“Live Japanese river crabs.” That’s all I had to hear to eat sushi with my friend Ben and his girlfriend on Espanola Way. Sure enough, when we arrived, a fishbowl sat atop the sushi bar, full of scurrying sawagani. We ordered five fried crabs, which Ben liked enough to suggest as a movie theatre replacement for popcorn. Unfortunately, with each additional dish, the meal became less rewarding. Not wanting to sacrifice any more valuable stomach space, Ben cancelled our impending teriyaki chicken order, we settled our bill and set out for Dinner #2.
Not that we had another restaurant in mind. Luckily, I’m a massive food geek, so I had Victoria Pesce Elliott’s article in my back pocket: “Where To Go Next: Miami,” from the December 2005 issue of Food & Wine. Mr. Chu’s Hong Kong Cuisine has O.A. Chu, the former chef from Tropical Chinese, a restaurant I ate at years ago and liked. Plus, it was only five blocks away. I called. It was open. We were off.
For years, Toni Takarada ran Thai Toni in the same location before recruiting Mr. Chu as chef and co-owner. They converted the space to Mr. Chu’s Hong Kong Cuisine, drawing on Mr. Chu’s deep knowledge of Chinese cuisine, which he began building in his Taiwan youth.
We’d already eaten a full meal, but we still selected four dishes from the massive menu.
I could get used to this two-dinner concept. It may require more time, effort and money, but considering I’m out to taste the best food possible, it’s probably worth it. Especially when it leads to dishes like crispy pork tenderloin with honey-glazed soybeans.
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