By Andrew Berlanstein
No longer do Northeastern students have to suffer from a poor selection of dingy Chinese food joints. Throw away the Nan Ling menus you have collected from your building’s front door and head across the Fens to the Hong Kong Caf’eacute;.
HKC (for short) is a full-service Chinese restaurant with an expansive menu and high-quality cuisine. The restaurant specializes in Szechuan-, Mandarin- and Hong Kong-style cuisine.
Customers are often disheartened by the seedy exterior of the old Howard Johnson hotel in which the caf’eacute; is situated, but don’t be fooled: The Hong Kong Caf’eacute; is a hidden treasure buried deep within a poorly designed 1980s constructed building directly adjacent to Fenway Park.
Some HKC loyalists have never even stepped foot inside the Howard Johnson to enjoy their favorite dishes. The caf’eacute; provides what is perhaps the most efficient delivery service in Boston, at no extra cost. The super-friendly driver comes from 1271 Boylston St. to apartments near Northeastern in about 20 minutes, and food is always hot and fresh.
With such a stellar delivery service, it can be hard to find the motivation to haul over to the Howard Johnson and eat at the Hong Kong Caf’eacute;; that is, until you and your friends discover one of their Scorpion Bowls. Start your HKC experience with one of these volcano-shaped porcelain cauldrons. These massive drinks are big enough for two and come with extra long straws for drinking from a distance – which makes a good icebreaker for a potentially fruitful romantic outing. The beverage is made with a combination of gin, rum and vodka mixed together with orange juice and pineapple juice. While it may sound like a simple recipe, it isn’t a true scorpion bowl unless it’s served in a volcano and enjoyed with friends. This is true fortune.
It would be easy to order an entire meal consisting of only appetizers at HKC. Tender beef teriyaki ($5.95) served on a skewer is coated in a sweet, smoky sauce; crab rangoons ($4.95) are stuffed with cream cheese and fried crispy; and the wonton soup ($1.95), with delicate pork dumplings, is incredibly satisfying. For the vegetarians, there are scallion pancakes ($3.75), vegetable spring rolls ($3.25), vegetable ravioli ($4.95) and vegetable tempura ($4.95).
The menu is huge, as are most Chinese restaurant menus, but at HKC you will find spiced-up versions of all the classics. General Gau’s Chicken ($8.95) comes in large, crispy pieces of chicken, tossed in a perfectly balanced sweet-but-spicy sauce. For $8.50 you can get a heaping platter of beef and brocolli in dark gravy served with steamed rice. The fried rice is a deep brown color and is full of meat and veggies with a bold soy flavor that’s hard to find at lesser establishments. Whatever suits your Chinese food fix, Hong Kong Caf’eacute; does it spot-on.
When it comes to seafood, HKC goes above and beyond your typical Chinese food joint. The lobsters are picked live from the tank at the front of the restaurant and are served in a multitude of styles, including steamed with ginger and scallions and Cantonese-style, sauteed with minced pork and ginger. (The availability and pricing of lobster is seasonally based.) Other tempting selections are noteworthy in the seafood section, like the fried squid ($8.25) with spiced salt and littleneck clams in a black bean sauce.
Service when eating at HKC is – in the stalwart Chinese restaurant’s fashion — fast and accurate. Waiters and waitresses are incredibly attentive (water glasses are always full).
It only gets better when you take a look at the price and proportions. HKC prices are just as cheap if not cheaper than the lower-quality take-out only Chinese food spots.
Hong Kong Caf’eacute; is at the top of the Boston Chinese food hierarchy. It’s affordable, the service is unrivaled, it’s open 11:30 p.m. or later every day and they even have free parking. The Boylston Street location, adjacent to Fenway Park, is ideal before the big game. HKC has it all, superior to all other Chinese joints in town.
