- Address: No. 10-A, Street 15, F-7/2, Islamabad, Pakistan (MAP)
- Phone: +92-51-2608865
- Expertise: Chinese (Szechwan, Cantonese), Thai
- Credit cards: accepted
- Delivery: available
- Smoking: smoking on 1st floor, non-smoking on 2nd floor
- Open hours: to be confirmed
- URL: N/A
- Internet access: none
- Power outlet: none
- Liquor: BYOB
The restaurant is located right next to a nice looking river -actually rather a stinking sewage if you look down- , and you will find hungry gold fish at the entrance lobby, painfully wheezing in a shallow fish bowl. Waiters serve the food with extra care, and extraordinary clumsiness. While it is unlikely to find the same dish every time we visit, their music never changes from "Careless Whisper" or "Footloose" from the 80s playing repeatedly forever.
Well, despite all these, we have continued to visit this Chinese place. What for? Probably for the unforgettable wonton soup we had when we first visited this place.
The wonton soup was an amazing experience for our palate. The wonton skin was extra silky smooth with a crunchy shrimp core. Tasty clear broth completed the concerto of the velvet skin and the crunchy diced shrimp. For our stomach routinely bombarded with the Pakistani cuisine's strong ghee and masala, this was really a luxurious comfort. We finished a large claypotful of wonton soup first as it was, then for the second cup with a lot of crushed white pepper, and finally with Chinese red chili paste.
Since then, knowing that we may not encounter the same taste, we continue to visit the place over and over, as if we were on a mission to reconnect with our first love.
In fact, although we may not encounter our first love, we have made affairs with various other attractive dishes . And they were pretty good. Last time, it was the casserole dish with eggplant, red chili and minced meet in soy-flavored sauce. The cubed eggplant was browned until it began to have its pleasantly creamy texture, while becoming partly crispy where it touched the oven-heated casserole. With the eggplant that has soaked up the exquisite sauce as much as possible, it's tough to beat the combination of this sauteed eggplant, meat, and chili over rice.
In Pakistan, one is supposed to cook rice in a way so that each rice grain does not stick together. Hence the rice dishes here are pretty dry, and that is the way they should be. Same is true for Chinese fried rice found in Islamabad. They are more like the "pilaf" ("pulau" in Urdu) than the fried rice found in east Asia where rice is cooked with more moisture. It's colorful with carrots, corn, green pepper and eggs, and its good. It goes so well with the dense salty-sweet sauces and meat.
But there's one thing we need to say about Heng Chang's fried rice. It is about the portion. It's not huge, it's gimongous. At the first sight, we thought its was for an elephant. We have tried to order a "half-size", but no waiter has understood our intention so far. Our hope is that the management would eventually notice our repeated request on the comment card (I think many people feel the same way) and introduce a little more flexibility in their customer service.
Since after that first date, we have not had the wonton soup we loved. It might be because we have romanticized our first love a little too much, but we cannot help continuing our nostalgic search. Treasure every encounter, for it may never recur. With this spirit, we keep visiting Heng Chang.
Since then, knowing that we may not encounter the same taste, we continue to visit the place over and over, as if we were on a mission to reconnect with our first love.
In Pakistan, one is supposed to cook rice in a way so that each rice grain does not stick together. Hence the rice dishes here are pretty dry, and that is the way they should be. Same is true for Chinese fried rice found in Islamabad. They are more like the "pilaf" ("pulau" in Urdu) than the fried rice found in east Asia where rice is cooked with more moisture. It's colorful with carrots, corn, green pepper and eggs, and its good. It goes so well with the dense salty-sweet sauces and meat.
Since after that first date, we have not had the wonton soup we loved. It might be because we have romanticized our first love a little too much, but we cannot help continuing our nostalgic search. Treasure every encounter, for it may never recur. With this spirit, we keep visiting Heng Chang.
February 7, 2011 (K)
外には臭いドブ川が流れ、ひとたび入り口をはいるとそこには異常に飢えた金魚が口をパクパクと開けて待っている。愛想の良いマネージャーは日本人びいきではあるものの、特に割引などをしてくれるわけでもなく、ウェイターは頼みもしないのに料理をぎこちなく皿につぎ分ける。料理の味はいつも違うくせに、かかっている音楽はいつも同じ80年代ポップスで、ワムの「ケアレスウィスパー」やケニー・ロギンスの「フットルース」など10曲程度のプレイリストがくり返しくり返し流れている。
とここまで書くと、ひどい店のように聞こえるが、私たちは幾度と無くこの店を訪れているし、これからも通い続けることであろう。
なぜか。
それは、初めて訪れたときに食べたワンタンスープの味が、忘れられないからである。
パキスタンの、濃厚でオイリーな食事に疲れた胃には、この上ないご褒美であった。クレイポットにたっぷりとつがれたそのえびワンタンスープを、私たちはそれこそむさぼるように食べた。二杯目は、白コショウの挽いたものをたっぷりくわえて、ペッパー風味に。そして3杯目は、テーブルに恭しく置かれた薬味ビンの中から赤い唐辛子ペーストを取り出し、ピリ辛スープ風にして。
このワンタンスープの衝撃が忘れられず、私たちは初恋の人の面影を追うようにして、何度も何度もヘンチャンに足を運ぶのである。
ここのチャーハンは、イスラマバードの他中華料理店のそれと同様、非常にパラパラで、人参の赤にピーマンの緑、そして卵の黄色が色鮮やかな、食べやすくて他の料理に合わせやすいおいしいチャーハンなのだが、その量が馬の餌なみに多い。ハーフサイズはないかと聞くが、無いという。これもおそらくその日によって、また聞く相手によって違うのであろう。しかし今のところ何度聞いても無いと言われ続けているので、コメントカードに「チャーハンのハーフサイズを作って欲しい」と書いて提出する、熱心な顧客の私たち。もしもハーフサイズができたとしたら、それは私たちの功績によるところが大きいはずだ。
2011年2月7日（M)
