So Full, So Happy

Last year, for SG Live 2023, the group I was with went out for Korean food. We saw a place nearby when we searched around for restaurants, saw it looked interesting, and went over. That place was Taste of Korea and while we were there we saw they also had another restaurant two doors down, Taste of Hong Kong. We were impressed by Taste of Korea and joked that the next year we needed to go back and try the other place. And then we saw there was a Pho place a couple more stops down, and there was a sushi restaurant at the end. The joke became us bantering about an entire Asian food crawl, and before too long the joke stuck.

Thus, for 2024 we all decided to do an actual Asian food crawl, starting at Taste of Hong Kong and working our way down the strip mall. Some places were added or removed from our list – the Pho place apparently went downhill and got terrible reviews, so we skipped it, while the Japanese place shut down and became a Chick-Fil-A which I will never eat at – but the crawl was had… and it was delicious.

Taste of Korea

Naturally we had to start the crawl at the place that inspired it, Taste of Korea. We had a group of seven, so for this initial offering I tried to get a couple of appetizers that would be easy to share, along with a larger dish for the table. I settled on two sets of pan-fried dumplings, a milder beef and a spicier kimchi pork, along with a chicken bibimbap. Yes, I erred on the milder side when normally I’d go all out spice (I have my eyes on a kimchi stew for next time), but we had people in the group that really didn’t like spice and I wanted to make sure everyone got at least a little something.

Of the two appetizers, I liked the kimchi pork dumplings better. Naturally they were spicier, although not overly so, but it was the flavor that I felt was good. That slightly vinegared pop along with the spice and pork flavors made the dumplings stand out over the more staid and safer beef. The beef wasn’t bad, but I also didn’t really feel like it was anything special. If I went back on my own, those pork dumplings would be a must get.

The real winner of the show, though, was the herb spread. This is a light and tangy mayo sauce that is very herb forward. Honestly it was flavorful enough that I could see ordering a little cup of it to dip fries and other snacks, but on the sandwich it’s even better. It accents the sandwich, adding moisture and flavor, but it doesn’t overpower the turkey, making for a really tasty spread for this handful of food. This really brings the whole sandwich together and I’m glad that, at least on this front, my Arby’s knew to put the spread on the bun.

Meanwhile, the chicken bibimbap was really quite good for a mild dish. The flavors were warm and almost buttery, lightly seasoned and very tasty. It was a hot pot dish that was best served with a container of broth included on the side, but most of us had it as a chicken and veggie dish with rice. I poured the broth on for my portion after and it did certainly add moisture to the experience, but I think the flavor was solid either way. If milder fare is your thing, the chicken bibimbap would be a good option.

Taste of Hong Kong

From Korea, we moved two doors down to Hong Kong (you know, just like how you travel in Asia, I’m sure). We discovered that this restaurant is a Dim Sum place, or at least it was during the hours we visited. A member of our party (LordFizzlebeef, who has contributed food articles to this site before) knows his way around a Dim Sum menu, so we let him take point and order what he liked. He got a lot, and so there were a number of things we could discuss.

First were the buns. He ordered a few options, the only one of which I liked being the pork bun. Up front, I’m not a huge fan of dim sum buns so I already know going in this probably wasn’t going to be my favorite spot. But the pork buns were good. Light and fluffy with a fair bit of saucy pork in the middle it tasted a lot like barbeque pork, wrapped in a bun, which really isn’t that big of a meal stretch for this American as putting barbeque pork and bread together is a natural part of our cuisine.

Less impressive to me were the other buns he ordered. The bean bun is sweet bean paste inside a soft bun and I just don’t like the flavor of that paste. Sticky and cloyingly sweet. He also got sweet sesame buns, nothing inside, and they were fine but, again, it was a sweet bun. I was there for other treasures instead.

More interesting to me was a serving of jellyfish that was ordered. It was thick and chewy, which likely would put some people off, but it tasted and felt a lot like a seaweed salad like I’ve gotten at a number of asian restaurants. Yes, the bits were slightly thicker, but it wasn’t off-putting because my brain was already used to something like this. I don’t know that I’d order a plate of this again, but as an adventurous option, I was glad I tried it.

