I know we've been discussing a lot of restaurants lately and major reason for that has been in part to the weather. With it getting colder outside the weekend activities have been drying up, and we have been spending more time indoors. Plus, isn't this the time to start storing up fat for the winter? :)
A few days ago my sister passed along a Southern Living article to me about a few Buford Highway restaurants. The article profiled a Doraville "non-rice" Chinese restaurant called Chef Liu. With only a two sentence description that mentioned "succulent pork pillows", "pizza-sized leek pie", and a staff that speaks no english- my interest was definitely piqued.
The restaurant is located in a large strip shopping center (Pine Tree Plaza) next to a wholesale lingerie and hip-hop jewelry store just inside I-285 off of Buford Highway. The bright lights were definitely a great beacon (see photo above), as the area is pretty well saturated with asian dining, and all we had was an address.
We were welcomed with friendly staff and a bright, clean interior (unlike some chinese restaurants which can be quite dimly lit). The tables had a picture menu of the speciality dishes, and the entire menu was in both english and chinese (so no worries there). Even though they offered dishes like Wine Chicken Feet, Chicken Cool Skin, and Salted Soy Milk (they have an entire breakfast menu as well), we stuck to the article recommendations and ordered the leek pie ($2.50), Tientsin Steamed Pork Buns (the pork pillows-$5.50, photo below), Vegetable & Pork Dumplings ($4.50- order of 10), and Wonton Soup (photo below). Dinner service also included complimentary boiled peanuts, sliced cucumbers, and hot tea.
If you can't tell from the photo... everything was absolutely delicious. The dishes were fresh, flavorful, and filling. The pork pillows were my absolute favorite (if I had to pick one). Even though the article said the staff didn't speak english- they definitely spoke well enough to communicate with us and understood all of our questions. At the end of the meal I asked about dessert and even though they didn't have a dessert menu, the waiter surprised us with a sweet treat of white bean pastry (photo below). And after our pastry, instead of the "traditional" fortune cookie, they include sliced watermelon with every check.
This place is definitely on our list for future visits (and take out!) as staff, food, and atmosphere was excellent and well above my expectations. But try it for yourself, and someone please order the Chicken Cool Skin!
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