Yangming in Bryn Mawr

[pennbrew]

On "CBS Sunday Morning" Bill Geist attended the Chinese Restaurant Awards (a quick Google didn't turn up anything on these awards). Best restaurant title went to Yangming.

I don't see any egullet discussions about the place, any comments? Is it worth trying?

Thanks!

---Guy

Edited January 17, 2011 by pennbrew (log)

[Jaymes]

On "CBS Sunday Morning" Bill Geist attended the Chinese Restaurant Awards (a quick Google didn't turn up anything on these awards). Best restaurant title went to Yangming.

I don't see any egullet discussions about the place, any comments? Is it worth trying?

Thanks!

---Guy

Here's the list:

Chinese Restaurant Awards

[percyn]

Yang Ming and its owner Micael Wei are well known for the past 30 or so years.

IMHO it offers a good version of Chinese fusion.

As for the best in the country....don't know about that, but certainly worth a try.

[KatieLoeb]

Yangming is good. Don't forget it's in the 'burbs, tho', where there's a dearth of all those good things that we take for granted downtown.

Han Dynasty isn't on the list anywhere, so that pretty much tells me what I need to know...

[Will]

I would take these ratings with a very large grain of salt, considering how few of these places are where lots of Chinese people live / work. I would guess that there are either fees to enter, or that actual Chinese places don't bother to enter. I don't even see how useful these rankings are, given that most people live near only a small fraction of them.

Also, the criteria surrounding decor etc. will disqualify some (though certainly not all) "authentic" restaurants, especially the more down-home sort.

[philadining]

Steven Shaw posted about these awards in an interesting thread a while back:

Top 100 Chinese Restaurant Awards and more>>

In that thread, he explained how the awards work:

In researching that story I learned a little about the awards process. A restaurant applies for an award and, presumably, pays a fee to cover the evaluation process. A "mystery diner" working for the AboutFace corporation visits the restaurant anonymously and files an extensive report, which forms a big percentage of a restaurant's score. There's also a consumer-feedback component and an editorial panel that evaluates the restaurant based on reputation, standing in the industry, etc. All these numbers are crunched together and the rankings come out of that.

What's more, there are 100 winners in each of many categories, so a Top 100 award has varying significance... especially when the comparison is only among the places that chose to enter this particular competition. Still, it's not completely meaningless, and to be chosen as number one in any given category, especially best overall restaurant, is probably indicative of a reliably solid place.

But I've never been to Yangming. I seem to recall them occasionally hosting visiting chefs from China, and I have always meant to visit during those times in particular. Probably worth keeping an eye out for.

[pennbrew]

Steven Shaw posted about these awards in an interesting thread a while back:

Top 100 Chinese Restaurant Awards and more>>

Wow what a great thread! Did anyone get a copy of his book?

[bjcohan]

I've been to Yangming once. DH and I adored it.

Unfortunately, we have too little free time these days and it's pretty inconvenient for us to get there. If it was closer, it would likely be my go-to place. We ate there when they had a visiting chef from Sichuan and my DH kept laughing at all the happy-noises I made throughout the meal. I can't wait to go back.

I highly recommend it!

Barb

[janeer]

Looks like a popularity contest. Like city magazine's "best of." Have been to 6 or 7 the list. Two are good for the suburbs--including Yangming, although others, like Changsho in Cambridge, MA, are completely missing. A couple are barely passable. Interesting to see Yank Sing hanging in there at #2 after all these years.