Chinese Food in Phila.

[mombaker247]

We are going to C.C. for my sons birthday tonight and he wants chinese, or Pho. there will be 4 teenage boys. any delicious suggestions.

[percyn]

Ken's seafood in Chinatown (1004 Race I think) is pretty good too.

[mombaker247]

Where is Zhi Wei Guan? What is the ambiance, is it chinese?

[rocknroll52]

Vietnam and Sang Kee Peking Duck are favorites of ours

[hungry100]

my two favorites as well.

[Chefpaulo]

You can't beat Sang Kee for quality and value. Last Friday, six of us had our fill of Peking duck, shrimp, calamari, fried rice -you name it - and each had a Tsing Dao beer. With tip, it came to $21 per person. Where do you get that in C.C.? Reservations, though, are a must as the line gets quite long after 6:30.

[bigfella]

My personal recs:

House of Chen (Chinatown)
Chung Hing (Just off Ford Road at Monument Road - near City/I-76)

http://howsthatburgerbigfella.wordpre...

[Boognish]

Although like saturninus, I generally eat pho down off Washington, Pho Cali at 10th and Arch gets great reviews (I've never personally been). As for Chinese, I enjoy getting one or two things at one spot, then heading to a new one to sample more.

While it has no ambiance, Dim Sum Garden near the bus station has fantastic soup dumplings (the soup is in the dumplings), which will probably be a hit with the boys. You could order 2 or 3 servings and then head elsewhere for more variety.

[mombaker247]

Maybe we wil try Pho Cali, and review it for you, I usually eat Pho on Washington. Just wondering if their was some really interesting place to try.

[Ali]

Pho Cali is respectable. It's not great, but for a bowl of pho in Philly Chinatown, it's most definitely respectable.

I'd personally move on to Shiao Lan Kung, Zhi Wei Guan, or any of the other Chinese restaurants in the area.

[saturninus]

Tell me abuot Zhi Wei Guan - I've never been and we always go to Shia Lan Kung.

[Ali]

Well, first off, I'm one of the very few who prefer the soup dumplings at Zhi Wei Guan - I think most here prefer Dim Sum Garden's instead (both have good ones, regardless). The last time I was there, there was a lady in the dining room making dumplings, so that's all I can remember for the moment, those perfect soup dumplings. The singular thing that's weird about this place (or weird to me) is that for a place advertised as the "Magic Kingdom of Dough," the food is lovely and light - makes sense for Hangzhou cusine but still weird considering the dough name. :)

However, here's a review (complete with pictures) that is fairly accurate of my reminiscence of this place:
http://philadining.blogspot.com/2008/...

mombaker247 - Zhi Wei Guan serves Hang Zhou cuisine (so yes, Chinese). The place is tiny (think Smile Cafe in Center City) and isn't exactly upscale, though it's not a dive. There are only 5 or so tables, and the service is nice, though not exactly fast. Definitely a very calm, very laid back vibe. For 4 teenage boys, I don't know that I'd head to Zhi Wei Guan (though admittedly, I don't know how raucous the boys are)

[Boognish]

Not to hijack the thread, but Ali, can you recommend some other dishes at Zhi Wei Guan?

[Ali]

As Dib said, stick with the noodles or dumplings - wonton soup and soup dumplings are the way to go, I think. A properly ethereal wonton floating in soup is ... well, it's just good. An interesting-ish snack is the lover's bread (I think it's called) - it's basically just a duo of buns with a sweet dip (sweetened condensed milk) - for me, it's a great dish because bread and sweetened condensed milk was a childhood favourite, but I'm totally thinking this one probably won't appeal nearly as much as the great wonton soup and soup dumplings.

I can't say anything to the rice dishes simple I just never order rice out if I can help - not a huge fan.

Sorry the suggestions are a bit vague (not too much worse than "get dumplings or noodles"), but because of the relatively newness of the place and my significant decrease rate of eating out these days, I haven't been back to ZWG as often as I'd like, and at those times, I always get the soup dumplings so there's not much room left in the tummy to try many other items.

[Meliboeus]

At ZWG, I recommend the Hanzhou duck (with noodles is best), and any of the dumplings (the soup dumplings, of course, but the regular pork dumplings are great too). And oddly enough, the fried rice is fantastic! It's not something I usually order, but I get it there because it's just so good: complex flavors, good quality meat.

[Dib]

I agree that soup dumplings at ZWG are better than DSG's, though I only had them once. Daintier and I like the broth better. Any of the dumplings or noodle dishes with or without soup are good bets, skip the rice dishes.

[saturninus]

You'll have a tremendous about of luck in Chinatown for Chinese - I love Shiao Lan Kung. It all depends on what type of Chinese you are looking for.

For Pho, you will have the most luck at one of the restaruants on 9th and Washington.