New Hong Kong is a Chinese takeout joint in Fort Lauderdale…it has a handful of tables for those of you who want to “eat out.” You can check menu/prices at www.newhongkongtakeout.com. New Hong Kong is open Monday–Thursday 11am-10:30pm, Friday-Saturday 11am-11pm, Sunday noon-10:30pm.

The other day I got some stuff from New Hong Kong…wonton soup, bbq ribs, egg rolls, pan fried dumplings, roast pork fried rice, sweet & sour pork, general tso’s chicken (no spice), shrimp with garlic sauce, pepper steak. Now, just so we are straight…I took the “stuff” home to Boca Raton–so there was about a 30-minute lag from wok-to-table (actually, tv room couch)…trust me, I know that nothing beats real cold Chinese food (maybe pizza does) right from the frig-the next morning—but I have “factored” in a drive-sogginess quotient for this restaurant’s review.

Let me go on record, sogginess and all—New Hong Kong’s sweet & sour pork and general tso’s chicken were delicious. I’ll even go out on a limb here and tell you, that the sweet & sour pork was right up there with the best that I’ve had in South Florida. The other “items” were A-OK, but not in the same league as the general tso’s chicken and definitely not the sweet & sour pork’s… By the way, if I knew that the dish was going to be that good, I would have taken home some fried wontons…sopping up delicious sweet & sour sauce with fried wontons can become quite addictive.

To wrap things up here…

New Hong Kong is right up there with the best South Florida Chinese takeout joints that I’ve tried.

When I was a kid growing up in Brooklyn my parent’s favorite neighborhood Chinese restaurant was Joy Fong’s on Avenue J—now I’m just guessing here, but I’ll bet you that between 1949-1966 (the year Jeff Eats started college) I, my brother, my father and my mother must have eaten in that joint something like 600 times. Now, most non-Jews (the goyim) back then, thought that “us” Jews lit candels on Friday nights—au contraire, “us” Reform Brooklyn Jews were either stuffing our faces in/or getting takeout deliveries from the Joy Fong’s of the world. Back then we didn’t call it Chinese food, we use to say we were going out for C@@@@@—(And you thought that Jeff Eats wasn’t politically correct, didn’t you?) The point I’m trying to drive home here, whether right or wrong, Joy Fong’s “food” is as far as I’m concerned the gold-standard for neighborhood Chinese joint food. Maybe a better way to explain “this”—when I eat matzo ball soup-I compare the ball at hand–in texture, consistency and flavor to the ones that my mother made.

Now that I’ve filled some space and killed some of your time, I recently had dinner at Hong Kong Wok N’ Grill in Jupiter. Now based on my Brooklyn Jewish Chinese Joy Fong’s standards I gotta tell you, this joint makes some pretty good food.

Here’s what I “sampled”—egg rolls, pan fried pork dumplings, bbq ribs, roast pork fried rice, chicken chow mein, sweet & sour pork, general tso’s chicken (no spice), shrimp with lobster sauce. As for the test results, the egg rolls, dumplings, ribs were delicious—same for the fried rice and general tso’s chicken…as for the sweet & sour pork, chicken chow mein and shrimp with lobster sauce–good, but if memory serves me right, Joy Fong’s stuff was better.

Now for the kicker here—in early 1967 my parents, my brother and I discovered Pine Gardens (which morphed into Wong Kee) in NYC’s Chinatown which made Joy Fong’s food look like rookieville. Since Pine Gardens/Wong Kee were so phenomenal, I don’t use “them” as yardsticks, because to this very date, I haven’t found any joint that makes better food.

Let me wrap this story up this way…Hong King Wok N’ Grill is a real good Chinese restaurant. If you live or work in Hong’s neighborhood give it a shot—I enjoyed it and I think you will too.

Hong Kong Wok N’ Grill is open Monday-Saturday 11am-10pm, Sunday 4pm-10pm.

You can check menu/prices at www.hongkongwokngrill.com.

