Chinatown help

[philadining]

so in a way, i picture this thread about chinatown like that.  sure, you can order szechuan chicken at every restaurant in chinatown, just like you can get a tortilla at any tapas bar in barcelona.  but do you want to?  no, you get what they're known for.

anyway, that's all.  thanks for the tips.

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I think this is an excellent idea. It's your concept, so I think you should do the honors of starting a thread: I think it would be best as a new topic, rather than tacked-on here. Something like "The Chinatown Crawl: what they do best where." And rather than general Chinatown discussions, it could be devoted just to the specific dishes we LOVE at the various places in the neighborhood.

And I think rather than debating who has the best salt-baked squid, I think it would be most useful, especially to visitors or newbies, to do it by restaurant - if you go to Sang Kee, get the Peking Duck, the Roast Pork Noodle soup and the steamed dumplings. Although i can also see the merits of posts saying that if you just gotta have something in black bean sauce, go to Shao Lan Kung....

[VivreManger]

For a Sunday family get-together, we are dining in Chinatown. Based on what I have seen, the choices are down to Lee How Fook Tea House and Shiao Lan Kung.

Shiao Lan Kung, the best for Cantonese, specialties are oysters with scallions and ginger, steamed sea bass, dumplings. Anyt other recommendations? Do they make scallops on the half-shell in a fashion similar to the oyster preparation?

Lee How Fook, Tea House makes excellent Mongolian hot pots as well as Hot and Sour Soup, lemon duck, salt baked shrimp, and orange beef.

Anything good that I missed? BTW what is lemon duck? I know lemon chicken. Is this the same with duck instead of the other fowl?

My personal inclination is for Lee How Fook, but who knows what the others will prefer.

I assume that Shaio Lan Kung will be open Sunday evening, but out of idle curiosity I called them to confirm. There was no answer today at noon!! Is 215-928-0282 the right number.

Edited May 25, 2005 by VivreManger (log)

[Andrew Fenton]

Shiao Lan Kung, the best for Cantonese, specialties are oysters with scallions and ginger, steamed sea bass, dumplings.  Anyt other recommendations?  Do they make scallops on the half-shell in a fashion similar to the oyster preparation? 

The salt-baked shrimp are tremendously good. Be sure to get them with the shell on. Also, pea shoot leaves, as I raved about upthread.

Don't know about scallops on the half-shell; I can't remember seeing them.

[VivreManger]

The scallop dish described is a specialty of Peach Farm Seafood in Boston. At least there I prefer it to their oysters.

[chowfun]

At Lee How Fook I love their chow fun! Get it with beef, dry style. They will make it with anything else you like. The peking spare ribs are great. Their dumplings are very good, too.

My favorite place in Chinatown is Tai Lake. That would be my choice for a group dinner (I have taken large groups of family there many times). They make great Salt baked squid, clams or oysters with black bean sauce, steamed live shrimp with a chili dipping sauce. They also do a good job with chow fun, especially good there with jumbo shrimp. The fried rice with crab and dried scallops is really good.

[VivreManger]

After all this discussion and my research, it seems that the powers that be have decided to make a reservation for Sang Kee Peking Duck, 238 N. 9th St. (Vine). At the moment however, the powers that be don't really know how many will appear and exactly when this particular Polish wedding will end. The likeliest situation is that the members of our party will be wandering in and out in the course of the afternoon and early evening from about 3 until about 7ish. At any time there will probably be about ten or so, but they won't be the same ten.

Sorry for boring you with these chaotic details, but I mention them to ask a question. Is Sang Kee the kind of place that will agreeably cope with such informal open-house chaos? If not is there any place that might? chowfun just mentioned Tai Lake as good for group dinners. Does anyone second that recommendation?

As for Sang Kee, I gather that their roast pork noodle soup, duck and dumplings are worth trying. Any other recommendations if we wind up going there?

Edited May 26, 2005 by VivreManger (log)

[mrbigjas]

i didn't actually like the dumplings that much. the duck was great. pea shoots are good if you like that sort of thing, although they're kind of salty--eat with plenty of rice and it evens out.

edited to say: i don't know how they'd handle a coming-and-going party of ten. it does fill up in there, but i also saw stairs going up in the back--does anyone know if there's another dining room up there? either way, if you explain the situation and are taking care of the check, i can't imagine it would be that big of a problem.

Edited May 26, 2005 by mrbigjas (log)

[philadining]

Is Sang Kee the kind of place that will agreeably cope with such informal open-house chaos?

