Cheap Eats - Chicken Soup for the Chinese Soul

It doesn’t get any cheaper or better than Hong Kong BBQ

Those who favor Chinese restaurants cleaned up and pretty should go ahead and strike Hong Kong BBQ off their list. Located in the food court of the Chinatown Mall in Chamblee, the tiny fast-food stand is all business, no frills. Ducks roasted to a rosewood lacquer dangle from hooks behind a glass window smeared with a mosaic of fingerprints and grease. Slabs of barbecued pork in a metal pan soak up drippings from the meats hanging above. The detritus of hacked-up soy sauce chicken clings to the blade of a cleaver wielded with ferocious accuracy and efficiency by the restaurant’s cooks.

Ex-pat central: A large, hand-lettered sign referring to the hanging ducks and pork reads “For display only.” Posted for the benefit of Anglo diners, the sign is tacked up on the barbecue station window and has no Chinese equivalent. The food court itself — dingy, careworn and populated with older Asian men arguing loudly, sipping tea and thumbing through Chinese newspapers — recalls the hawker centers of Hong Kong and Singapore. It’s not hard to imagine the food court is one of the few places in the Atlanta area where Chinese expatriates feel fully at home.

Duck, duck, pork: Diners are informed their meals are ready by way of a cheerleader-like announcement over a P.A. system. The barbecued meats might be the best I’ve had in Atlanta yet. Barbecued duck (1/4 duck, $3.99) has crisp, tawny skin glistening with soy and honey. It’s rich, livery and butter-tender.

Rice dream: Custard-like congee (rice porridge, $3.29) is velvety with the starch of broken rice. Shreds of salty pork and wedges of bouncy preserved eggs dot the creamy landscape. Hong Kong-style wonton noodle soup ($3.79) boasts rich, dark chicken broth as a base for a tangle of fine egg noodles and wontons plump with a treasure of gently curled shrimp.

Go bananas: Banana leaf squid ($6.99) isn’t cooked inside the leaves, but presented on one. Underneath a crunchy egg batter, slices of squid are astonishingly tender. A coating of brick-red chili sauce provides heady fire. We’ll return to Hong Kong BBQ for a go at the soy sauce duck wings and roast pig on rice. With nearly 100 items and filling portions, you could make a second career of eating your way through the menu. What glorious work it would be.

cynthia.wong@creativeloafing.com