Sunday Beckicita and I went to Chinatown. Our first stop, after surviving the parking lot, was Hing Kee. I was a little concerned that the place would be too crowded, because wouldn’t you know it, Steve Dolinksy featured the restaurant on the Hungry Hound on Friday. We arrived within an hour of opening time, so we beat the crowd.
We both started out with a smoothie. Mine was lychee, but they put some sweetening in and since lychee is already sweet, I couldn’t really finish it. The strawberry one looked good, though!
We ordered two appetizers. The first was chicken and cabbage and the other was pork. They were both incredibly delicious.
After lunch, we walked over to the Ping Tom Memorial Park. When you are getting heat baked and the place you want to go lies beyond the train crossing, it can seem like a longer distance than it actually is to get there. Just so you know, don’t plan on taking a short cut through the park to get back to the Chinatown Mall – there is only one entrance to the park. Also, if you are craving something to drink and you are still at the Mall, consider getting something there before heading over to the park, since there are no refreshments available there (and thus, less discarded garbage littering the area).
We then walked back through the Chinatown Square to the south part of Chinatown, to go to a bakery. Unfortunately there was a street festival, which increased foot traffic and made maneuvering very slow. By then we had spent so much time in the sun and heat, we were both feeling rather tired. We ducked into Ten Ren Tea on Wentworth, and both had an iced tea. Beckita had Black tea with Raspberry syrup, and I had Green Tea with Apple syrup. We both gave the teas 3 tea leaves up, and left much refreshed.
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We also stopped at Saint Anna’s Bakery, and picked up Char Siu Bao and Sesame Rice Balls for later. The Sesame Rice balls have a red bean center, covered by rice (similiar to Japanese mochi) and then covered in sesame seeds. These have been fried so it is crispy on the outside and oh so good, with only a hint of sweetnes!
While an exhausting day because of the ghastly heat, humidity and air quality, we both had a great food outing and the trip to Hing Kee by iteself was worth it.
HIng Kee Phohung Restaurant
2140 Archer
312 808-9538
