Al’s Diner – Hong Kong

Home Sweet Home Baby! It is great to be back in Jakarta but the work load is pretty drastic. I should not even be blogging but fuck it; I have to keep my priorities straight. I stopped off in HK for a couple hours yesterday before flying into Indo. I had a meeting with an artist there, a consultation for my next tattoo. I will write about that later. It is going to be awesome. So after the consultation I headed down to Lang Kwai Fong and pulled in at Al’s Diner for a quick bite. There was a huge sign outside boasting that they served up the best burgers in town. I decided to give them a shot.


The place is set up like a classic 50’s diner, but like everything else in LKF, it is small. But you can’t really blame them because real-estate in that area costs an arm and a leg! Nonetheless they managed to fit in about 10 tables, seating on the counter 9classic diner style), and even a juke box. I was pretty focused on getting fed so I did not even notice if the juke box actually worked or was just for show.

First things first I ordered myself up a cold bottle of Sol Beer. Now Sol Beer is available in Guangzhou but it just tastes better in LKF. I just pulled a 3 month tour in GZ, which is the longest I have ever stayed there in one stretch. If you have read any of my previous posts about GZ you might recall me saying how far it has come and what a developed city it is. After taking a 2 hour train ride over into HK I have to admit that GZ felt like a village in comparison! It really hurts me to say it but they still have such a long way to go. Not to take anything away from how far they have come or what a wonderful city GZ is in its own way, but with HK only 2 hours away I felt like I was in a whole new world. I felt overwhelmed. And the beer tasted great.

The menu at A’s Diner is perfect. It is not loaded with a hundred and fifty items to choose from; it focused on what they do best, Hamburgers. ‘Al’s Gourmet Burgers are 100% US prime sirloin, minced, grilled, and topped with all your favorites. Shoe-string French fries, lettuce, coleslaw, dill pickle, red onions, and tomatoes.’ You can even substitute your shoe-string fries for ‘atomic’ fries, which I learned were the big fat ones with some seasoning on them. I don’t like fat fries.

There is a generous range of hamburgers on their menu to choose from. All the hamburgers have names associated with rock songs from the 50’s. Like ‘Let It Be’ is a plain burger on a bun and ‘It Takes Two’ is a double burger with a double cheese patty. I enjoy reading nifty creations like that, it reminds of the whole Hard Rock Café experience.

For those of you who enjoy swallowing long, tender, and juicy rolls of meat, they also have a small selection of hotdogs with a range of different toppings to choose from. I love hotdogs and I already planned that if I was still hungry after the burger I would have one.

To top of the whole classic 50’s diner theme, Al’s diner also offers a medley of ice creams, sundaes, milk shakes, and pies. I am not much of a desert person in the afternoon so I was not swayed by these offerings. But come sunset I would surly be down for some New York Cheesecake.

Oh yeah… Just suck up that image. I should add that I am using my Canon PowerShot again. The images from my other camera were totally stinking.

I finally ordered a custom burger with cheese, bacon, and grilled onions. I like to keep it simple so I could savor the meat, which ordered cooked medium well. The bread was awesome, warm and coated in sesame seeds. I had to eliminate some of the toppings to the burger would be easier to eat. There was a bit much going on with the pile up. I put on just a little bit of tomato sauce and sealed the deal. I chewed into a few fries before taking my first bite of the burger. They were nice and crispy on the outside with just a little bit of softness in the middle, but I did find a few a little too oily. The moment of truth… The texture of the burger was perfect; I managed to fit a nice big bite into my mouth. I got a little bit of cheese, a little bit of bacon, and just enough burger and bread. As I chewed the mixture I found the meat to be a bit on the dry side. And I maintained this opinion as I devoured the burger. It was a bit messy as most burgers are but still very enjoyable. With great grilled burgers I have indulged in the past there has always been grease dripping off the back end of the burger onto my plate or on occasion even onto my jeans. With this burger there was no spillage of that sort, only sauces or condiment placed on the burger, not any juices from within the burger. This might be the sign of a healthy burger but as you know, I aint interested in that shit. Al’s Diners burger was fantastic but I found the meat a bit dry. The service however at their establishment however was great and I would surly visit them again. Maybe for a hotdog next time.