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If you call them in advance, you might be able to reserve the room up on the third floor. It was some time ago, so things might have changed, but they just sort of stuck us up there without our even asking once when we had a big chaotic group like that. There's a bit of stair-climbing though, if that's a problem for anybody.

The second floor has several tables that can accommodate 10 people, so it's probably not that big a deal. As with most places, they'd prefer that people get seated all together, but they're probably not going to freak out if most everybody is there. You could probably just walk-in with ten people and you'd have a decent chance of getting a table. But if waiting around a bit would be a major bummer, see about that third-floor room (and there's a Karaoke machine!!) If stairs are a problem, there's really only one or two big tables on the ground floor, you might want to think about somewhere else....

As for food, of course the Peking Duck.

Love the dumplings, both steamed and fried. They're big.

I think all of their noodle soups are great, I have been fixated on the Roast Pork version for the last decade (or two...) The Roast Pork, or Spare Ribs, or Duck, on a rice platter is always good too, served with some bitter greens.

I think Sang Kee's version of General Tso's chicken is my fave anywhere, very light, crispy breading, and much lower breading-to-meat ratio than most, as it's a whole breaded chicken breast that's then sliced. Peking Spare Ribs are kind of similar, like little Pork Chops breaded, fried and in a sticky sweet sauce.

Salt-Baked Squid is really good here too. Clams in black bean sauce has been good. They do the whole-fish thing too, and it always looks good, but I tend to focus on duck and other cholesterol-bombs here....

They do a decent beef chow fun, dry or with black bean sauce, the sauced one is pretty soupy. Most of the noodle dishes are good, except for the ill-advised addition of a Pad Thai to the menu, skip that, it's pretty bad.

i've been getting the snow pea greens with garlic, and they've varied in quality, but that could just be the varying state of the product... I'd get a plate of those, or one of the other sauteed greens, the bok choy or water spinach, it's a nice contrast to all the fatty stuff. The eggplant with garlic sauce is good, although I'm not sure it's really "vegetarian" even though it's listed in that section.

It's hard to manage, but if you can order a nice variety for a table of 10, rather than letting everyone order their own thing, you'll have a better time. I was there once and discovered too late that an entire large table had ordered variations on the same thing: fried something in a sweet sauce, and it was really cloying after a while. Order a few plates of dumplings, a couple of soups (one bowl of the noodle soup will serve 4 easy) a whole Peking duck (you'll get the skin in pancakes, then a second course of the remaining meat stir-fried with whatever vegetables they have laying around that day) something sweet, something salty, some noodles, something green, and pass it around. Everyone will be happy.

[shinyboots]

Is Sang Kee the kind of place that will agreeably cope with such informal open-house chaos?

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I think Sang Kee's version of General Tso's chicken is my fave anywhere, very light, crispy breading, and much lower breading-to-meat ratio than most, as it's a whole breaded chicken breast that's then sliced. Peking Spare Ribs are kind of similar, like little Pork Chops breaded, fried and in a sticky sweet sauce.

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To Sang Kee I must go.

I rarely make it into Chinatown - local take-out places has given a terrible image of "Chinese" food. Hopefully Sang Kee will shake it, althought the neon lights won't help.

I did stop into K.C.'s Pastries recently while I was in the area. Grabbed a azuka "red bean" bun and a sesame seed bun. The sesame had the oddest chewy consistency and the look of unbaked bread dough on the inside. The taste was anything but doughy though, as a strong sesame flavor, mixed with a little sweetness, permeated the insides. I also think the small(er) size is much more preferable when compared to the larger bean buns.

[philadining]

i didn't actually like the dumplings that much.

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There are a few different types of dumplings, I lean toward the plain pork ones, and toggle between the steamed and fried. The steamed are a bit floppy, but have a nice intense thick oyster sauce with them. The fried are deep-fried, not potsticker-style pan-fried, and come with a vinegary dipping sauce.

And I hear you Jas, I love the food at Sang Kee, but they're not exactly meticulous, they bang it out, and it's usually really good. Occasionally, not so much. It's possible you just don't prefer this style of dumpling, or you might have gotten a batch they just weren't paying attention to. (I think these are Gow Gee style, as opposed to Jaiozi, or potstickers, etc. Herb? am I right?) And they're larger than most dumplings I encounter, although I've had even bigger ones in San Francisco.)

I've had the steamed dumplings way over-steamed to the point where they're watery and falling apart. I've gotten them cold and dry (this rarely happens on the first floor). But MOST of the time, they're really good, if a bit of a challenge to pick up with chopsticks. I like them so much most of the time that I'm willing to spin the roulette wheel and see what happens.

