HanDyNasty Favorites! Come one, come all!

[yummykimmy]

Taking two couples to Han Dynasty on Thursday....neither couple is particularly super spiced enthused....what to get?

We love spice & no matter who we bring.... we ALWAYS get the Dan Dan Noodles and Shrimp with Dry Hot Peppers....I'm thinking it's about as spicy as we can get for this outing.

The only mild dish I can remember having there is the Lambshead, and maybe an Eggplant dish....

What are your favs on the mild or not so mild side - please label your comment appropriately!

Yum!

[thehungrything]

Nonspicy favorite for me at Han dynasty is the baby bok choy and black mushrooms.
Spicier dishes that I love are the cold green bean noodles, Dan dan noodles, dumplings in hot oil ( I like the dumplings more than the wontons but both are good). The fish filet hot pot is great, and spicy. I also love the fried beef with hot peppers.

[Seeker19104]

Went to Han Dynasty yesterday for lunch, and waiter said there was no eggplant. The market price is too high. To be helpful, he added that some people bring their own eggplant (BYOE) for the Eggplant with Garlic Sauce.

Now Han Dynasty is BYOE as well as BYOB!!

[Philly Ray]

But do they still charge the menu price even though you are now supplying ingredients?

[yummykimmy]

Interesting...had the eggplant in garlic sauce there Thursday night...maybe we got the last ones...!

[mmgth]

Is the BYOE an April fool's post?

[yummykimmy]

I hope so, because that is really crazy!

[Bob Loblaw]

Well, it was on 4/2, not 4/1...
I have a friend who lives glulten-free. this means that he can only eat food with "real" soy sauce, except that real soy sauce is extremely rare, no one uses it. normal soy sauce has wheat.
So, he treats chinese restaurants as BYOSS. He brings his soy sauce, they cook with it. If the communication doesn't seem to go well with the wait staff, he eats rice and enjoys the company of his friends.

[mmgth]

Yeah, but seeker 19104 said yesterday on the 4/2 comment.

[InSearchOfTacos]

i cant comment on how this dish differs among the locations, but i love the sesame noodles. not spicy at all and delicious.

i really like the sauteed pea shoots too. nice complement to all the heat. enjoy!! and make sure to bring some good beer/wine :)

[Seeker19104]

Perhaps you are thinking of the Eggplant in Garlic Sauce. Tasty, traditionally cooked, well seasoned, not hot with peppers.

See this thread:
<http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/758182>

[caga tio]

I can assure that he meant the garlic sauce style pork. Caganer is my husband :)

We both really enjoy that dish and find it very mild. We ask them to make it extra spicy for us.

[VTRP]

does anyone have an opinion on the comparison between locations..... i am local to the royersford locale and have eaten there on a few occasions. Is the city location head and shoulders above?

[cwdonald]

I have heard people compain about Exton and Royersford after Han opened Philadelphia. Two things.. each chef has a different interpretation of dishes so you are not necessarily going to get consistency AMONG the three places. Also, if part of the experience is having Han either order dishes or at least interact with you, you will be most pleased with Philadelphia. That said, I have had lunch at Royersford ordering only sichuan style dishes, and been completely happy.

[caganer]

Re the garlic sauce style dishes, a direct translation of the Sichuan name for the dish is, I think, "fish fragrant" - I'm betting that name just wouldn't sell as well as "garlic sauce style". It seem like a pretty standard sichan thing

[scoopG]

One therory is that the name "Fish Fragrant" came from nicknames for Sichuan Yu (鱼) and Hunan Xiang (香).

[Seeker19104]

I was replying to the OP

[yummykimmy]

I knew that ! I've definitely had the eggplant with garlic before & it's usually tasty.

[caganer]

I'd say it's probably pretty safe to have faith in the food being good and use the menu spice levels as a guide. They're pretty reliable once you have a good reference point. For example, dan dan noodles are an 8, and they're pretty spicy, right? The cumin lamb is a 6, it's also pretty hot but not as much as the dan dan noodles.

For something that's both mild and good, and pretty authentic as I understand it, the garlic sauce style pork is good. It's a 3 in the menu. Only kids or sissies would think it's too spicy.

The three cup chicken is also supposed to be a good mild choice but I've never had it. It looks good in pictures I've seen.

[InSearchOfTacos]

+1 on the three cup chicken

not my favorite but others in my group always love it. and it is mild

[scoopG]

Three Cup Chicken is a classic Taiwanese dish and should not be spicy. The name comes from the the use of one cup of soy sauce, one cup of sesame oil and one cup of rice wine.

[urbanfabric]

I loved the pea shoots, they are more garlicky than spicy.

After the Dan Dan noodles, nothing else seemed nearly as spicy!

[cwdonald]

I would suggest the cold spicey cucumbers as one dish, and perhaps the green beans as well. You might also like the cumin lamb, more aromatic than spicey in my book.