In the quest for good Chinese food, it's hard to sort through the array of food-court orange chicken, poor-quality meat and cheap-tasting sauces. Thankfully, after sampling endless plates of mediocre Chinese, I stumbled upon something everyone can enjoy. Phoenix's Gourmet House of Hong Kong offers one of the longest menus of any Valley restaurant with reasonable prices and flavorful entrees.
Gourmet House of Hong Kong looks like the typical small, hole-in-the wall Chinese food restaurant. Walk through the front door and you're almost in the kitchen. Avoid the nondescript dining room by ordering food as take-out. Gourmet House of Hong Kong serves almost all its dishes in traditional Chinese food boxes, places them in box tops for convenient transport, and can have an order ready in less than fifteen minutes.
The menu at Gourmet House of Hong Kong is seemingly endless, with pages of seafood, chicken, beef and pork dishes, an extensive soup list, noodles and some less commonly found options like frog legs and clams. The best deals at Gourmet House of Hong Kong, however, are the Combination Big Plates.
Choose from 10 different, but familiar, entrees, served with either brown or steamed white rice, choice of soup, an egg roll and two chicken cream puffs for $8.99. The egg roll is small and crunchy, made with pork and a mix of vegetables, and served with both sweet and sour sauce and hot mustard. Try the hot and sour soup, which is spicy, zesty and hearty, packed with shrimp, tofu and egg. Skip the won ton soup, which is boring and basic. It's made only with a thin, clear broth, chives and a few tender won tons. The chicken cream puffs are similar to crab puffs, fried to crisp, delicious perfection and made with the ideal combination of cream cheese, meat and dough.
The Sweet and Sour Pork is amazing. It's made with small breaded pieces of pork, green peppers and onion and doused in a sauce that isn't too tangy or heavy. Broccoli Beef is decent but slightly disappointing in comparison. The beef lacks flavor, which could be fixed with the addition of the right sauce.
Make sure to ask the kitchen to add some kick to the dishes labeled "hot." The Kung Pao is advertised as such, but comes mildly flavored, mixed with peanuts and diced vegetables.
The chicken fried rice is delightfully buttery. Less fried than the average version, it's not made with the excess of soy sauce you'd generally expect from fried rice. Instead, it's a mix of white rice, sizable chicken chunks and vegetables.
Another bonus of Gourmet House of Hong Kong is that, despite eating one's fair share of fried foods, all the meat served there is relatively lean. Pork and beef are 95 percent lean and chicken is all white meat. The restaurant doesn't sacrifice quality for low prices.
Let's be honest: I've already stored their number in my phone and made it my regular couch fare. Try it and I bet you'll follow suit.
Monday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Friday through Sunday 11 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
1438 E. McDowell Road, Phoenix
602-253-4859, gourmethouseofhongkong.com
Entrée Price: Under $10
Takes reservations
Dress code: casual
— jessica.kokal@asu.edu or foodinphoenix.com.
