And in that spirit, I guess Kong is OK. It is relatively reasonably priced, but it really doesn't give you a lot back for the buck. It's not quite traditional Hong Kong street food, and it's not quite "dumbed down" Asian food for an American audience, which leaves it kind of floating between in never-never land. I get the sense that the owners sat down with the chef (or maybe they are the same people -- I really don't know) and the conversation went like this.
"We should try to recreate the fried cow's brain in spicy chili sauce I had last summer in Hong Kong."
"How about instead, we make pan-seared beef tenderloin in a mild peanut sauce?"
"I guess we can compromise. We'll go with grilled hangar steak in a spicy peanut sauce."
As in the NFL, restaurants rarely work when they don't have a good game plan. You either win by focusing everything you have on one thing or you lose by dabbling in a little bit of everything. Kong just doesn't know what it wants to be, which is too bad because there is a lot of potential here. The space is very inviting and it is just far enough south that it gets a little bit away from the Northern Liberty bar scene. It could be very cool and very hip and really fill a niche that I think could be really popular. If Tiffin could do it for Indian food, why couldn't Kong for Hong Kongian (or whatever the right adjective would be) food?
I'm convinced that Asian cuisines are going to be huge in the next decade in the U.S., both due to the continuing international influence of the Far East and the growing availability of some of the more exotic ingredients common in Asian cooking. It's as if the owners of Kong understand this, but don't quite get how to execute it. I am told that one of the co-owners (who also own Bistro 7, which is such a different restaurant that it is amazing) is Asian and Kong is an ode to her heritage. I just wish it had been more authentic.
Our meal got off to a lousy start. I asked our waitress, who was wearing a hideous, hideous outfit that looked like someone threw up on it, to tell me about one of the beers on their drink list. She replied, "It's good. People seem to like it." Wow, talk about insight! Needless to say, I steered away from asking her too many other questions about the menu since it didn't seem like she would be much help.
It wasn't that the food was bad -- it was just kind of boring. Tricked-up fried rice with egg and crabmeat. Unevenly cooked spicy beef in a grilled pita with various condiments (the condiments were the best part of the meal). A fried banana rolled in sugar with a chocolate dipping sauce. I mean, nothing was that bad, but nothing was that good either. A month from now, I won't remember a thing about this meal. Which is never a good sign.
On to the full review...
THE FOOD: My main entree was my biggest disappointment. I am a big fan of food that requires you to construct it to your personal taste. If the pita had been separated from the beef, the beef from the sauce, etc., it may have been much better. Unfortunately, it was kind of goopy the longer everything sat together. The first pita was pretty good, but the second was not great. It didn't help that the pita was cold. The dessert was a big failure. It was just a really lazy presentation and not very tasty. At least the banana wasn't rotten.
THE DRINK: My beer was fine and relatively cheap. Kong had some drinks that sounded interesting. The bar was packed while the restaurant was pretty empty. That should tell you something.
THE STAFF: Our waitress defined frumpy indifference.
MAD PROPS FOR: I know it's pretty juvenile, but I like when you go to Kong's website and it screams at you, "KONG!" "KONG!"
OVERALL: I can't see Kong lasting very long in a very competitive neighborhood. There are a lot of excellent restaurants in Northern Liberties -- Il Cantuccio, Honey's, Standard Tap, Bar Ferninand -- that are in Kong's price range but offer far better quality food. You need to be very good to succeed there and Kong just isn't there yet.
THE CHECK: $50 for the two of us. That was the saving grace (get, it "saving" grace. Ha, ha, I kill me).
Before moving ahead, I do have to mention a fantastic meal I had Saturday night at Bolete in Bethlehem, PA. Talk about a restaurant that knows exactly what it is and how to execute its concept. One of the best meals I have had in a long, long time. It is worthy of all of the published kudos it has received. I highly recommend it if you ever in the neighborhood. Shout out to Rone-Rone for arranging the visit.
On to the Ys...
Ineligible restaurants for round 25:
- Yardley Inn -- Very country-clubbish haunt in the suburbs. Lots of dark wood paneling. High-end food.
- Yum Yum Chinese Restaurant -- OK, I have never actually been here, but judging by the neighborhood it is in and exterior of the restaurant, my guess is that it is "Yuck yuck."
I really thought there would be enough "Y" restaurants to choose from, but the choices are pretty sparse. So we'll go with a different theme for this round, presenting four BYOBs to choose from:
- Ava -- Seasonal Italian restaurant named for the owner's daughter (good thing they didn't name her Dumbass). http://www.avarestaurant.com/
- Cafe Apamate -- Venezuelan tapas a la Jose Garces (with different owners). http://www.cafeapamate.com/
- Novita Bistro -- I've been on a Middle Eastern kick recently thanks to Nanee's Kitchen in the Reading Terminal. This is a little more upscale Lebanese. http://www.novitabistro.com
- Ristorante Pesto -- What's a list of BYOB's without a South Philly classic? http://www.ristorantepesto.com/pesto/home.asp
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