Shake Shake! Shake 'Em All!!

Burgers' popularity has been rising in the past year in Hong Kong. When I was young, McDonald's was the only place you could find burgers. However, all these different burgers fast food place, restaurants or just burger stands are opened in many corners. I went to this one called Shake 'Em Buns (a very attractive name).



It is a self-service place, sort of like fast food but a little nicer. The interior design is quite simple, with some bumper stickers on the wall, it gives out a very foreign atmosphere. There are about 20 burger choices. The burgers there have some very creative names. My friend ordered "Magical Mushroom" Burger while I ordered "The Southern" Burger. It also has hot dogs, shakes, wings, just like a diner. A combo is $80, burger with fries and a soda. Not a good deal I must say, quite expensive in fact. Because of its price, I was expecting a very delicious burger. I must say, it wasn't as good as I expected. The burger itself is not very juicy. My burger is not as original, instead of ketchup, cheddar and mayonnaise, mine comes with sour cream, guacamole and salsa. It was a little too much of that "southern" taste. The burger itself isn't very juicy, it's not dry but when you bite into it, you can't exactly taste the beef. The burger is huge though, so if you eat a lot, it should fill you up in no time.

It's not a must try but it doesn't hurt if you don't mind spending $80 bucks on a burger!



Eat Up!
Michelle

Calling all Americans, Chinese, and ABC's

This past week us Americans celebrated July 4th.

Hong Kongers celebrated the turnover.

And as an added bonus, it was also the 30th anniversary of Chinese-U.S. relations.

To celebrate these events, my family took the train to Guang Zhou (a nightmare to anybody who had the luxury of growing up in Hong Kong) and stayed at an ecological resort called Chong Mine. I will most probably never learn to appreciate mainland China as much as I should, but Chong Mine surprisingly has tons to offer. Connected to the resort is (as standing) the number one water park in the world, a zoo that includes a safari, an amusement park, and a circus (with such lax safety regulations) that would never be permitted in a first world nation.

In celebration of July 4th, the U.S. Consulate in Guang Zhou

hosted a standing picnic at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. The concept was genius, and one you'd never expect to be pulled off or be found in the mainland. There were no tables or chairs, forcing guests to mix and

mingle, or at least bop to some American classics being played in the background. Around the perimeter of the room were a variety of food stations guests could pick from. There was: a NY styled cold cut meats station, a hot dog stand, buffalo wings, a dessert table, and a make your own ice cream sundae table. There was also servers serving hamburgers off of wooden trays.

I went straight to the hot dogs. Living in Asia, the closest exposure to a real hot dog was the hot dogs sold at Ikea. As seen, these hot dogs were cooked in a large rice cooker which I found overly amusing, and resulted in them being a tad overcooked, but the choices of toppings made up for the slightly chewy dog. I topped mine with chili, cheddar, and there was actually a hot dog relish made with mustard that added an extra kick.

I always look forward to desserts at these functions. I pretty much sampled everything except the cheesecake (because i hate it), and was utterly disappointed. The apple pie was however, the best I have ever had in Asia, and the cherry was decent enough to be noted. The cookies were dry and tasteless, but the brownies had a fudgy texture that was interesting enough to eat. Overall these desserts confirmed the notion that Chinese people should stick to traditional treats, but I appreciated the effort.

The experience of this event was more worth while than the actual eating, but then again, what would food be without its presentation?

man man sik,

Elyssa Yuen

An All-American Hot Dog Joint in Syracuse

I had the best hot dogs of my 19-year-old life at Heid's in Liverpool, 5 to 10 minutes away from Syracuse. My friend Patrick took me there one time and he absolutely adores this quaint historic hot dog joint that has a remarkable history reaching back to 1917.

And you got two choices of dogs: Hofman Franks or Coneys. Coneys are the white sausages that taste a bit spicy and the Franks are the darker traditional sausages. Make sure you specify which one you want at the counter to avoid blank stares. You can sort of see it in the photo above, the dog on the left is a Coney and the other is a Frank. Click here for a clearer picture of Franks and Coneys. You can order a meal that'll give you two hot dogs so you can try both. One hot dog isn't enough for dinner anyway! It's a toss up between the two, I really can't decide which one's better. I don't know if it was the hype of the place that made the hot dogs extra tasty. But just ask Patrick, and he'll tell you Heid's is his bread and butter.

And don't forget to head next door to the nostalgic '50s era ice cream parlor, also owned by Heid's. There aren't too many of those still left around, so go while you still can. Heid's is at 305 Oswego Street, Liverpool NY 13088.

Bon voyage,
Jenny Cheng