A Review of Sequoyah’s Go-To Chinese Food Lunch Spot, Hong Kong Express!
Image Credit: Dean Adelman
When Sequoyah high school juniors and seniors are looking for a nice meal to get with their off-campus privileges, the first place that comes to mind is the Vallarta complex, which hosts a variety of restaurants, including ones featuring pizza, burgers, chicken, sandwiches, tacos, and critically, Chinese food. Hong Kong Express, or “Chinese Food” as denoted by the sign at the front of the store, is a little-known restaurant serving Chinese-style fast food to hungry students. With a 2.2 out of 5 on Yelp and a Google website link that leads to an airline, it is impossible to know what to expect from this restaurant. Let’s find out!
Walking in, there are a variety of options to choose from. You can get a few different combos, which include a side of rice or chow mein and 1–3 different entrées. The entrées range from orange chicken to salt & pepper shrimp. The meals only cost around $9–$13, making it a cheap and easy way to grab lunch. But the question still remains: Is it yummy?
The answer is maybe. There are both bold and fantastic dishes, such as the salt & pepper shrimp, mediocre classics like orange chicken, and downright bad meals like the fried rice. One of my personal favorite combos is the teriyaki chicken, the salt & pepper shrimp mentioned earlier, and simple white rice to go along with it. These items are consistently good picks, all seasoned well with perfect portion sizes and satisfying textures. I prefer the white rice as my side compared to the fried rice, which I find to be stale and to have an almost creamy flavor, which I dislike.
Image Credit: Dean Adelman
Another common option to grab is a mix of chow mein, rice, and orange chicken. The orange chicken can either be regular or spicy, but the difference is negligible. The chow mein is ok; it tastes fine, if not a tad bit bland, with a slightly chewy texture. The orange chicken lives up to its name but does not go above and beyond. Personally, I find it to be a bit too sweet, so I tend to go for the more subdued teriyaki chicken.
To conclude, I would rate Hong Kong Express/Chinese Food a 6.5/10. It offers foods both good and bad, with nothing being exceptional. What stands out about this place is its proximity to Sequoyah. It is easy to grab this for lunch and run back to campus with enough time to savor every bite. It may be mediocre most of the time, but sometimes that is exactly what you want from a quick lunch.