BY ROSEY
615 St. George Square Court, Winston-Salem, NC 27103
336.893.8178 | Hakka-Chow.com
Monday – Tuesday: 11:30 AM – 9:30 PM • Friday: 11:30 AM – 10 PM • Saturday: 12 PM – 10 PM • Sunday: 12 PM – 9 PM
After months of being unable to eat in great restaurants, it’s wonderful to be back in the saddle, doing what I love to do: visiting and reviewing restaurants. This month, we visited a favorite of mine, Hakkachow Asian Eats! It was so nice to stop and chat for a bit with co-owner, Jonathan Chung, and learn about how things have been going. Takeout was a huge part of the Hakkachow business model during the shutdown, and as we adjust to new ways of living post-pandemic, people continue to rely heavily on delivery and takeout as dining options. This is fine, but Jonathan and his team are excited and eager to re-welcome guests into their restaurant. They spent their corona virus down-time wisely and productively, and now have new additions to the bar, including a new Sake menu!
Besides the mouth-watering entrees Hakkachow serves, they also have delectable appetizers and drinks, which is our focus this month.
We started with the Kobe Beef Dumplings, also known as American Wagyu Beef. These dumplings are perfectly portioned and frankly, so delicious. The beef is incredible. If you have never sampled wagyu beef, it’s a specialty that was developed in Japan where the beef is bred to include very fine marbling. The marbling creates tender, tasty beef making these dumplings full of incredible flavor since fat adds flavor. They are served with a soy-ginger dipping sauce and for those who dare… a Korean hot sauce.
Our second appetizer of the evening was Crab Wontons. Unlike many restaurants, when Hakkachow says it’s crab – it’s crab. They don’t use imitation meat. The crab wontons were crispy on the outside and creamy delicious on the inside! They are served with a lemongrass sauce and for heat – a homemade chili oil. One bite is all it takes to understand why this is one of the most popular appetizers on the menu.
When you think of fine Asian cuisine, fries aren’t the first things that come to mind. But I encourage you to try the Kimchi Cheese Fries – especially if you like a bit of heat. A generous pile of freshly made French fries is topped with kimchi and baked with cheese. Other goodies, including roasted garlic, spicy mayo, and Siracha top this appetizer that’s made for sharing. And sharing is caring, after all! It’s a fantastic bar treat while you’re enjoying drinks with friends.
As we sampled appetizers and waited on sushi, we were introduced to three new cocktails on the Hakkachow menu: three incredible variations of the Moscow Mule. Typically made with vodka, these customized drinks are anything but typical…. But what you can expect is uniquely delicious! We tried three: The Lychee Kyotomule that is tropical and citrusy… it is the only one made with the traditional vodka. Our second mule was a Blueberry Kentucky mule made with bourbon, and our third mule was a Cucumber British mule, made with gin. As mules are traditionally served with Ginger Beer, Jonathan shared that he has sourced the very best ginger beer on the market (Fever Tree!), and it’s served on the side for the customer to adjust to his or her taste. Each mule was delicious. We really enjoyed the variety and the precise detail that had gone into creating specialty flavor profiles.
Our sushi special was the Chef Special – a Nigiri platter that was inclusive of a California roll and nine assorted nigiri, based on the chef’s choice. It’s always a little challenging to review sushi because of the variety and…. every time I taste something, I’m convinced it’s my favorite until I move on to the next piece. If you’re a sushi fan, you’ll love Hakkachow! They source only the freshest seafood and take genuine pride in the art of sushi-making!
Finally, Jonathan introduced us to the brand-new Sake menu. He has carefully culled a variety of authentic Sakes and boasts the largest Sake menu in the Triad. And I learned something! I did not know that Sake was rated by sweet and dry. The Sake menu includes the scale – the Sake Meter Value (SMV) – to help identify the sweeter Sake from the drier ones. The higher the number, the drier the Sake and the lower the number, the sweeter. Our group unanimously agreed with Jonathan on his personal recommendation – the 50 JDG sake. It’s a relatively good balance on the SMV that will appeal to those who don’t want something too dry, but don’t want something too sweet.
The Sake menu includes flight options for those who want to try a variety, and it also includes flavored Sake and unfiltered Sakes! The unfiltered Sakes included a Snow Maiden and Perfect Snow – both a cloudy white from the unfiltered rice component. Both of these represented opposite ends of the SMV scale for dryness and sweetness.
All in all, it was a great Rosey’s Review! And while our focus was on the appetizers and drinks, we did stay for supper, too! But we were relatively full by that point and were forced to split an entrée. You simply can’t go wrong with a traditional chicken teriyaki bowl!
Thank you again, to Hakkachow for welcoming us to your amazing restaurant and introducing us to the bar’s new options! We’ll definitely be back! Readers, make sure you visit soon, too, and let them know that Rosey sent ya!
