JC Chinese Restaurant at 8th & Morris

[deprofundis]

Has anybody been to JC Chinese at 8th & Morris? When you walk in the front door you're in a bar. The dining room for the Chinese restaurant is down a hallway and waay in the back so you can't see it. There's no windows in the whole place either. The first thing I noticed is that there's no Chinese people working there! They have an old newspaper review hanging on the wall that gives some information about the place. It was started 50 years ago by an Italian guy who thought the locals shouldn't have to go all the way to Chinatown for Chinese food. They claim to be the first Chinese restaurant in south Philly and the first to offer delivery. It's owned by Jon DeChristo. Apparently they do have a Chinese chef. They're famous for their chicken wings, which I have yet to sample but will definitely do very soon and report on it here. I tried their chicken with garlic sauce. It was nothing to write home about. The sauce literally looked like motor oil (and was about as viscous). The chicken was pretty tasty though. So far I don't really see anything that distinguishes their food from any of the other 10,000 Chinese restaurants around here, but the place is definitely an oddity and probably warrants a visit. :-)

Edited June 5, 2005 by deprofundis (log)

[jmbrightman]

in my experience they make two things that are good - honey bbq wing appetizer and spare ribs in black bean sauce. their wonton soup is the worst I have tried - extremely heavy pasta in a dark salty broth. that they deliver day and night is their selling point.

[jmbrightman]

my nominee for best S Philly Chinese takeout...China House #5 at 21st and Oregon.

[Greg Ling]

when we were 16 we could get beer there

[deprofundis]

Just tried the wings. They are great! They come with a really thick, sweet honey sauce. You get 12 for only $4.50 + tax. They're not too big though, but the serving size is just about right because they're so sweet. I highly recommend the wings.

[jmbrightman]

try the spare ribs in black bean sauce. on an off night the consistency of the sauce is thick and gloopy, but 9 out of 10 it is great. cheap, too. an order is around $7.50. Another funny thing about J.C. - they only include a 1/2 pint of white rice with their takeout orders (and the black bean sauce is really good over rice).