Whenever I travel anywhere I find myself returning home and craving Chinese food. So on the last leg of our Nanaimo trip we ended up at Hong Kong House for dinner. This was after searching for and considering our options near the ferry, back to Vancouver.
Walking into it we both knew this wasn’t going to be gourmet, but it has been a while since either of us have had all you can eat Chinese food. And after doing a search online the food did look authentic. Then when driving up and seeing the Chinese chefs cooking with fire out of woks, from of the kitchen’s backdoor, my excitement only grew.
This was furthered with all the hallmarks of a traditional Chinese restaurant including golden waving cat, happy Buddha statue; and a water fountain fixture that was no longer operational, and now collecting stagnant water and long forgotten change. There were traditional art work on the walls depicting either landscapes or animals, and round lanterns hanging from the ceiling. All I was missing was a live seafood tank, not that they would needed it given their focus on premade food. Although you could also order à la carte from a full menu, and be seated in the far back of the restaurant.
Dinner access to the buffet was available seven days of the week from 4:30-8:30pm. It was $30.95 per adult individual. We would not eat enough to make this a deal, but considering that if you go to any food court Chinese stall you are looking at two items over rice or noodles for $24-28; so would get your value in the variety you were able to try with them here.
We arrived right at 4:30pm and found ourselves waiting for the heated throughs to be filled with food. I made the mistake of watching this process and witnessing the heated water under these trays. They were a murky foggy off white, coloured from what I imagined is old and boiled over food. That aside the food and cleanliness of the setting decent.
I tried everything and the following are the highlights and what I remembered good or bad. Over 20 items spread across two buffet bars that included soup, dim sum, dumplings, curry, stir fried dishes, Chinese bbq, noodles and rice.
There was also a cold appetizer bar with more North American driven appetizers like garden salad, pasta salad, Caesar salad, coleslaw, carrot sticks, sliced fruit, and jello.
The latter was for dessert along side Nanaimo
Bar and carrot cake pieces, and a freezer unit of ice cream. I pretty much skipped dessert, after learning that it was from GFS and not in house made. I rathered seconds of the savoury dishes I enjoyed the most.
The short ribs were salty, much like the chunks of chicken in the yellow curry. The ginger beef tough and dry, whereas the sweet bbq was tender and available in different lean and fatty cuts.
The deep fried shrimp was on the petite side, and not crispy enough to have shell and all. I did like the flavour of the black bean sauces green beans and found these perfectly crisped with peeled shrimp.
I was excited upon seeing the steamers keeping dim sum warm. However was disappointed by what was in them. The siu mai wrapper was soggy and its pork centre could have used more seasoning. The other was an unappetizing round of beef as is.
Thankfully there was a self serve sauce bar with condiments like vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, chilli oil, and chilli crunch; plus packets of plum sauce and soy. All the above did the work to inject spice and flavour when there wasn’t enough to go around.
And of course there was rice, available in both fried rice with frozen vegetable medley, and plain white steamed rice. I appreciated how the latter came with a rice cooker spoon to scoop it with.
Out of all the dishes I like both of the soups the most. A classic hot and sour with plenty of julienned ingredients, and the telltale gummy liquid texture I expect. This was best when I added some vinegar from the bar above.
The wonton soup was just as comforting and nostalgic. Each dumpling plump and meaty with shrimp and when you scoop a serving for yourself you can just make it a bowl of wontons. This was best with chilli sauce.
In short, this was not the best option for Chinese food, but one of the only ones we found. It served our needs then and made for a fun and nostalgic meal.
Hong Kong House Restaurant
3023 Barons Rd, Nanaimo, BC V9T 3Y7
(250) 758-1558
hongkonghouserestaurant.com
