Archive for the ‘Chinese’ Category

Solo Chinese Kabob

Tuesday, May 10th, 2011

solo chinese kabob by albert yee
Have you ever had something so quizzically bad it was somewhat upsetting? Well, that was my experience at Solo Chinese Kabob in Chinatown. I've passed by this joint several times in the year or two this place has been open. From the outside, it looks like it's just a takeout window next to the big stenciling on the front window, but stepping inside reveals a straight shot bar and single line of 2-tops along the wall. The drop tile ceiling oddly had these recessed black colored CFL bulbs which weren't on and a set of lights hanging down which were on. Enticed by the $1 – $2 prices, I went in. I didn't expect magic, but was hopeful this was one of those hole in the wall spots that had just that.

solo chinese kabob by albert yee
The menu is just a single-sided, third of a sheet of paper. No frills other than lamination. It was easy enough to order as I was the only person in the joint at 1.30p. Not necessarily a bad sign as it's just after the lunch rush. While I played it safe with a lamb ($2), beef ($1.50) and chicken ($1) combo, I did notice the funkier choices down menu: chicken gizzards ($1.50), chicken heart ($1) and chicken skin ($1). I thought to myself, "maybe next time around."

solo chinese kabob by albert yee
The charcoal (I think that's what it was) grill was nice to see. I was looking forward to a nice smoky flavor in the meat. That's the takeout window at left.

solo chinese kabob by albert yee
Here's a shot from the doorway. Seating for a total of a dozen or so. Everything was nice and clean and new. Nothing gross and dingy if that's what you were expecting. The two ladies in the shop were standing towards the back, behind the counter, next to a chest freezer. One lady was cutting up what I presumed to be the next day's cuts and placing them in bags. The other lady was tending my 3 kebobs and chatting.

solo chinese kabob by albert yee
And here they are (oddly put on plastic wrap over the plate as to cut down on dishes). From left to right: chicken, beef, lamb. You have four options of spice level: no, light, medium, more. I opted for "more." What I got was not so tasty. It was a dry, cumin-heavy, paprika spice. The only thing it did was cover up the taste of the meat, which was a good thing. The lamb was only slightly lamby. The beef didn't taste like anything. The chicken… wasn't bad. It tasted like it was marinated in a sweet soy concoction.

I ate everything pretty quickly during my measly 30 minute lunch (I know, right?) and headed back to the day job unsatisfied.

Messy not there
Picky 1/2*

The final word: If you're down to your last buck, get a back of chips around the corner.

Solo Chinese Kabob
50 N 10th St
Philadelphia, PA 19107
215.238.0882

Posted in Chinatown, Chinese | 2 Comments »

Jade Gala In Pictures

Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011

jade gala 2011 naaap
Following up on the post a few weeks ago about the Jade Gala benefiting the National Association of Asian American Professionals scholarship, here are some photos from the evening. There was, of course, a lion dance group. The Philly Suns youth group put on a great show. On a side note, we were on Washington Ave a week ago and saw a few tiny kid lion dancers, just a single kid controlling a lion head with a small tail, which were amazingly cute. Above, a lion, one of the two lions at the event, trails behind an event-goer around the edge of the Millennium Ballroom's tables which were filled with food from 30 local Asian eateries.

jade gala 2011 naaap
At the center of the ballroom were the auction items. People walked around and bid on the items all night. You can see the famous Michael Jordon 3:51 Slam Dunk Championship poster, signed, at bottom. A beautiful array of paper lanterns were strung around the auction island.

jade gala 2011 naaap
Here's one of the lion dancers totally exhausted after his part of the performance.

jade gala 2011 naaap
One of the two giant, prized lion heads present that evening.

jade gala 2011 naaap
Here's an event-goer interested in one of the auction items.

jade gala 2011 naaap
Here's my friend Al who was working the event for Upcoming Events. We got a chance to talk shop and catch up for a bit during the course of the night which is always nice.

jade gala 2011 naaap
Here's a shot of Gekkeian Sake which was absolutely delicious. I'm not the biggest sake fan, but this stuff was really smooth, no bite. I meant to take more photos that evening, but there were so many tables to load up with food that I just didn't get a chance to put things down and snap shots of each offering.

jade gala 2011 naaap
And a stop at the Loews Hotel isn't complete without a stop off up at the observation deck. One of the best views of the city and it's right in the middle of the city! More photos can be seen at the NAAAP site.

Posted in Announcements, Center City East, Chinese, Events | No Comments »

GOLDEN EMPRESS GARDEN

Monday, May 21st, 2007


Messy's first experience with Golden Empress Garden occurred a little while ago when Picky was out of town. Having received about a million copies of Golden Empress' menu in that packet of mostly useless coupons that comes in the mail, Messy decided it was time to give it a try. Messy has not had good luck with Chinese restaurants in Philly so far. Only the ones that are vegetarian-only have satisfied her. Unfortunately, those ones haven't entirely satisfied Picky.

