HuaKee BBQ — Restaurant in Westminster

I could not help but share my very funny experience here.

First some context. My first career was a chef. I love pork belly. I cook with pork belly all the time, tomorrow even. 18 months ago I bought 75 lbs of pork belly in one go, from a meat processor, to make bacon. I know pork belly!

I came here specifically for the very popular Chinese crispy pork. Getting that crackling perfect on crispy pork is an art form, and Chinese cooks compete for the best crispy pork crackling. 

Alas, the “crispy pork” sold here is NOT crispy pork. Because it doesn’t have the skin left on the pork belly, so it has no crackling top. It simply isn’t crispy pork if it has no crackling top. They have instead toasted the fat layer, and are trying to pass it off as skin. It’s not skin, it’s fat.

No worries. Finding pork belly with the skin still on is very difficult. In all of Denver I know of only one place to buy it, and that’s the Costco business center in Denver. They sell both skin on and skin off pork belly, both at the same price.

I decided to let the woman running the shop know. I wasn’t upset or angry that their crispy pork was not actually crispy pork, it is what it is and I was very understanding. I got her attention and let her know that there’s a place you can get the pork belly with the skin still on. 

WOW. I was not expecting her reaction. Oh she immediately flipped out. It has the skin!!, she said. Well no, it does not, and that’s ok, I understand, I told her, and she just got ferocious. Yes it does!! Come see! She shows me pork belly with toasted fat and no skin. I said, exactly, it does NOT have the skin. YES IT DOES!!, she replied. Well I just ate it and still have most of it on my plate, so I kinda know it doesn’t, and I’m at least as familiar with pork belly as you are. 

We paid and left. The food was great, besides the fake crispy pork. 

If the owner reads this; I understand you never wanted anyone to discover the truth about your pork belly, because it’s excruciatingly hard to find and you just have to make do with what’s available. I GET IT!! The good news is you can now start selling REAL crispy pork with crackled skin, because I have told you where you can find it and you are now without excuse. Please make actual crispy pork with crackled skin, and I’ll be back for more. I’ll check in from time to time to see when you have real...

I’ve been meaning to try this place FOREVER and I’m so glad I finally did for a takeout Valentine’s Day dinner!

I called to place an order (note: the online order system wasn’t working at the timeframe, around 6pm). Between the call and arriving to the restaurant, only 15 minutes had passed and the food was already packaged up and ready to go. The place itself is just a simple, small establishment — no need for frills when the food speaks for itself! Great, fast service.

The half duck, bbq pork and rice, and spicy tofu were fantastic — the half duck in particular was just perfect for a cold winter night. My only tiny bit of critique is that the beef chow fun was a tad lacking in flavor, but some soy sauce helped there.

Overall, the food was amazing and I think we’ve finally found our go-to...

Hands down the best place for Chinese roast meats. They make amazing roast duck and roast pork and their prices are a buck or 2 cheaper than places that are down south (south Denver/federal area). Again they do it way better than the ones in Denver and I know this because I’m Chinese and I know what quality duck taste like. The owner is amazing and very friendly and they are so patience with first timer who are not familiar with Chinese roast meats. I’m so happy that they are nearby where I live, they bring quality and delicacy, and hands down the best in Colorado! If you like roast duck and pork check them out and support their...