The best way I can describe Hakka cuisine is Indian influenced Chinese food. Many of the dishes I have tried are reliant on chili peppers and have a definite spiciness to them.
Today I tried the Gan-Ben Beef, Chicken Pakoras, Manchurian fried rice, and the Hakka Tandoori Chicken.
The Gan -Ben Beef ($8.95) was served in a sweet sauce that tasted alright, the texture of the meat was a bit of a turn off. It reminded me of jerky and didn't sit all that well with me. I could see what looked like corn starch on the meat and to be honest, it was a bit gross.
The Chicken Pakoras ($7.95) were passable but weren't outstanding. They seemed to be lacking much curry flavour and didn't bring much heat to the table. The pakoras tasted like the cook had simply sprinkled a little chili powder into the batter. I would dare to say that sadly the pakoras were pretty close to being bland.
The Manchurian Fried Rice ($6.25) was better than the previous two dishes but still wasn't outstanding, there were quite a few shrimp mixed in which I was impressed with. The flavour wasn't quite what I'd come to expect from other places I've tried. I don't like the rice to be overly spicy, this was pretty close to the perfect spiciness forme.
The only dish I really enjoyed was the Hakka Tandoori Chicken ($8.95). It was nicely flavoured and went perfectly well with the onions and peppers. The only thing I found odd about this dish was the tiny pieces of chicken that were provided. As you can see in the picture, almost every piece was smaller than the sliced peppers and onion that accompanied the chicken. Taste wise I really enjoyed this dish, but I don't think it would be the sole reason for me to go back to Kim Kim.