Pekin…basically a “takeout” joint, but it does have a handful of tables. You can check menu/prices at www.pkrestaurant.com.

Let’s handle this one this way—applying Jeff Eats’ Brooklyn-Jewish Chinese Restaurant taste-test circa 1957, the wonton soup, egg rolls, roast pork fried rice, bbq ribs, fried dumplings, pepper steak, sweet & sour chicken, moo shu pork—everything was delicious. A special shout-out to those bbq ribs and egg rolls.

Look! You know and I know that FLORIDA is suppose to have lousy Chinese food. Sorry to report– but Pekin Chinese Restaurant doesn’t fit the mold. The joint’s stuff is real-good. I’m kinda figuring that since its been around since 1995 it must be doing something right.

If you live or work in Pekin’s neighborhood, you now know about a real good Chinese takeout joint.

Pekin is open Sunday-Thursday 11am-10pm, Friday-Saturday 11am-10:30pm.

China Star Chinese Restaurant—actually the name should be, China Star Chinese Takeout Only…so don’t plan on spending a leisurely evening eating at the joint, ’cause you can’t.

The other night I “got” wonton soup, bbq ribs, fried dumplings, egg rollds, roast pork fried rice, general tso’s chicken, sweet & sour pork, pepper steak, shrimp in lobster sauce. Applying my-Brooklyn-Jewish circa 1950′s taste test—I’m gonna rate the food very good. If this one was closer to my house, I’d be a regular there. Just so you know, I thought that the egg rolls and general tso’s chicken were extra-good.

For you guys who live or work in China Star’s neighborhood–if you didn’t already know, now you know- about a really good Chinese takeout joint. You can check menu/prices at www.coralspringschinastar.com

China Star is open Monday-Thursday 11am-10pm, Friday-Saturday 11am-11pm, Sunday noon-10pm.

Kiki’s Asian Bistro…”takeout/delivery” Chinese/Sushi joint in Boca Raton.

Let me make this one short and simple, this joint’s food is some-of-the-best-around. A recent outing had me “doing” wonton soup, egg rolls, bbq ribs, fried dumplings, general tso’s chicken, pepper steak, shrimp with lobster sauce, sweet & sour pork, roat pork fried rice.

Like I said before, takeout-delivery only. Prices are what you’d expect from a neighborhood “hole in the wall” joint. You can check men/prices at www.kikisasianbistro.com.

If you live or work in Kiki’s neighborhood, you now know about a realy-really good takeout joint.

Kiki’s is open Monday-Saturday 11:30am-10pm and Sunday 5pm-10pm.

China Garden & Kin’s Sushi…”mom & pop” Chinese joint with a sushi menu thrown in for good measure.

Let me make this one short-simple…won ton soup, roast pork fried rice, egg rolls, bbq ribs, fried dumplings, sesame chicken, sweet & sour pork, shrimp with lobster sauce all OK—definitely not the best Chinese stuff that I’ve had–but the sesame chicken was on the ‘pretty good’ side of the ledger

You can check menu/prieces at www.chinagardenkinsushi.com.

China Garden is open Monday-Thursday 11am-10:30pm, Friday-Saturday 11am-11pm, Sunday 11:30am-10:30pm.

Manchu WOK is a “national” fast food Chinese chain. Manchu WOK’s locations are primarily located in mall-airport food courts. For our purposes, there are 2 locations in Miami International Airport and 1 location in the Westland Mall in Hialeah. You can check locations/menu at www.manchuwok.com.

Let’s make this one a real quickie…DON’T! Yesterday, I was at Miami International Airport. Tried Manchu WOK and the 4-items I “had” ranked right-up there with the worst Chinese stuff I’ve eaten. The stuff…orange chicken, sweet & sour pork, chicken & mushrooms, egg rolls was absolute crap.

