Che Hong Kong

This is my first time eating here but third time being in the Hong Kong Market. For those of you who don’t know, Che Hong Kong, is a small restaurant within the Asia Times Square shopping mall. You go in and order from the already premade food that is being kept warm. I think it’s all authentic Vietnamese food. So authentic that I had no idea half the food I ordered was. I ordered the lunch special which is a three entrée meal served with white rice in a large to-​go box. It was only $ 5 (cash only). In fact, the entire Hong Kong Market takes only cash. It can be somewhat of a downside, but on the other hand, everything is extremely cheap. Not everyone speaks great English, so it would be very helpful if you could understand/​speak Vietnamese. The food was pretty good but I didn’t give this restaurant five stars because 1) There is no seating so you have to walk around to eat at the public dining tables, 2) you need to carry cash on you, and 3) They serve a TON of white rice. Much more than necessary I think.
If you’re looking for a cheap and quick lunch and happen to be craving Vietnamese food, then this is the place for you. If not, consider walking around at the other businesses.

A friend of mine was in town and he wanted a banh mi. Rather than the local Haltom City haunts, we decided to tie this craving in with a trip to Fry’s and Electronic Discount Sales (forgoing our typical pilgrimage to Dino’s).
The banh mi was 3-​star A-​OK. — It was not made to order, so I have no idea how long the pile was sitting on the counter. The flavor was good, but the items on the sandwich were not evenly distributed. In one bite it seems I got every jalapeño on the sandwich. Maybe I should have peeked inside and done some rearranging, but with all the other messy ingredients in there, it did not seem like a good idea.
Che Hong Kong has lots of other savory options, all kept piping hot in the steam tables. There is also a very good selection of che (Vietnamese sweets), which explains the name.
Bottom line: Located in the Hong Kong Market (
), there are a lot of food options here. Is this best? I don’t know, but it did have a pretty steady crowd (we watched from outdoor tables in front of the bakery). But then again, most of the food vendors had some business. The sandwich did satisfy the craving, so it was a success in that sense.

I was craving roast duck and BBQ pork, and got it at Che Hong Kong today. But after taking the food home, I realized that the roast duck was VERY DRY. It must have been at least 3 days old! How can a restaurant still sell something that tastes so horrible?
I’m sure the owners were trying to get rid of roast duck that wasn’t selling well. But you can’t play people for a fool… Just because you can’t tell how old the food is right away, doesn’t mean you can take advantage of people. They will continue to lose more customers of they keep up this practice.
They have definitely lost me as a customer.

I just started working in Grand Prairie, which isn’t the greatest neighborhood, but its main redeeming quality is being close to Che Hong Kong. Che Hong Kong is a Vietnamese take-​out place that serves about 6 kinds of che, which loosely translates to pudding.
Che is a Vietnamese dessert, usually coconut milk based. It’s best eaten warm but not bad cold either. There are different kinds, with ingredients like red bean, yellow bean, glutinous rice, gelatin, taro, tapioca, etc. My favorite is the sweet coconut soup with plantains. They are all really good, and if you buy five (about 8 oz. containers) at only $ 1 each, the 6^th one is free.
They also have various warm dishes, which I haven’t tried yet. Che Hong Kong is in Asia Times Square, a new Asian mall on hwy 303.
As of April 2008, they’ve raised the price of 8 oz che to $ 1.25. I guess I’m not the only one addicted to che.