Chung King

[mrbigjas]

is that what that was? i kinda only glanced at it--it was really crowded when we went in, and the cart was pretty much empty when we left--and in my mind's eye it registered as pickles. i should totally have paid more attention.

[chowfun]

We went to Chung King Garden for lunch today. They had a small lunch menu. For twelve dollars we had lunch for two. Each entree came with a cup of hot and sour or chicken with corn soup. I had Ma Po Tofu and my husband had pork with bell peppers. These items were supposed to be spicy and when we ordered we told them that we like the food to be hot and spicy. The dishes were delicious but not hot at all. We asked the waiter how to get the food hot next time. He said that most not Chinese people dont like hot food and they prepare it differently for us. He said to tell them to prepare it the way the dish is supposed to be prepared next time.

The food was excellent and the portions were generous. Next time we will be emphatic about the spice.

[stephenc]

Do they have duck blood or kidney dishes?

[brescd01]

Forgive me if this has been mentioned, but Szechuan Tasty House will deliver, I just got their take out menu. That makes them the only authentic Chinese restaurant I know of that will deliver.

[KatieLoeb]

Forgive me if this has been mentioned, but Szechuan Tasty House will deliver, I just got their take out menu. That makes them the only authentic Chinese restaurant I know of that will deliver.

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David:

Thanks for reminding of this. I dug out my Tasty House take out menu and availed myself of their delivery service this evening. My lips are still tingling from my Spicy Dumplings, Szechuan Hot and Sour Soup and the spicy cold noodle dish that escapes my memory. All of $15 with a tip to the achingly polite and English-languange challenged delivery dude. And I have leftovers for later this weekend.

Spankin'!

[handmc]

Katie, did you have an ice bucket for your wine?? Just teasing...

[KatieLoeb]

Katie, did you have an ice bucket for your wine?? Just teasing...

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But of course. I was at home.

I had my leftovers for dinner tonight. They were still delicious.

[brescd01]

1) Merely as an execise, prove or disprove: Szechuan Tasty House has the best Chinese DELIVERY in the city.

2) What are the cold noodles you liked Katie? I got the Szechuan Cold Noodles at Tasty House and they were not good at all. Yet I know they must have a better cold noodle dish than the one I had, which tasted tooth-achingly similar to the peanut butter glop served at most take-out Chinese-American places.

[KatieLoeb]

1) Merely as an execise, prove or disprove: Szechuan Tasty House has the best Chinese DELIVERY in the city.

2) What are the cold noodles you liked Katie? I got the Szechuan Cold Noodles at Tasty House and they were not good at all. Yet I know they must have a better cold noodle dish than the one I had, which tasted tooth-achingly similar to the peanut butter glop served at most take-out Chinese-American places.

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I think they're called Cheng-Du Noodles. They are the cold peanut buttery and sesame sprinkled noodles.

But I like those from time to time. And I usually put a few drops of chili oil in and mix them up.

Nothing to disprove by the way. Defintely the best delivery of authentic food. There are a few contenders for Chinese-American delivery, but STH takes the prize for sure for authenticity brought to your doorstep.

[brescd01]

Bad news. We tried STH take-out and they seem to have dumbed it down for us dummies.

We got a sampling of appetizers. The squid and conch we good. The spicy chicken was much sweeter than I remember it. The spicy wonton were also much gooey-er than I remember and also sweetened. The dumplings in spicy sauce were served in brown goop. The Szechuan hot and sour seemed like it was regular hot and sour with more vinegar (is that how they make it sour?). The spicy cabbage was sweet too, though I have seen this sort of cabbage served with nuts as a sort of table snack.

So except for the conch and squid, not so hot. I am not sure what this says. Did I manage to get all their worst dishes, do they dumb things down for delivery, or has STH gone downhill?

[philadining]

I don't have answers for your questions but just thought I'd not that there IS a Szechuan Tasty House thread here, that might be a better place for this discussion.

[I_call_the_duck]

Bumping up this thread to recount yesterday’s visit to Chung King.

There was an offal cart which seemed very popular. Unfortunately, we did not partake, because although Mr. Duck has been known to eat almost everything, he’s still not sure about offal (so if anyone wants to go, give me a call and I’ll leave him at home).

Interesting menu. Decisions, decisions.

We started off with the scallion pancake, which although nice and flaky, lacked scallions. Hmmm…

We then ordered the tea smoked duck (because it’s well, DUCK—I wanted the duck tongues, but Mr. Duck kind of vetoed the idea) and rabbit ding (because I don’t usually see rabbit on a Chinese menu).

The duck was very tasty. In fact, one of the best tea smoked ducks I’ve had. You could really taste the tea infused in both the skin and the meat.

The rabbit…nice chunks of rabbit with a few red and green peppers. The taste? OW, OW, OW!!! I missed the fact that there were two chili peppers next to the description. I used to be able to handle spicy dishes, but somehow my tolerance went down. That thing was very spicy. So spicy it hurt. OK, so I’m a wimp. But after copious amounts of plain white rice, my taste buds returned. A second taste found the dish to be pretty good—under all that heat, there was a nice combination of black beans and chili.

All in all, it was a good meal. It was a Sunday evening, and the restaurant was half full. The waiters were friendly, the prices reasonable, and there was enough for leftovers tonight. Can't wait to go back.

I’ll have to say I did enjoy CK better than STH. I’m not that familiar with Szechwan cuisine, but the menu at CK seemed more unique than STH. I saw more lamb dishes and other interesting combinations here. However, CK does not have STH's golden coins, so I believe that they could both coexist on the same block.