Look…I’ve been eating “American” Chinese food for something like 61 years…my first outing, was back in 1950 at Joy Fong’s on Avenue J in Brooklyn, New York. Trust me on this, the stuff I ate yesterday was absolute garbage. The orange chicken and pork were soggy messes–in addition, the sauces that they were in, almost defy description. The pork-sauce tasted like cherry juice and the chicken sauce tasted as if it was gooey orange juice …the chicken & mushrooms based on my “tastebuds” were msg masterpieces. The egg rolls—tasteless.

Be smart…if you see one of these joints in an airport or mall…pick Subway, Sbarro’s, etc. instead.

P.F. Chang’s China Bistro… national, semi-upscale Chinese chain.

Just got home from eating at P.F. Chang’s China Bistro in Boca Raton. I know-I know-I know, “everyone” loves this Chinese joint. To be perfectly honest with you, my family raves about P.F. Chang’s food….same goes for tons of my friends.

Call me the exception to the rule, but personally, I wouldn’t give you 5 cents for P.F. Chang’s food.

This evening I “sampled” egg drop soup, wonton soup, hot & sour soup, spare ribs, egg rolls, pan fried dumplings, mongolian beef, honey chicken, chicken with cashews, shrimp with lobster sauce—now, no fooling here, I thought that each and every dish was lousy. If you took this stuff–out of its fancy surroundings and served it at a “mom & pop” joint…the bet here, is that the mom & pop wouldn’t last very long. By the way, the mom & pop would probably charge 50% less for the same dishes.

Like I said before, this chain’s got a tremendous reputation… and tonight’s 30 minute 8pm wait tells me that tons of people love “it.”

I maybe crazy…but like I said before, I wouldn’t give you 5 cents for the food.

The way I see it, P.F. Chang’s is “chain food”…I checked the Boca location and the staff does have 2 Chinese employees…one works the kitchen, the other as a server. Now I’m not saying that you have to be Chinese to make good Chinese food…what I am saying is that P.F. Chang’s is “formula” food…anybody can make its food. The wontons were in a chicken broth and were as flimsy as a Kleenex. The spare ribs were covered in a sauce that was so–”something” that half-of them were “un”eaten. The cashew chicken wasn’t even as good as the Mall stuff you get for $4.99. Trust me, your favorite Chinese restaurant does every dish listed above better…and I say this, even though I probably haven’t been to your favorite.

You can check menu/prices at www.pfchangs.com.

P.F. Chang’s is open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner.

Wong’s of Lantana…”takeout only” Chinese joint in Lake Worth. Wong’s has been around since 1993. Tried egg rolls, fried dumplings, wonton soup, roast pork fried rice, bbq ribs, sweet & sour pork, beef with broccoli, shrimp with black bean sauce, chicken chow mein. Real-simple “observation”—the food was OK. Nothing blew my socks off, but Wong’s definitely got the job done. One problem, the egg rolls were lousy and I do mean lousy

To sum this one up…if I lived in Wong’s neighborhood, I would have its menu in my kitchen’s menu draw…you do have a menu draw, don’t you? And… don’t forget, DON’T GET THE EGG ROLLS!!!

You can check menu/prices at www.wongschinesetakeout.com.

Wong’s is open Monday 4pm-9:30pm, Tuesday-Thursday 11:30am-9:30pm, Friday-Saturday 11:30am-10pm, Sunday 3pm-9:30pm.

Pink Buddha Chinese Restaurant…”mom & pop” joint loacted in Davie, Florida.

Brooklyn-Jewish Taste Test circa 1959—wonton soup, egg rolls, roast pork fried rice, bbq ribs, fried dumplings, sweet & sour pork, mu shu pork, general tso’s chicken—let me make this one short and simple, everything was delicious. Especially enjoyed the ribs and general tso’s chicken.

Pink Buddha has been around for something like 15 years and as “expected” is located in a bombed-out strip shopping center.

You can check menu/prices at www.pinkbuddhachinese.com.

Pink Buddha is right up there with the best “mom & pop” Chinese joints that I’ve tried down here in sunny South Florida.

Pink Buddha is open Monday-Thursday 11am-10pm, Friday-Sunday 11am-10:30pm.