Dining in the ATL: Chef Liu

One of the fringe benefits of my job is the proximity of the office to some of Atlanta’s best ethnic restaurants.  Within minutes, I can lunch at any one of many fantastic little restaurants along Buford Highway [Buford Highway is ‘the main artery of Atlanta, Georgia's thriving, multi-ethnic community’, essentially one strip mall after another of interesting little restaurants and ethnic grocers; while to the naive eye Buford Highway might appear a fairly grungy, run down strip, to the indoctrinated it is nothing short of the most interesting food and culture in the city].  Slowly but surely, I’m working my way through the restaurants along Buford Highway, although it seems that new ones open constantly and the list is continually growing; there’s a lot of work yet to be done. 

 

Yesterday I dined at Chef Liu, supposedly one of the more authentic Chinese restaurants in the area.  I’d first heard of this place from two of my Chinese-American friends.  One of my friends had told me that her parents always wanted to go to Chef Liu when they visit as they serve some of the most authentic, ‘real’ Chinese food around.  The other friend told me about these ‘soup buns’; literally, buns with a brothy liquid inside.  I was intrigued.

I ate at Chef Liu for the first time about a year ago when the restaurant was located in a little shack in the middle of a shopping center parking lot; subsequently, they have moved to an actual restaurant in the same shopping center.  Naturally, I liked the slightly divey feeling of the parking lot shack, but cannot argue that the actual restaurant is an improvement.  The first time I went to Chef Liu I really liked the food but didn't love it enough that I'd crave it in the future.  That might have changed with this more recent visit.  I think this is largely because my first visit was with someone who is vegetarian, and although there are some solid vegetarian choices, my more recent experience suggests that the vegetarian choices are not the highlights of the menu.  On this more recent trip we ordered ShangHai Juicy Steamed Pork Buns (P1), Juicy Steamed Crab Meat Buns (P2), Vegetable Buns (P6), Leek Pies (P7), and Cha Chiang Mein (P24).  

The first two choices, the steamed buns, were what my friend had told me about.  I really, really, really liked them.  Similar to dumplings I'd had in the past, what really sets these buns apart is that in addition to the meat filling they are also filled with a little bit of warm broth/soupy goodness.  I wish I had the words to describe the experience when you bite into one, it's unlike anything I'd had before, in the most delicious, flavor-mingling, texture-enriched way I can imagine.  While other reviews I'd read of Chef Liu suggested that many of the buns did not retain their liquid filling, I only had this experience with one of them, and even without the liquid they still tasted like a delicious dumpling. The Leek Pies were also really good.  They are some sort of pastry on the outside, stuffed with a delicious mix of what I think are glass noodles and leeks.  Note to the vegetarians out there--the leek pies are made with little tiny shrimp.  

Part of what I like about Chef Liu is that the food is not the typical Chinese food that Americans are used to.  There is no General Tso's chicken or chop suey anywhere on the menu.  While I'm sure this is disconcerting to those who like the predictability of American-Chinese, I for one like the opportunity to explore dishes that I can't find elsewhere and to challenge my taste buds with a new experience.  I also found that the food at Chef Liu's was less greasy than is much American-Chinese food, definitely a good thing.  

So, next time you are up on Buford Highway and want to go to lunch, let me know, I'll be ready to go back to Chef Liu.