While living in the UK, Kelly and I fell in love with a nearby Chinese restaurant, Eat Well. The owners were from Hong Kong and produced the most wonderful assortment of dishes from throughout the southeast Asian region.
At least once a month, we’d ring Eat Well for takeaway. Our order always included sweet and sour chicken (delicately battered chicken with the sauce on the side) and Singaporean street noodles. Delish!
Since returning to the US, and finding ourselves in the Great State of Texas, we’ve engaged in an on-again, off-again search for good Asian takeway. Unfortunately, we’ve largely struck out. The best meals are eat in affairs, with takeway being relagated to overly salted and every sauce tastes the same experiences.
Except for Lion City Cafe in Plano.
Now this certainly doesn’t qualify as a cheap place to eat. But the food certainly is good and they have no problem preparing it for takeaway if you’d like.
It’s also one of the only places we’ve found authentic Singaporean/Malay-style foods in our region. Here’s a sampling from a recent visit.
Curry Puffs
Similar to samosas, but in a flakier, pastry-type crust. They’re large, filling and wonderfully spicy:
Black Pepper Shrimp
Cajun peel-and-eat shrimp meets spicy, peppery Asian seasonings:
Hor Fun Chicken
Tender pieces of chicken, greens and wide rice noodles, covered with a light sauce:
Spicy Crab
Other fun aspects of eating at Lion City Cafe:
- They cook to order. No hurry up, order, eat and get out is expected (or possible!)
- Husband is the waiter, cashier, busboy and all-around doer.
- Cash only. Cash only. Cash only.
I think Kelly and I talked about Lion City. My experience was about the same as yours. Since then i've found a source for homemade Indonesian food – they make a meal every Saturday, you order before Wednesday of that week and pick it up on Saturday before 4pm. It's the ONLY real Indonesian I've found in Dallas, and Lion City is the only Malay.
Is it a restaurant or more of a family cooking for select customers? It sounds truly wonderful!!! You'll need to share the details with Kelly…(please!)
It is family cooking for those who hear about it by word of mouth! I was instructed to join a yahoo group site that I'll have to send to Kelly. I'll check first to make sure enough of it is in English to be understood