[philadining]

To Sang Kee I must go.

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Hey Boots, you know there's a Sang Kee in Wynnewood now, right next to the Whole Foods, which might be easier for you to get to.

www.sangkeeasianbistro.com/

I think it's spiffed-up a little for the suburban aesthetic, but it's the same folks running it.

[mrbigjas]

And I hear you Jas, I love the food at Sang Kee, but they're not exactly meticulous, they bang it out, and it's usually really good. Occasionally, not so much. It's possible you just don't prefer this style of dumpling, or you might have gotten a batch they just weren't paying attention to. (I think these are Gow Gee style, as opposed to Jaiozi, or potstickers, etc. Herb? am I right?) And they're larger than most dumplings I encounter, although I've had even bigger ones in San Francisco.)

these were on their nightly specials menu (which i suspect doesn't actually change all that much)--they were the mini chicken dumplings. probably also not really the ones they're known for. i've only been there a couple times, ever...

I've had the steamed dumplings way over-steamed to the point where they're watery and falling apart. I've gotten them cold and dry (this rarely happens on the first floor). But MOST of the time, they're really good, if a bit of a challenge to pick up with chopsticks.  I like them so much most of the time that I'm willing to spin the roulette wheel and see what happens.

true, and for like $4 it's totally worth a shot, really.

[shacke]

To Sang Kee I must go.

I rarely make it into Chinatown - local take-out places has given a terrible image of "Chinese" food. Hopefully Sang Kee will shake it, althought the neon lights won't help.

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Beware the weekend!!!!!!! Crazy crowded - like rioting type hungry folk crowded. Also note that every time I have ordered take out they get it wrong. Check it while you are there. Having said that, it is good. I particularly like the pea leaves and house special soup.

Hit Cold Stone Creamery on the way home.

Evan

[mrbigjas]

we just ordered sang kee takeout for lunch in my office. two things to report:

1. we got two kinds of dumplings: vegetarian and the watercress dumplings stuffed with shrimp and pork. while i still maintain that the mini chicken potstickers that we got a couple weeks ago aren't that great, these things were awesome.

2. we got general tso's chicken, and they packaged the chicken (which is indeed as philadining described above) and broccoli in a container and gave us a separate container of the sauce, so that it didn't get all goopy. how cool is that? of course the chicken wasn't crisp anyway because it was kind of steaming in the container, but in principle i love it.

[philadining]

Sang Kee does this with their take-out noodle soups too, noodles in one container, broth in another, so that the noodles don't get soggy. I've gotten the General Tso's like you describe too, and discover that it's irresistible car food, like gourmet McNuggets: pull a strip of chicken, dip it in the sauce....I've never made it home with an order intact.

[mrbigjas]

hm, they didn't do their soup like that for us today.

that sauce was crazy. talk about sticky! it was like molasses. tasty though.

[philadining]

Dropped in to the "Szechuan Tasty House" at 9th and Arch tonight. It's only been there a little over a week, and things seem a little slow. In fact I was the only person there at about 8:30 on a saturday night. As much as I liked having a private restaurant, that really ought to change, there's some good, and more important, different, food here. It's a small space, maybe 40ish seats, on a tough corner, it feels really out of the flow, even though it's not actually very far from everywhere else. I wish them luck, I liked it a lot.

Dumplings in a spicy sauce: small dumplings soaking in a red oil. These are freaking great.

Dan-Dan Noodles: thin noodles with ground pork and a thin, moderately spicy sauce. Really tasty, comforting with a subtle kick.

Shredded Duck with Ginger: thin slivers of duck, snowpeas, celery, red bell pepper and ginger, no sauce. This was not spicy (it wasn't supposed to be) but was very tasty in a simple, straightforward way. I've been really liking that many of the Szechuan dishes I've been getting haven't been swimming in goopy sauce.

The entree section of the menu is a little too conventional-looking, even the "house specials" seem a little same-ish, but the starters are more unusual. But given the tasty stuff I had on just one visit, I'd bet that there's more good stuff to be found.

Gotta get back for some more of those dumplings!

Szechuan Tasty House

902 Arch Street, Phila,PA

215-925-2839

[philadining]

The lure of those spicy dumplings dragged me back into the Szechuan Tasty house with a couple of friends.

Before we could even get those, a complimentary plate of cold, thinly-sliced, something, (they insisted it was kidney, but didn't really taste like that) and tripe, with a spicy oil was brought to the table. You don't see this at most places in town! It was pretty mild-flavored, but good, and with interesting contrasting textures, a nice way to start the meal.

