The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current, August 09, 2018, Page 14, Image 23

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    14 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
Coast Weekend’s local
restaurant review
HONG KONG
TACO CART
Hong Kong Taco Cart
a nifty addition to
Astoria Station pod
Rating: 
1343 Duane St.
Astoria, Ore. 97103
707-223-2511
Hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Sunday, Monday, Thursday;
11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and
Saturday; closed Tuesday and
Wednesday.
Price: $ — Tacos are pricey,
petite
Service: Take-out
Drinks: Bottled water, soda
Review and photos by
THE MOUTH OF THE COLUMBIA
MOUTH@COASTWEEKEND.COM
FACEBOOK.COM/MOUTHOFTHECOLUMBIA
A
port city whose century and
a half as a British colony
ended in the late 1990s,
Hong Kong is one of the world’s
great cultural melting pots.
And when considering Hong
Kong Taco Cart, the latest addition
to the burgeoning Astoria Station
pod at Duane and 13th streets, it’s
helpful to remember the history of
its namesake as a global trading
nexus.
Because at Hong Kong Taco
Cart you’ll find a whole lot more
Bubble Waffle Sundae
than just Chinese favorites —
details let’s talk about the delivery.
like Peking duck — wrapped in
Hong Kong Taco Cart offers
tortillas.
India (another longtime British
three verticals: bulgogi beef, chick-
colony) is equally represented with en tikka masala and a vegetarian
deep, creamy curries; Korea, with
korma curry. Each is available in
sinewy bulgogi beef; and Vietnam, the following vehicle: as a street-
with slurpy, warming pho.
style taco; wrapped in a big flower
Like the city, Hong Kong Taco
tortilla as a burrito; or in a bowl
Truck is a cultur-
with rice. Each
al mash-up.
has its quirks.
And to be
For the price,
LIKE THE CITY,
sure, dear reader,
the tacos ($4
HONG KONG
these regional
each; two for $7)
specialties are
are on the petite
TACO TRUCK
rarities in the
side. The bowls
IS A CULTURAL
Columbia-Pa-
($9) are pure, but
MASH-UP.
cific. I can think
might also leave
of nowhere else
you wanting. The
doing bulgogi
burritos ($9) will
beef (which is
fill you up but
marinated in soy sauce with sugar,
with carbs, dulling the flavor.
garlic, sesame and more), and only
In other words: Find your sweet
one (Seaside’s Saigon Deli) doing
spot. For me, it’s probably the
pho. (Saigon Deli does it pretty
tikka masala chicken, served in a
well, by the way.)
bowl.
But it was the curries I think
The yogurt-based tikka masala
of most fondly after my visits to
is deep and milky, rich but still
Hong Kong Taco Cart. The pho left relatively lean. In a bowl it comes
me a little blank.
on a bed of cabbage with helpings
But before we dive into the
of korma and turmeric rice. It’s
KEY TO STAR RATING SYSTEM
 Poor
 Below average
 Worth returning
 Very good
 Excellent, best in region
Chicken tikka masala rice bowl
Peking Duck Tacos
an enticingly colorful dish of soft
orange (tikka), green (korma) and
yellow (rice).
Should you forgo the sour
cream, the korma is a vegan de-
light, rich and fatty with coconut
milk. It could, however, use a few
more substantial hunks of veggies.
The bulgogi beef’s texture
was as satisfying, if not more so,
than the marinade, which includes
sweet Asian pear. I had the bulgogi
tacos. With bean sprouts and cab-
bage they were crisp, cooling and
snack-sized.
The bulgogi beef is also
featured in the pho, and it’s the
soup’s best feature. The broth
is unadorned, underwhelmingly
basic. (You can also get the pho as
a burrito — the Phorrito — if the
rice noodles alone won’t satisfy
your starch needs.)
Then there are the Peking Duck
Tacos (three for $12), a neat spe-
cialty that doesn’t quite squelch my
desire for the real thing. Edged by
fatty, slightly crisp skin, the thick,
supple duck breast medallions
are stuffed into pillowy bao buns
alongside cucumber, then drizzled
with hoisin sauce and sprinkled
with green onions. They’re good,
not great.
Which is how I felt about most
everything I tried at Hong Kong
Taco Cart: nifty and worthwhile, if
short of sublime. (For something
downright irresistible — and way
less healthy — try the luscious,
gooey pork sandwiches from Hong
Kong Taco Cart owners Abbie and
Dan Rhoads’ neighboring truck,
Hot Box BBQ.)
I have a feeling, however, that
a lot of folks are going to find
favorable lanes at Hong Kong Taco
Cart that they keep coming back
to. Again: These worldly flavors
are woefully rare in this neck of
the woods.
Which makes Hong Kong Taco
Cart a constructive addition to an
already vibrant food cart pod and
patio scene — best enjoyed with a
beer from Reach Break or Reveille
Ciderworks cider, of course. CW