historical Landmark Mansion couple blocks down but for Chinese food in the state of Tennessee..just go..be enlightened.