This week I popped into Preston Market’s newest food stall, Hong Kong Tokyo, to get some lunch to take away for myself and my daughter Ground Zero.
Situated by the Earl Street side entrance to the market, it’s a place that captures the essence of what someone who’s only ever seen Hong Kong or Tokyo in films and TV might expect, but safely, and without the fear of being punched in the throat by a robot toilet.
There’s a multitude of interesting foodstuffs on the shelves and in two refrigerated units. There’s a neon sign in the shape of a bubble tea cup and bowl of ramen, and there are rows of colourful flags with cute, waving lucky cats printed on them, so far having managed to fly under the radar of Lancashire County Council.
There are a few little tables and bright, stackable chairs where diners can stop for a speedy lunch before whizzing off to continue their shopping, and there is a polite and smiling man behind the counter ready to patiently explain his menu to an indecisive woman who seems far too keen on taking photos of random stuff.
I eventually made my choice and, after being told it would be ready in about 15 minutes, stepped out of the little corner of East Asia to do what the residents of Tokyo and Hong Kong sadly cannot – I bought a butter pie from Redmans around the corner.
I also intended to go for a mooch around the other stalls but got my mooch stuck in Wise Buys Hair and Beauty – that stall of a billion items for 12p that’s existed for so long that it’s in the Domesday Book and is scientifically proven to be the only business in the UK that could survive a hostile alien takeover because they will have what the Martians don’t yet know they need, in every colour. I bought three lip liners and 80 pencil sharpeners and then returned to Hong Kong Tokyo just as my food was being packaged up.
I drove straight home and the food was still hot when I plated it up. GZ and I shared some deep fried beef bulgogi gyoza with a clear sweet and salty dip for £4.80. They were tasty but quite oily so would have benefitted from a good shake before being packed.
A portion of crunchy Japanese deep fried chicken for £3.80 was great value. There were quite a few pieces of mildly flavoured chicken that would be suitable for people who don’t like spice, and it came with a little tub of mild, sweet chilli dipping sauce.
Ground Zero ordered a Gyudon (Japanese beef rice bowl) for £6.50 for her main course. According to the internet, the dish features thinly-sliced fatty beef cooked in a slightly sweet mixture of mirin and soy sauce served over rice. It didn’t seem particularly fatty or chewy to us, or at least, not unpleasantly so, and there wasn’t any gristle. I thought that the flavour of the beef was subtle but lovely. GZ agreed but would have liked the taste to have been a bit stronger, perhaps due to the plain rice. I’d love to try some proper chow mein or fried rice made by this talented chef.
The beef was mixed with cooked white onions, and served with the most perfectly soft boiled, marinated egg I’ve ever seen.
I chose Chashu. I asked the chef what Chashu was as I hadn’t heard of it before and was told that it was pork, but not like char siu because that’s Chinese. It was braised or simmered instead of roasted like the Chinese version, which made it much less chewy and more tender. The taste was also different. The five spice was absent – this pork was served with a delicious, savoury broth with flavours of soy sauce, mirin, sake, and a hint of sweetness to balance it out. It was gorgeous with the noodles, the beansprouts and another perfectly soft boiled egg that came with it, but I could happily drink a mug of it on its own.
Ground Zero also had some peach fruit tea with apple popping balls for £3.50, which she told me was the most fabulous thing ever and now we have trust issues.
Hong Kong Tokyo is another fantastic little foodie find that has bravely sprung up in Preston. It deserves every bit of support Prestonians can give for it to hit the ground running and further help our little city on its way to becoming a really quite special place to find independent eateries.
If you’re planning on visiting the ice rink or Animate this frosty winter season, remember: you’re only about 30 feet away from a massive bowl of that amazing, steaming hot, deliciously savoury, meat or veggie udon noodle broth for £6.50.
Have you ever been assured that round apple flavoured jelly balls in a drink were good by a trusted member of the younger generation? Did the betrayal hurt as much as when you were young and your mum told you that caviar was nice and let you have a taste and then had a good old hoot at your expression? Grass them up in the comments.
I’ll start: Yvonne Gormley, Birch House 1979.
Read more: All of Karen’s reviews
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