A friend filled me in on the magic that is New Hong Kong. This tiny, mom-and-pop Chinese restaurant is tucked into a nondescript shopping center in East Memphis, about 20 minutes from my Midtown neighborhood. Driving past, you'd never in a million years guess they'd have anything beyond the typical bean curd stir-fry.
But girl, they do! They have a whole secret vegan menu! There's only one copy and it's stashed behind the counter, so you have to ask to see it. But it's loaded with about 30 or so totally vegan dishes, most of them made with mock meats. They even have a disclaimer on the veg menu to let diners know that all dishes are free of animals and their by-products, including eggs and dairy. How cool is that?!
I met Stephanie (Poopie Bitch on the PPK), her husband Richard, and their baby Peter there yesterday to check the place out. We started with an order of Vegetable Wontons:
Now, I haven't had a wonton since I gave up dairy cream cheese in 2004. And I used to LOVE me some fried wontons. These were cream cheese-free and just stuffed with veggies instead. This batch was a little overcooked, but still tasty, especially when dipped into the sweet 'n' sour sauce. I'm going to order them again next time to see if they're not quite as overcooked.I ordered the General Tso's Mock Chicken:
I don't think I've ever had meaty General Tso's chicken, but it's such a standard that I HAD to order the vegan version. The "chicken" was wheat gluten-based (as are all their mock meats) and fried. Then it was coated in a sweet 'n' spicy sauce. I love how they included three little pieces of broccoli! Gotta make more room for the mock meat because that's the good part.I really loved the texture of their mock chicken. It wasn't creepily meaty, but definitely toothsome enough to fool any omni. I mean, it looks just like real chicken, right?!
Richard ordered the Sweet 'n' Sour Chicken, which came with a side of that iconic bright red sweet 'n' sour for dipping:
And Stephanie ordered the Mock Orange Beef:
This may have been everyone's favorite dish. Though I loved the chicken, there was something extra special about the fried "beef" chunks coated in a sweet 'n' savory citrus sauce.We'll definitely be going back very soon. New Hong Kong also offers dishes made with mock ham, mock shrimp, and regular old tofu (but who would order tofu when you can have mock beef?). They even have vegan lo mein!!
New Hong Kong is located at 4594 Quince. Call 901-680-0999.