Dumplings in a spicy sauce, of course. Really delicious, but inherently greasy, so the oil-sensitive might skip this. Everybody else should have it! They're only medium-spicy, and a little sweet.

Cold sliced chicken in spicy sauce: a really nice rendition of this, a little less firey than the version at Tifco's out in Exton, or Grand Sichuan in NY, but still had a nice deep flavor.

Three-pepper chicken: small chunks of meat, stir-fried with ground pepper, dry chilis, and lots of fresh green chilis, no additional sauce. This too was only moderately spicy overall, but some of the fresh chilis had a serious kick. We all liked this a lot. I reminded me of the Chili chicken I'd had in Nepalese restaurants.

Szechuan Beef: very good, but not too different from what you'd get anywhere.

Golden Coins: discs of Chinese eggplant, stuffed with ground pork and deep-fried tempura style. Nice crunch, and tender inside, even better with the hearty dipping sauce.

They printed new menus, but the majority of dishes are still a little conventional. There's some good stuff here, though, just ask what's good. We did, and we got steered to some really tasty food. They said they're planning to offer set dinners for 4, 6 or 8, with a wide variety of szechuan dishes for really reasonable prices, less than $10 per person, which should be a great way to get an overview of the cuisine.

This place offers some good alternatives to the same old stuff. Most dishes could actually stand to be a little bit spicier, but they're still pretty interesting.

[philadining]

Despite it being oppressively hot and humid on sunday, I was shivering, practically frosted-over from getting caught in an epic downpour, then sitting in a subzero movie theater. One solution: soup.

Katie's recommendation of Lee How Fook for Hot and Sour was top-of-brain, so there was no debate.

I'm not sure a photo can ever really do soup justice, but this was indeed the best Hot and Sour I've ever had, not in any dramatic way, but by simply being perfectly balanced. It was solidly sour, but not puckeringly so; a little spicy, but not burningly hot; thick but not gummy; filled with the right amount of the right stuff. Excellent.

Pan-fried dumplings weren't quite as good. They were a little limp, and all stuck together, and had a slight scorched flavor. The next table over had some steamed dumplings that looked better.

We really liked the Duck with Black Bean Sauce and Hot Pepper. I didn't see or taste any hot pepper, but the flavorful chunks of boneless duck, sweet bell peppers and onions were bathed in a good salty sauce, with a strong ginger kick. I'd get that again.

But the real star was indeed the soup.

Edited July 18, 2005 by philadining (log)

[shacke]

Was in Chinatown last night and lamented the passing years ago of a hot pot place on the corner of 11th next to Joy Tsin Lau. You brought all your raw materials from a buffet and cooked it in water at your table.

Does this type of place exist anywhere that anyone knows of? I always called it hot pot but I don't know the official term. Seems like a good thing to do now that I have kids too.

Evan

[TarteTatin]

We love going to Vietnam Palace and ordering the "seven courses of beef" appetizer.

It's plenty big for entrees, not apps, for 2, literally seven courses of beef...

not expensive either.

Raw beef you cook yourself at the table with a little fire thingy and lots of fresh mint, daikon, carrots, basil, etc. to roll in rice paper...

That's one of the courses, delicious!

Others?

Grape leaves stuffed with beef, beef soup, gosh, I can't remember what else, beef meatballs, really good grub.

[herbacidal]

Was in Chinatown last night and lamented the passing years ago of a hot pot place on the corner of 11th next to Joy Tsin Lau.  You brought all your raw materials from a buffet and cooked it in water at your table.

Does this type of place exist anywhere that anyone knows of?  I always called it hot pot but I don't know the official term.  Seems like a good thing to do now that I have kids too.

Evan

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Evan, IIRC that place opened and closed within a heartbeat.

I don't think there is a place like that in town. I would say that the scene is ripe for that kind of thing, except that the buildout for that is much higher than for most restaurants because each stove needs its own exhaust.

I personally don't like that kind of cooking, but if it could be done with varying kinds of soup broths and cuisines, so that Szechuan would be available as an option as well, I'd be eager for that. I recall the rumor about a Szechuan hotpot place like that that was planning to open in the space that became Joe Shanghai briefly but don't know that it ever actually opened. A shame, Szechuan hot pot was the highlight of one of my China trips in the 90s.

But in the latest Chinatown news, there's a new Vietnamese restaurant that opened where South East used to be at 10th and Arch.