Weekend grub: New joint Eddie's Wok & Roll is a fuss-free Hakka Chinese experience

Chinese cuisine has always been a bit of a gray area in Karachi. You can search long and hard for a place that serves authentic Chinese food but you will mostly likely end up at a joint that serves some desi fusion version of it.

And there's nothing wrong with that!

Over the last decade, Hakka Chinese, a term that has become synonymous with Indian Chinese cuisine, has come to be accepted as the spicy sub-sect of the cuisine that is better suited for our chilli-loving palates. Banking on that sentiment, Eddie's Wok & Roll brings the fun outcrop of Chinese food to the city!

Where to go:

Going down the main road of Khayaban-e-Shahbaz, it's unlikely that you won't notice Eddie's Wok & Roll, especially since it's tucked in right next to Burger Mafia, a recently established burger joint with a bright yellow exterior.

The place has odd lighting. It seems a little dingy when you enter and then you take a seat and there's just that one light dangling over your head, making you feel a bit like you're being interrogated.

However, it's a fleeting feeling because the quirky dragon-themed ambiance will take your mind off that before it can get bothersome.

When to go:

The outlet is open from noon till 3:30 pm and then 6:30 pm to midnight.

It starts filling up fast during peak dinner time but it's not too problematic to get a table, especially if you're not an excessively large group. You can be in and out in 45-50 minutes flat, if you already have a basic idea of what you want to eat.

What to order:

Eddie's Wok & Roll's menu offers a wide selection of dishes in chicken, beef and seafood, some that will be familiar like Crispy Beef and some new additions such as the Tangra Masala Chicken.

Recommended appetizers: We're suckers for a good ol' chicken corn soup and Eddie's serves a mean bowl of it! The shrimp hot and sour soup is also worth a try; it's not the usual ketchup-based goops we've come to expect when we order a bowl of hot and sour soup.

Recommended main courses: We stuck to the classics like Beef Chilli Dry and General Tso's Chicken but also got a dish called Dragon Chicken, coupled with some egg fried rice.

We were advised by the manager not to order more than one main dish between two people; we didn't listen because we overestimated our hunger at the time and the portions were decently filling. Needless to say, we ended up taking two doggie bags home.

The chicken was extremely tender and juicy and beef was seasoned really well. The entrées had unique flavours packed with punch but the star of the meal was the rice. Even though we were full, we still ended up eating some rice on it's own, without any meat!

Damage on the pocket: Great value for money -- two people could pig out in Rs. 1500 per head.

Pro tip: Their single servings for soup are actually enough for 3 people!