But I do agree with the person that posted upthread that there should be a side by side comparison of the two--just to make sure. Anyone?

[handmc]

I tried to take my daughter there yesterday afternoon. I couldn't find a place to park without paying an arm and a leg. We were both sad.

oh well. We will try again.

[mrbigjas]

there's a lot at 9th & vine--i know in the evenings it's like a $5 flat rate. i think during the day it's noticeably cheaper than most other lots in the area as well.

[rlibkind]

I couldn't find a place to park without paying an arm and a leg.

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The Philadelphia Parking Authority Garage behind Market East, while not a bargain, is fairly priced. Up to 90 minutes for $9, two hours for $10.50, 12 hours for $13, with a flat evening rate of $6. Entrance I use is on 10th between Arch and Filbert, immediately before you get to Market East. When street parking is unavailable, I turn to the PPA garage -- unless the restaurant I'm going to has a discount deal with one of the private garages (like the one at 11th & Race).

[herbacidal]

Bad news. We tried STH take-out and they seem to have dumbed it down for us dummies.

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I'd expect that they would make it no hotter than mild for 90% of the non-East Asians who walked in the door, regardless of whether or not they specify hot or not.

If they insist on hot, and insist on it at least twice, then and maybe then, the spiciness leve might be turned up a notch.

From their point of view, always far better to err on the side of caution than to lose a customer forever who blames you for not being able to taste anything for a few nights.

[handmc]

Thank you all for the parking tips, that was very kind.

Rabbits ding is definately in my future!

[KatieLoeb]

Finally checked this place out on Friday evening after a movie (OT aside: Meryl Streep is fabulous in The Devil Wears Prada) and was pleasantly surprised.

Between myself and my three other dining companions we were able to try the allium dumplings, Chung King Fish, Ma Po Tofu, Szechuan Eggplant, and Quick Fried Lamb (which was on the non-spicy menu). Everything was delicious. I'm not certain I'd order the fish again just because it was very bony and I just don't like that regardless of how tasty it is. The Ma Po Tofu, one of my yardstick Szechuan favorites, was excellent and possibly the spiciest of the lot. The tofu was very silky and there was a decent amount of ground pork as well. The lamb and the eggplant were also well spiced and very good. Certainly two dishes I'd order again. Nothing too oily either, which is often the downfall of this particular cuisine.

Absolutely a place I'd go for a return visit. I'll still hit up Tasty House for their dumplings and the Golden coins, but the menu at Chung King has enough diversity that I'll be back to try out some more things first.

[philadining]

Stopped into Chung King and had a few favorites I'd been missing since the crew left Exton:

Cold Chicken with Spicy Sauce

This has an amazing flavor, and I've always liked the contrast of the cold temperature and the hot spice. This is significantly hotter than the version across the street at the Szechuan Tasty House, but a little coarser too, the STH slices the meat thinner and there seems to be a bit less of the cold chicken skin.... but I think the Chung King version is my favorite. Still it's going to be hard to not get this every time.

Spicy Chile Oli Wontons

From the description I was thinking that finally we'd get the dumplings in chile oil rather than broth, but no, it's broth, with chile oil. Still they're good wontons, and this is more of a soup than just wontons in sauce.

Spicy ZhaJiang Noodles

Not all that spicy, but every once in a while you'd hit a chile or a szechuan peppercorn or both, which announced their presence loudly! Still good stuff though, I'll be eating this all the time this winter.

Lamb with Cumin

Pretty much the same as the version this chef used to serve at Tifco, not quite as incendiary as some I'd gotten there. The meat is completely coated in ground cumin, seems like it would be too much, but it really sits nicely with the lamb and onion. One of my faves.

Pork with Pickled Peppers

Not super-spicy, but very flavorful, the tender shreds of pork mixed with fresh, pickled and dried peppers. I couldn't stop picking at this even long after I was full.

Three of us couldn't finish all this, and it only cost $45 before tip.

We really liked all our food, the only complaint I have is that the wontons came out well after everything else, I thought they'd forgotten them. That was not a huge crisis, except it would have been nice to have them early... I still have a fondness for the Tasty House across the street, but this place is going to get much of my business when I'm in a mood for serious spice. Oh, but then those wontons Percy got at 4 Rivers looked pretty rocking! But I'm sticking with the Jha Zhiang Mien here at Chung King...

We could have worse problems than trying to decide between Chung King Garden, Szechuan Tasty House and 4 Rivers!

Edited August 21, 2006 by philadining (log)

[percyn]

I would recommend people go to STH for some appetizers (Dumplings in hot oil, gold coins, etc) then cross the street and get the main dishes at Chung King. My favorite dish there (so far) is the lamb with pickled peppers.

[I_call_the_duck]

Where does the pork belly at Four Rivers fit into this equation?

[herbacidal]

Stopped by last night for a small party.

Tasty enough food. Quite spicy.

Need to do a better job cleaning the glassware though.

Reminds me of China.

I'd go back anyway. I was so hoping it'd be Sichuan hot pot though.

[Bobby 2 Shakes]

Tried the Ma Po Tofu with Pork and it was delightful. Shared it with my wife, and she enjoyed it too. The tofu was engorged with spicy heat, but it was still manageable, just right.

[brescd01]

Herbacidal is so right...this is my favorite restaurant in Philly but what is with the glasses!

[herbacidal]

but what is with the glasses!

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That's just skimping on the dishwasher machine probably. They may well be clean enough as far as sanitary, but the machine probably doesn't use a high enough water pressure/temperature to wash off fingerprints and etc.

That's my guess anyway.