Empress Garden

[philadining]

Empress Garden

108 N 10TH St (just north of Arch)

Philadelphia, PA 19107-2301

Phone: (215) 592-0739

In searching for regional Chinese food in the Philly area, we'd heard that Empress Garden served traditional Taiwanese dishes. Props to the Chowhounders who'd checked it out, and recommended some dishes. I've passed this place many times, it doesn't look like much from the outside, and even looking at a menu, there's little indication of anything special here, unless you read Chinese.

Big thanks to DaveF for doing some scouting and internet research, and to Diann for mad Mandarin skillz: between the two of them, and a very friendly and helpful waitress, we managed to get some really excellent food, mostly dishes you don't see at too many places. We're not entirely sure of the correct names for all of them, the Taiwanese dishes are not on the main menu written in English, they're on the back panel, in Chinese characters. But we'll give you the names as best we know them, and if you explain that you want real Taiwanese food and perhaps describe the dishes, I think you'll get what you want! Our server was really nice, and very patient with our flailing around.

Scallion Pancake

OK, maybe this is not so unique to this place, but it was excellent, served with a light vinegar dipping sauce.

Beef Noodle Soup

The noodles had a great texture, the broth a little spice, the meat was tender and flavorful. I'm so coming back for a bowl of this for myself once it gets colder...

Three-Cup Chicken

It's named for the recipe: a cup of rice wine, a cup of sesame oil and a cup of soy sauce, but there's plenty of garlic and ginger in there too, and a bit of sugar, I'd guess. This preparation in a casserole is a little different than the version we had at Han Dynasty, but it was equally tasty.

Fried Pork Chops

These had a light, crispy coating on them, almost as if they were pork chop tempura. They were very juicy and porky tasting - definitely a favorite.

Pork Fried Rice

Shut up, it's good!

Snow Pea Greens

These are becoming a little easier to find in Chinatown, but we still get excited when we find them, and these were nicely done.

more greens...

I'm not sure we could remember the real name for this - it's sometimes called "hollow heart" or something? Really good, a little crunchy.

Dry Fried Green Beans

These are not uncommon around town, but not always as good as these were.

Pork and Pressed Tofu (?)

This was fairly subtle, but I liked it, the texture of the firm tofu was really pleasing.

Lion's Head Meatballs

Let's not start any fights here, we'll grant that these come originally from Shanghai, but it seems that the Taiwanese have adopted them, and we're happy to get them from anybody. The ones at Han Dynasty are a little lighter and fluffier, but these were not bad at all. The dish had some onion and cellophane noodles underneath the meatballs, which were a good accompaniment.

Seven of us just about finished that off, and the bill came to under a hundred bucks before tip.

Big thanks to everybody for coming, having a decent-sized group made a difference! And thanks to both Dave and Diann for getting the ball rolling, to Diann for handling the ordering, to David and Rae for the Lambics.

Really good stuff.

Edited October 17, 2007 by philadining (log)