Bang the Gong for Hong Kong Express - Barcroft Plaza

Hong Kong Express is located in the Barcroft Shopping Center just West of Braddock Road on Columbia Pike between Falls Church and Annandale in Virginia.   I won't kid you on this - it's just a tiny "hole in the wall" kind of place.  Business is mostly takeout but it has five tables in case you want to eat there - wear a warm coat if you do, because the door opens a lot as customers stream in and out for their orders.  And that's the point. Hong Kong Express has such great takeout that EVERYONE goes there for it.  Generous heaps of a wide variety of fresh vegetables are added to your dish, as are large shrimp, tender properly-sliced beef, chicken and pork, and ample servings of rice and noodles if a dish calls for it.  They even have Peking duck (call ahead or go grocery shopping next door after you place your order, it takes and hour to prepare).  The dishes are properly seasoned and sauced without too much salt and they do not use peanut oil in their cooking.   You don't go away hungry.  You don't go away wishing you had eaten somewhere else.   From the first bite, you could close your eyes and be transported to China.   It's that good.

I've been going there for a while.  So long that the owner recognizes me and his wife chats with me, asks about my sons, and shares exotic treats like salted plums and Asian candies.  I'm particularly fond of the pan-fried noodles and the chow foon.  My sons can't get enough of the General Tsao's chicken with a ring of bright green broccoli surrounding it.   Service is prompt, efficient, friendly, and wonderful.  It's okay that you are drinking from a bottle or foam cup and using plastic utensils to eat your food from the colorful plates because you are there for the food, whether you eat it there or take it home as so many do.

Food 5 flies, Service 5 butterflies.