GLASGOW's Ho Lee Fook, a bit of a hole in the wall street-food outlet opposite the iconic Barras market, has developed quite the cult following.
Rain or shine, you'll always find a queue of ravenous Glaswegians queuing up on the street to taste the East Asian delights.
Items like the massive katsu sando have become an absolute must for foodies thanks to rave reviews across social media, while husband and wife team Lee and Johnny Chung's chilli oil has developed legendary status.
It was therefore extremely exciting to learn that the team would be opening a real, sit-down restaurant, just around the corner on London Road.
Last week, Fook Mei (which means Lucky Taste, get your head of the gutter) officially launched. It's a small space, probably only serving around 15-18 people at a time, but offers two big advantages over its sister space – a roof over your head and a guaranteed seat.
The minimalist space features trendy green tiles and a sprinkling of East Asian decor, in a no-frills, order-at-the-counter environment. Expect to be up close and personal with your fellow diners.
On the menu is comforting, cheat day style Asian food. Fried chicken wings with caramel fish sauce, sesame noodles with fried chicken or tofu, salt and chilli chips, pork dumplings, and of course (if you get there early enough in the day before sell-out) the famous prawn katsu sando.
Prices are pretty reasonable considering the sizes of the portions, £10 for a good plate of wings, £10 for a portion of sesame noodles the size of your head. It would be hard to feel short-changed from that.
And oh my gosh. Fook Mei does not disappoint. The flavours leap off gorgeously presented plates. Lee and Johnny don't mess around when it comes to umami. The chilli oil, the salty goodness, the crisp-ness of those fried goodies ... it all comes together for some seriously delicious dishes.
For me, the stand-outs had to be the fried chicken with caramel fish sauce (good enough to rival a favourite of mine at another Glasgow Asian restaurant, Ka Pao), the more-ish, bouncy sesame noodles and the scallion pancakes with cucumber and chashu pork. I know the sandos are everyone's favourites, but personally I'd rather use the limited stomach space for something less bread-y.
Fook Mei is going to be a new go-to for me, and I highly recommend you making a visit if you're in the east end of Glasgow. Go early so you don't miss out on their most popular dishes and warning ahead of time: Be prepared to keep yourself entertained for a little while, as we heard of waits of half an hour to 45 minutes.