Golden Empress offers a full vegetarian menu as well as a full carnivorous menu. Overwhelmed by all the options, Messy went with the stand-by vegetarian General Tso's chicken. In order to qualify for delivery, Messy added an order of scallion pancakes and the people over at Golden Empress threw in a huge bag of fortune cookies — there were probably about eight in there. Messy managed to turn this order into four meals. Everything was good: the General Tso's were a little dough-y, not very spicy but strangely addictive and the scallion pancakes were just greasy enough to be delicious.

After Messy's first successful encounter with Golden Empress, the two of us decided to try another round of takeout. This time Messy went with the vegetarian sesame chicken, which was tasty and very similar to the vegetarian General Tso's in texture and lack of spiciness. Picky went with the regular General Tso's (his favorite Americanized Chinese dish) and also received nice healthy portion. Since Messy had warned him to order it extra spicy, it came out just right. It was nice and crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, with a good amount of sauce on the plate for extra dipping and mixing in with the rice. (Picky dislikes a scantily sauced dish!) The portion was enough for three solid meals, but Picky overstuffed himself and only managed to stretch it into two.

After these two pleasant experiences, we decided to head to Golden Empress for a sit-down meal. The interior is tiny, and kind of dingy, but the service and the food were delightful. We were treated to crispy noodles and Chinese pickle salad. Messy ordered the vegetarian pineapple duck, which was a very different consistency from the vegetarian chicken dishes. It was layer-y, kind of like a fake meat baklava. It was good, but a little too sweet for Messy. Picky, who sticks with a good thing once he finds it, had the General Tso's once more.

Messy's opinion changed slightly during the a sit-down meal. Actually, the sit down meal was fine, it was the bathroom that was particularly. . . um, unsavory. But if you do stick around for a sit-down meal, you'll be treated to some in-house comedy. From what we gather to be the owner or co-owner of the establishment, we were treated to constant banter with what seemed to be regulars to the Garden.

Aside from the bathroom, we have just one tiny complaint: the take out menu indicates that both duck sauce and hot mustard are 40 cents extra. This actually isn't the first time we've seen this here, and we have to wonder if this a Philadelphia thing. Neither of us has ever had to pay extra for duck sauce in our home states of Connecticut and New York.

Messy ***
Picky *** 1/2

The final word: Get take-out.

Golden Empress Garden
610 South 5th St
Philadelphia, PA 19147
(215) 627-7666
M – Th: 11:00 am – 11:00 pm
F – Sa: 11:00 am – Midnight
Su: 11:30 am – 10:30 pm

Posted in Chinese, South St, Vegetarian | 9 Comments »

ASIA ON THE PARKWAY

Tuesday, July 25th, 2006

asian on the parkway

Asia on the Parkway is located, unsurprisingly, right on Benjamin Franklin Parkway, which is both good and bad. The location is certianly convenient, but the overall feel of the restaurant is kind of weird. The inside is huge, extending into a more private area away from the large windows facing the Parkway. As soon as we walked in, looking perplexed over the choice of doors, a gentleman offered to seat us.

We noticed that there were drink specials, but we opted to just drink water. We began our meal with the fried vegetable dumplings. There were six pieces in all, and they were over fried with thick skin. It came with yummy dipping sauce and plenty of it — we didn't run out, and both of us are enthusiastic dippers. Our server provided a knife when the dumplings came out, no chopsticks to be seen, but Picky noticed they were available upon request.

When it came time to order our meals, Asia on the Parkway accomodated Messy's request to have her pad thai with tofu instead of the beef/chicken/shrimp choices listed on the menu. It tasted really yummy but it should be noted that Messy felt sick the next day, which may or may not have been related. Picky opted for the mango chicken which also came in a "Thai" version. It arrived on a big plate and served on top of a banana leaf with a cup of white rice on the side. Yummy without too much sauce, a good balance of mango, chicken and rice. As a garnish, the dish was crowned with two halves of mango skins.

We were poured some hot tea before our meals arrived and the server was very prompt to refill our tea mugs and glasses of water whenever they teetered on half empty. We went for an early-ish dinner before 7p and the place only had a few other tables of customers.

Messy ***
Picky ***

The final word: Predictable Asian fusion dishes with prompt service.

