Hong Kong Cafe serves true Hong Kong-style fare

ALBANY — Honestly, who doesn’t love takeout? Every time I say something like this, I run the risk of my own mother reading it because she doesn’t like anything but potatoes, but I digress. Chinese takeout is as American as apple pie and capitalism. It’s a part of our culinary history as well as our immigration legacy. Plus, it’s delicious.

A place in Albany serving up all your Chinese favorites, in house or to-go, is Hong Kong Cafe.

We can all say a big thank you to the Chinese immigrants of the 1800s who popularized the dishes by adapting Chinese dishes with American flavors and a big thank you to the descendants and immigrants keeping the tradition alive. There are more than 40,000 Chinese restaurants in the United States. American Chinese restaurants have even opened in mainland China with dishes requiring American imported ingredients.

I think it’s important to know where our food comes from and the cultural significance behind it. Food brings people together and gives opportunities.

Find a comfortable seat, grab yourself a snack and get ready because it’s time to eat.

I met with Gaoli Chen, a staff member of Hong Kong Cafe who fits somewhere between waitress and hostess. We talked about the menu together and the restaurant’s style of cooking.

“The cooks have experience with cooking real Chinese food and cooking in Chinese places,” Chen said. “There’s a Hong Kong style here.”

Hong Kong Cafe is about an equal mix of Chinese and American Chinese cuisine with dishes like mapo tofu, twice cooked pork and the shrimp with snow peas being more representative of China, and dishes like egg rolls, General Tso’s chicken and lo mein fitting more of an American style. Basically, you can get what you want, and you’re probably going to like it.

For every sit-down meal, you get a bowl of crispy fried wonton “chips” with your drink to munch on before your food arrives. They taste amazing dipped in the wonton soup broth. The au jus police are coming for me, I can hear the sirens from here. Chen brought out a dish of their pickled vegetables as well. They’re sweet with just a small touch of tang. Kind of like bread and butter pickles, but with carrots and cabbage. You haven’t even ordered yet, and they hit you with sweet and salty right off the bat.

For an appetizer, I chose the fried potstickers. So far, my doctor hasn’t found out about all of the fried food. I’m trusting you all with my secret. They do come steamed if you’d prefer. The appetizer menu is what you would look for in local Chinese cuisine so you shouldn’t be disappointed.

The potstickers came neatly arranged in a ring around the dipping sauce. They were perfectly golden without a single over- or undercooked spot to be found. My beloved jiaozi have yet to fail me. The potstickers were stuffed with pork and I believe cabbage with maybe some garlic and spring onions. The mixture was finely blended together, and I didn’t want to tread into recipe revealing territory. The flavor was exactly what you would ask for, and the crunch was a well-received bonus.

The twice-cooked pork caught my eye. The menu describes it as “succulent, thin-sliced pork tenderloin sauteed in a spicy plum sauce with cabbage, bell peppers, onions and bamboo shoots,” so, I mean, I guess I could try it. I honestly don’t know what I was expecting. OK, I’ll tell you what I was expecting. I was expecting pork tenderloin medallions covered in sauce with a pile of vegetables next to it cooked in the same sauce. Guess what. That’s not it.

Chen came out with a stack of food that looked so color-saturated it looked photoshopped. You know when people started describing things as “technicolor?” Add the twice-cooked pork to the list of eye-widening, high-definition, how-did-I-get-so-lucky, I-need-to-put-this-on-Instagram-right-now kind of foods. Even in the restaurant’s dim lighting it was vibrant. I keep pulling up photos while I’m working to look at it. I’m not procrastinating; it’s part of my research.

The plate was there in front of me. I was mesmerized. Is it alright to eat this? I poked at it with a pair of chopsticks just to make sure it was real. I picked up a piece of pork first. I typically go for vegetables first because that’s a good way to try out the sauce without the background flavor of meat influencing you, but since it was a pork-centric dish, I just went for it.

The tiny strips of pork were juicy without a piece of fat or gristle in sight. This was the melt-in-your-mouth kind of meat. For fans and lovers of Mongolian beef, I would 100 percent recommend this dish. This is by far one of the best Chinese dishes I’ve ever put in my mouth. The flavors reminded me a lot of Mongolian beef but elevated to a whole ‘nother level. I’m getting excited just thinking about it.

So you have these tiny but abundant pieces of pork but they’re cooked in this sauce. The plum sauce should be poured on everything. Stir fried pork? Yes. Stir fried vegetables? Yes. Birthday cake? Maybe. The sauce is sweet, salty and spicy. It’s not too spicy that you can’t handle (I believe in you), but then again there were a lot of red peppers, and I have a high spice tolerance. As someone who puts Korean red pepper flakes on literally everything, maybe I shouldn’t be giving spice recommendations. If you can take the heat, go for it or ask for more, you daredevil you. If you’re not into spicy things, ask for them to leave it out if they’re fine with it. Just make sure you try this dish.

In life, I am most critical of vegetables, but it’s only because I care. It breaks my heart when plants are mistreated by boiling and steaming. You hate vegetables because your mom betrayed you. Don’t look at me, it’s true. The twice-cooked pork is loaded with little bites of everything. I found cabbage, carrots, peppers, mushrooms and more, and none of them were overcooked. The vegetables held their freshness but soaked up that sauce in the best way. That sauce.

If there is one small piece of important advice I can give, it would be to bring your stretchy pants. I know it’s hot out there, but if you’ve got your Thanksgiving sweats somewhere close by, grab them and head over. Or, if you want to go full on Joey Tribbiani, grab a pair of third trimester maternity pants and order an extra appetizer. The crab rangoon are calling your name.

Hong Kong Cafe provides comfort food packed with flavor and freshness that hits the spot in any season and on any day of the year. You can find it tucked in the shopping center on the corner of Westover Boulevard and Dawson Road in Albany.

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