Dickson Noodle - The Hong Kong Noodle Place Reborn

Is there anything better than when small businesses (that you like and support) grow and thrive?

The other day we were on our way for a quick lunch of Hong Kong noodles at our local dive (see Bike Throughs and Dive Ins post) and discovered, to our horror, that it was closed.  Among the myriad of workers outside we found the owner and learned that they were not closing, just moving to a new location.  Better place, he assured us, and the whole menu would be in English.

Last week was the grand opening and the perfect opportunity to check out the new digs. Conveniently located in Pinnacle Plaza, by Momo’s, our favored butcher and green grocer, in the space previously occupied by our not so favorite Central American restaurant.

The space had been completely renovated with grey concrete walls, light wood paneling and charming bird cages hanging from the roof as decoration. The kitchen is open and airy, the tables have clever little drawers holding the utensils and very important: a clean, western bathroom for patrons to use!

The atmosphere was slightly chaotic on this opening day; the waiting staff seemed a little bit confused but that is to expect on the first day of business.

The room was full of busy eaters eager to chow down on steaming bowls of noodles, bbq pork and as we discovered now that we could read the whole menu – curries.

We happened to sit down next to a friend who had ordered a vegetable curry, and liked it, so we decided to go absolutely crazy and order something different for a change.  We went for the chicken curry that came with a bowl of rice, galangal chicken, marinated cucumbers and a few soy chicken wings for good measure.

It was all good, not a new favorite, but that is mainly because of the way the chicken was cut. Even after all these years in Asia, neither of us are used to the way they butcher the meat, as if they take the whole bird and chop it up, not considering the bones and amount of meat on each and every piece. Maybe we are lazy, but it’s just too much work. The curry sauce was creamy and had good flavor but the wings could have been roasted harder and carried a bit of spice, but that is just our opinion. The cucumbers were as always perfect. Crisp, cold and with a generous dose of garlic – yum.

Dickson Noodle (yup, the place has a name!) will remain a favorite but I think we will stick to our noodles in the future, and the cucumbers…and the century eggs….and the celery and tofu salad…and the fungus in chili sauce….and oh, we have to go back and try the bbq pork….