After this came a plate of fried intestine, which I just couldn’t get into. It tasted like fried poultry skin, and had the texture of it as well, but like the skin still had all the fat attached. It was too gummy and rather foul in my mouth, so I couldn’t even eat a whole piece. In fact, my stomach was turned off enough that when the chicken feet came out, I found myself getting queasy, so I skipped those and went outside to get some air. Others said the feet were good, if chewy, but my stomach was done with that place.

Sheesh Grill

Up next, once my stomach was happy and the bill at Taste of Hong Kong was paid, we moved onto Sheesh Grille, a Middle Eastern (still Asian) fast casual joint about halfway down the strip mall. By this point many in the party were starting to fill up, but there were a few of us in the group (like myself) that hadn’t ever tried shawarma before. So we all piled in for a weird appetizer they had at the place, something easy to share: Sheesh Loaded Fries. We did this so everyone could get a little without eating too much and, even then, half our group had to peel off because they filled up on shawarma fries.

These fries came with spicy cilantro chutney, garlic sauce, pickled vegetables, ketchup, and, in our case, chicken shawarma, and they were absolutely ridiculous. That applies both to their construction because, really, who puts all this stuff on fries, as well as the flavor because, well, now this is all I want on my fries. The chutney was sweet and flavorful, the garlic sauce added a nice punch, the pickled veggies gave the dish some good, vinegar bite, and the chicken shawarma was both moist and well seasoned. This was a really great plate of fries and I would absolutely go back again.

Supreme Thai Bistro

After this, half our group bailed while four of us trudged on around the corner to our next destination. We did pass a Japanese restaurant, but they were closed until dinner, and then a Noodle and Company, but they barely qualify as food, so we moved around to the backside of the strip mall where many more Asian places were located. There was a bahn mi place, a pho place, a chinese cafe, but we went for Thai so we could share an appetizer sampler they were offering.

The thinking was we’d get the sampler – which was veggie spring rolls, fried tofu, and fried dumplings – and then move on to the next place. However, this sampler was so bad that it kind of put us off eating anymore on the crawl. It was all just so bland and over-fried, from the tofu that was burned to a crisp, to the spring rolls which were somehow crispy and soggy outside and totally mushy inside, and the dumplings which had a filling that was all but unidentifiable. It was a 14 buck plate of bad apps and even then I feel like I overpaid. We had to finish up quick and leave because we were all so done.

Pho 102

On the way past, though, I grabbed a set of fresh summer rolls from Pho 102 to eat later. This is an appetizer every pho place tends to have, and they pre-make a bunch of them during the day, refrigerate, and serve as needed. Grabbing them to eat an hour later seemed like a good idea and, in fact, I ended up snacking on them once I got back to the convention center.

They were good enough but nothing exceptional. They had shrimp and lettuce inside of a soft rice wrapper, served with a bit of peanut sauce. The rolls had too much lettuce and not enough of anything else, but the peanut sauce was tasty and it carried the dish well enough. I wouldn’t go back to get more from Pho 102 again, though.

Cafe Moment

Finally, between Taste of Korea and .Taste of Hong Kong was a boba tea place, Cafe Moment, and the four of us remaining elected to stop there for drinks on the way back. The place has a lot of options, from boba teas to lemonades and even a few breakfast and dessert options. We stuck to drinks for the road, and I grabbed a basic sweetened milk tea (black tea with milk and sugar) with boba pearls.

Honestly, I’ve had better. The tea was fine, tasting like black tea. The bobas were okay, a little undercooked and very chewy, but their flavor was tapioca and not bad. But altogether it was pretty bland. Frankly, the ambiance of the place wasn’t great, with TVs in the back blaring our Kpop while music up front contrasted and conflicted, and there was no one decorating style to unite the place. Seeing that, I didn’t expect much from the tea and it met my expectations. I wouldn’t go back here either.

In Conclusion

The food crawl started strong, and if we’d ended at shawarma I think it would have been a complete success. I was sad the Japanese place wasn’t there anymore as that’s where I’d planned to end it, and the Japanese place that replaced it was closed so we couldn’t eat there either. The back half of the crawl was disappointing and while it didn’t throw off the overall experience, it makes me think next time I won’t get so adventurous and try to keep the crawl going.

But there will be a next time. We already have a new set of restaurants picked out to hit in 2025. I’m already salivating at the thought.