Popcorns and Burger

The other day I was sharing a few casual bites with some friends over at Main Street Deli, courtesy of The Langham Hong Kong for the launch of their new collaboration menu with Garrett, the famous popcorn shop from Chicago that runs til end of August. Well, popcorns and burgers sound like the winning formula for a satisfying meal, and it’s the perfect type to get through the long night before some wee-hour World Cup action on TV.

Not much has changed in one of my favorite diners in town (and there ain’t too many legit ones here) and it’s popular as ever with a near full-house on the random weeknight that we went. As you could imagine, a few new desserts featuring the famous Garrett popcorns were introduced during the time of promotion, plus the “Chicago Mix” (a medley of caramel and cheese popcorns) was offered as the optional side dish to the mains.

I found myself half-full even before the first dish arrived at our table with the caramel milkshake. Made the old-fashioned way with vanilla icecream and generous portion of cream, caramel syrup and popcorns on top, and served on the old-fashioned tall glass, one really couldn’t blame me for finishing this irresistible drink within 5 minutes. And I think their buffalo wings, served with ranch dip and hot sauce on the side, can easily rival any popular “Korean Fried Chicken” joints around town, with the wings coated in rich batter and deep-fried to perfect crispiness. That to me, is the perfect bar snack with a pint or two.

Thank God we only ordered the burgers and sandwiches to share because no way we could finish one American-style portion of anything by ourselves (with desserts after in our minds). The bikini sandwich was an interesting one – taking this from the playbook of classic tapas – with iberico ham, creamy mozzarella cheese and black truffles in between slices of toasts. I kept telling myself I shouldn’t finish the half cheeseburger by myself but I did anyway – it was satisfying with extra thick slab of beef patty - not one but two - grilled to medium wellness and served with the usual sides, two kind of cheeses and a huge piece of the tangy and crunchy pickle spear, done in classic New York Deli-style.

I am not usually a fan of savory popcorns but I do found the ChicagoMix corns, with a mixture of the sweet caramel popcorns and Garrett's signature Cheesecorns, did have an interesting savory-sweet flavor for a change to the normal fries that were offered as the sides for the burgers and sandwiches.

One often said there’s always another stomach for desserts, and in our case, we did feel like the dessert spread we had justified to be called another feast on its own and we definitely needed another stomach for them. The cheesecake (dubbed the Chicago cheesecake with the Garrett Chicago Mix popcorns), with caramel sauce drizzled down the side and with popcorns on top, was my clear favorite, and I still dreamed about it for days after. The banana split was served with even more popcorns on top and generous drizzle of chocolate sauce on scoops of icecream covered entirely with whipped cream – any workout I have been doing for the last few months was down to drain with just a few bites of those. And each of us were given a couple cans of popcorns to bring home to – that surely was the perfect half time snacks for the late night World Cup games. After all I did need all the sweets to soothe away the pain after seeing my favorite team lost in spectacular fashion, as they have always been in crunch time. Destiny - at least the popcorns did help me get over it a little bit.

When? July 10 2018
Where? Main Street Deli, The Langham Hong Kong, 8 Peking Road, Tsimshatsui, Hong Kong
Menu Highlights? The Chicago Cheesecake with The Chicago Mix Garrett popcorns
Web: www.langhamhotels.com/en/the-langham/hong-kong/dining/main-st-deli