Atlanta etc.: Marilyn Wolf's Food Blog and Restaurant Blog

Jason, Jiang, and I discussed work over a very good lunch at Wedding Banquet Specialists. It's located in the Metropolis shopping center. They host weddings during the week but also open up for lunch when they aren't otherwise occupied. Here is our selection.

After my food court dinner, I stopped by Reactors Coffee for a treat. The atmosphere is bright and very stylish. I was the oldest person there by 2X. My brownie was moist, rich, and very chocolaty. The portion was mercifully small and just the right size to accent my coffee. As you can see, my cappuccino was beautifully prepared. The coffee was of very high quality and very smooth.

After a long afternoon working in my hotel room, I ventured to the Metropolis mall food court for a simple but refreshing lunch. I don't know the name of the restaurant I visited---the signage was in Chinese. In the South, we just paint a picture of a pig on the side of the building. Chinese BBQers are much more direct in their display. I went for a mainly vegetarian meal of eggplant with a little pork; the dish also came with a cup of broth. The eggplant was tender with a rich sauce. It was all very filling and enjoyable. Notice that this meal didn't come with rice. Rice was often not served at Hong Kong, which surprised me a little. In the U. S., rice is served reflexively at Chinese restaurants. One more cultural stereotype smashed...

I stopped by Hung Lee Kitchen for a nice lunch during a walk around Kowloon. Note all the languages on the sign; I am not sure what all of them are. The manager was very helpful but spoke absolutely no English. We finally agreed to an order for me. Check out the nifty drawer at the end of every table. That's where you find your stash of utensils. What you won't find is a stash of napkins. Hong Kong diners are generally responsible for their own facial cleanliness. This restaurant, like many others, sold packets of tissues for that purpose. My lunch was salt baked chicken, served at room temperature, and noodles in broth. Very simple, very refreshing.

I'm not sure of the name of this place. It was located near Hung Hom station. The style is a basic Hong Kong restaurant, reminiscent of an American diner. Jiang and Wei took me there for a simple but very enjoyable dinner. Here is my dish: tofu, plenty of savory mushrooms, and bok choy. After an afternoon of walking, this meal hit the spot.

Wei and I enjoyed some refreshments at Honeymoon Dessert. It is located in the beautiful Western Market, built by the English a century ago. The honeymoon dessert is a famous Chinese dessert, made all the better by the beautiful surroundings. The menu has a wide range of desserts but, sadly, no coffee We sampled these two desserts. One is mango. The other fruit escapes my addled brain but both were excellent.

Wei and I enjoyed a wonderful lunch at Sham Tseng Chan Kee. We picked it out from the sign on the street but were very impressed with the food. Duck is the signature dish of the house and we really enjoyed our dish. The skin was very crispy and the meat was very moist and succulent. That's the head at the top of the plate. Pork belly seems to grow on trees in Hong Kong so naturally we ordered a plate. It was equally succulent and delicious. We ambitiously ordered a plate of shrimp and vegetables. I was too stuffed to try any. And here is my coffee, a key tool in combatting jet lag.

Wei took me to a wonderful dim sum lunch at Tim Ho Wan. It is listed in the Michelin guide and was very busy. But we managed to get seated quickly. The kitchen was constantly busy assembling and steaming dumplings. Every table ordered this rice cake stuffed with pork. It was delicious and huge---almost the size of a pound bag of coffee. We kept ourselves busy sampling the menu. Here are some other treats.

The Harbor Plaza Hotel, near Hung Hom station, has a huge breakfast room and a huge breakfast buffet to go with it. I enjoyed my breakfasts there. These photos show just a few of the stations. I settled on a routine for my stay. First course was vegetable curry, which was deliciously spiced to be flavorful but not overpowering. My second course was cereal topped with banana plus a little yogurt. The cereal bar has a wide range of cereals, nuts, and dried fruits. As you can see, the view of the harbor is stunning.

Hong Kong's airport is a shopper's paradise for all sorts of items. Food is high on the list of specialities. The airport's food is abundant, authentic, and surprisingly reasonably priced. While I waited for the hotel bus, I spied Hung's Delicacies. I hadn't eaten much during the trip and looked forward to eating something. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to try good food without waiting another hour. Most of the menu was variety meats but I decided that airplane food had been enough variety for one day. I went with what was billed as pork ribs but was actually a pork belly. It was served at room temperature, soft and succulent. Those are peanuts in the bottom of the bowl. (Why don't we serve peanuts and pork more often in Georgia?) The meat was superbly prepared and very comforting. I barely noticed the scenery as we drove to the hotel.

Eby and I planned our latest proposal over an excellent sushi lunch at Plum House. The interior is very well decorated in a plum theme. Our service was very attentive but unintrusive. We started off with this very nice spring roll. The lettuce wrapper was very refreshing. This array of sushi was the combination of a number of choices, mostly Eby's. Everything was wonderful. My favorite was the pink roll in the middle, which combined chopped salmon and tuna. Eby topped off the meal with some eel (sorry, no photo), while I ordered a nice dish of green tea ice cream.

I decided to keep my dinner in Spartanburg low-key so I headed down the road to Manny's. It is a classic Greek-Italian family restaurant in both senses of the term: it is run by a family proud of its Greek roots; and its easy atmosphere and good, hearty food attracts lots of families. This is my salad, simple but effective. The Italian dressing was classic and very enjoyable. Here is my eggplant parmesan. That is a huge plate and it is covered with eggplant on top and spaghetti underneath. The eggplant was very enjoyable. The eggplant taste came through nicely, which doesn't always succeed in happening. The sauce had that classic Italian tang.

Sugar 'n Spice is a fixture in central Spartanburg. The sign alone makes a visit worthwhile. The line out the door testifies to the community's affection for this place, which has been here since 1961. The souvlaki on the menu testifies to the owners' Greek roots. But most of the menu is burgers and dogs. This is a hamburger all in (I think that's the term), including onion rings, fries, cole slaw, and pickle slices. The onion rings hit my plate just seconds after they were pulled from the fryer. The food here is comfort food, not gourmet, but everything was good. The hit of the palte was the cole slaw. I am not normally a creamy cole slaw person, but this version was just milky enough without being sloppy. The finely chopped greens gave it a great texture. And here is an inside view of the burger.