Old City Asian Bistro

206 Market St
Philadelphia, PA 19106
(215) 922-6222

I am always on the lookout for lunch deals in the center city area, and when this one popped onto my radar, I had to check it out. Bento boxes are always a good time, and this was no exception.

The first thing I thought was, there is no way they are offering all of this for nine bucks. You get a choice of soup, miso, sweet and sour, or wonton, brown rice or white and a choice of entree. But hold on, that's not all. They also throw you a six piece California roll, crab rangoons, and a salad. For nine dollars. I went with the hot and sour soup, Thai red curry with shrimp, and brown rice. The soup came first, chock full of mushrooms and green onions and was pretty good. I don't eat hot and sour that often, and I always forget that it sometimes has a thick consistency, almost gelatinous.

The box came next, and everything on it was pretty decent. Nothing mind blowing, but a really solid, healthy lunch. The salad came with the typical ginger sesame dressing that I LOVE, and the Cali roll was decent. The rangoons were light, sweet and rich, with a crispy shell.

They had a variety of other items, as well as a lunch special with two sushi rolls for eight bucks or three for eleven. Sounds good, but I think the only reason I would be back is to get in on the bento box again.