Asia on the Parkway
1700 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, 1st fl
Philadelphia, PA 19103
(215) 988-9889/0728
Sun – Th: 11am – 10pm
Fri & Sat: 11am – 11pm

Posted in Center City West, Chinese, Japanese, Thai | 3 Comments »

SERENDIPITY CAFÉ

Saturday, August 27th, 2005

The first time Messy went to this restaurant, she had a most delectable experience. The ambience: awesome. The room: spacious. The bathroom: hands down the most beautiful one in Chinatown. Most importantly, the food – Japanese appetizers and rolls – was sublime and inexpensive. Messy even found what would be her signature drink if it was served anywhere else: a combination of sake and plum wine served with a cherry (Blech– Picky). The experience was so wonderful, Messy knew she would have to return with Picky in tow.

When we visited Serendipity the results were very different. This time, Messy decided to branch out into the non-Japanese section of the menu (Serendipity also offers Chinese and Thai dishes). Big mistake. Although the portion was huge, the Pad Thai was dry and flavorless. Messy spent her meal kicking herself for not sticking with the sumptuous rolls she'd had before, which our dining partner – visiting from Connecticut – was happily consuming right across the table.

Picky was brought to Serendipity under the assumption that he would find something to eat in the non-Japanese section of the menu (he doesn't like most Japanese food). He started off with the wonton soup. How could he go wrong? It came out looking like wonton soup, but tasting like watered-down broth and with a flavorless filling. Even a large schmear of hot paste did not improve things. It got worse when the General Tso's chicken came out. It didn't even look right this time. This dish was barely edible, had Picky not been starving, he would not have finished it, but he was, and he did.

Messy ****1/2 (Japanese) & *1/2 (other)
Picky 1/2

The final word: Stick to Japanese food at a Japanese restaurant.

1009 Arch St.
Philadelphia, PA 19107
(215) 592-8288
Sun – Thu: 11:30am – 10pm
Fri – Sat: 11:30am – 11pm

Posted in Center City East, Chinese, Japanese, Thai | 1 Comment »

WOK

Thursday, August 4th, 2005

wok

Upon seeing neon signs in Wok's windows, we figured we were in our price range. As soon as we sat down, however, we realized we were out of our league, in a strange hybrid of upscale Chinese restaurant with a take-out style menu.

They started our meal off with hot towel service and unravelling of our cloth napkins. We thought we'd save a few dollars by ordering water. Little did we know that they'd bring out Pellegrino! There were basically no vegetarian options and Messy ended up with some mushy tofu in brown sauce. [Sidebar: Messy laments the fact that all of the Chinese restaurants she's visited in Philly seem unaware of deep-frying tofu. Sure, it kills the health benefits, but wet, mushy, untreated blocks of tofu are just plain disgusting!]

Oh, and warning to all the other vegetarians out there: the hot and sour soup has chicken in it. (Messy found out the hard way.) Picky had some not-so-great General Tso's. He has yet to find any that can compete with his childhood favorite– Chopstix in Scarsdale, New York.

Messy *1/2
Picky *1/2

The final word: Pass.

Wok
1613 Walnut St
Philadelphia, PA 19103
215-751-9990

Posted in Center City West, Chinese | 5 Comments »

SINGAPORE KOSHER VEGETARIAN RESTAURANT

Thursday, August 4th, 2005

singapore kosher vegetarian

At long last, vegetarian meat that even Picky can eat! Singapore has the most extensive menu of vegan selections we have ever seen. Our table was piled high with plates of dim sum and other delicious appetizers. Four out of our party of five ordered the General Tso's chicken, and none of us were disappointed. And it didn't hurt that we got a dish or two of free goodies thanks to our in [twice-removed] with the owner. The only part of our 280 course meal that wasn't outstanding was Messy's bland wonton soup. And they even have a karaoke upstairs, we resisted the urge– however tempting.

We recently returned to Singapore with Messy's meat-loving family in tow. Once again, our appetizers were out of this world. Picky's Singapore Pan-Fried Rice Noodle was to his liking, even better than his previous meal at Singapore: the faux General Tso's chicken. Messy stuck with the sweet and crispy General Tso's, but when she sampled her family's dishes, she found their faux chicken to be pretty tasteless. Picky would like to note that he specified his noodles at a level 10 hotness, but our host sensed his propencity for heat and brought out a container of hot paste which he promptly spooned onto his plate to bring the dish to level 11.

Messy ***3/4
Picky ***3/4 (upgraded from ***1/2)

The final word: Worth checking out even if you're not vegetarian or kosher.

Singapore Kosher Vegetarian Restaurant
1029 Race St
Philadelphia, PA 19107
215-922-3288
Hours: Mon-Thu 11:30am-10pm; Fri-Sat 11:30am-11pm; Sun 11:30am-10pm

Posted in Center City East, Chinese, Vegetarian | 4 Comments »