The Honey Paw

78 Middle Street
Portland, ME 04101
(207) 774-8538
Website

On a recent trip to Maine, I had some of the most innovative and delicious Asian style food I can remember. It made me long for a Honey Paw in Philly. Alas, I will have to head back up north to get my fix.

A small but bright and airy corner space. with loads of windows, it was inviting and though parked next door to the famous Eventide Oyster Company, the food here made it a destination on its own.

The scallion pancakes were first, deep fried to a perfectly airy, crunchy, light, salty miracle. These were hands down the best I have had, and I have eaten quite a few.

Look at the texture on these. I am drooling thinking about them.

In keeping with my carb-tastic snack course, I had some fry bread with Thai butter. My god. I don't remember having a better fry bread either. Again, the texture and airy pockets of dough were perfection. Sliced hot peppers and chives, with the rich butter just made this one for the books.

The kimchi. I mean, it's kimchi. It's always pretty good. Like pizza. But this kimchi was again, everything it should be. Spicy. Tart. Crunchy. I would have bought this in a five gallon jar if offered, and likely eaten it before getting back to the car. Can you die from eating 18.9271 liters of kimchi? I am certainly willing to try.

Next? Oh just an AGED BEEF CORN DOG. Did I mention I like sauces? Meat? Food on a stick? Fried meat on a stick covered in sauce? Be still my (slowing) heart.

The slight funk of the aged beef let you know it was there, unlike most corndogs where you taste breading and only breading.

If you are familiar with Dan Dan Noodles, do I have a dish for you. Look at the balance on this.

ALMOST too good to eat.

Bok choy, with ground pork, noodles, nuts, and scallions. Spicy, rich and satisfying.

Starting to slow down, but no where near the finish line, I moved on to the fried chicken sandwich. Can we also take a moment to admire the house made chips? They are sprinkled with some sort of heavenly dust (peanut dust?). Stuffed in this roll was napa kimchi, iceberg, mayonnaise, AND american cheese. I love the play on po'boys.

Perfectly fried, on a great slightly crusty roll, with more kimchi. Yes please.

I obviously had to sample the banh mi, right? Sporting chicken liver mousse, fish sauce caramel, cucumber, jalapeño, pickles, cilantro and served on another of these perfect rolls. Maine sure does know bread.

Last but hardly least. I had to sample the house made noodles. Here is the mushroom udon, with miso, bok choy, togarashi oil, and tempura crunch. The ability to control your crunch with the side of tempura was key. Otherwise you would be eating soggy tempura.

The smooth warming miso broth was packed with umami, and filled with earthy mushrooms. Soul soothing indeed.

The bar was also no slouch, and a couple of fancy cocktails never hurts to punctuate the meal.

Chili Szechuan

4626 Baltimore Ave
Philadelphia, PA 19143
(215) 662-0888
Website

With the explosion of Han Dynasty, there was bound to be some new Szechuan style places popping up. This one is right in the hot spot of the Baltimore Ave Triangle, where some new and interesting places are always opening up. I felt it was worth a try.

There was a very small crowd for primetime on a Thursday, but the inside was reasonably well appointed, and clean.

They had the dishes made famous in Philadelphia by Han, so it was a must-try situation. Enter spicy cucumbers and Dan Dan Noodles.

The cukes were good, but not QUITE as good as the peppercorn master's.

The Dan Dan were also tasty, and a good substitute, but both of these dishes were the same price as Han's, so I just couldn't justify it, given the choice.

For the entrees, the hot sauce style chicken came out in one HUGE portion, which was not a bad deal, given the $15 price tag, and definitely brought the sour/heat that it should have. It was not a bad rendition by any means.

The hot pot style rabbit, however, had issues. I knew ordering rabbit from a place with one other table on a Thursday night was likely a risky venture, but my dining partner was in the mood, so far be it from me to discourage culinary adventure.

The issue with this dish, however, was that the rabbit was served bone-in. And the pieces were chopped so small that you were forced to try and suck a tiny piece of meat off of a jagged piece of bone and cartilage. It ended up being an effort in futility, and I can't say I was a fan. The flavor was there, but the tiny pieces of chewy hare just didn't seem worth it.

This was the "bone plate". Not so hot.

I can't say that I would definitely go back, given the proximity of the West Philly Han Dynasty, but some of the dishes were surely passable.

Han Dynasty

108 Chestnut St.
Philadelphia, PA 19106
(215) 922-1888
Website

This place has been all the hype for a while now, but I just never got over to Old City (for obvious reasons) to check it out. My mistake.


I popped in for lunch, knowing full well that the only way to go about eating there is to put yourself in Han's hands. Done. I was also pre-warned by a friend that he may come off as arrogant, but to trust him. Also done. Although I can see how some people might be annoyed by his no-nonsense attitude (and the initially snide arrogance) - but you know what they say, the proof is in the pudding, and I could not put down the pudding spoon. I was even scrapping the serving trays for a tiny bit more of the sauces or a crispy bit of pork belly that might have been lost in the mix. It was utterly pathetic how good the food was, and I am not too proud to say it.

When we ordered, we were told what we had originally intended to order for a starter (dumplings) were not that good, and instead we should get the Dan Dan noodles. The noodles, for want of a better description, were incredible. The best way to describe them, is to liken them to a mix of my two favorite dishes from Nan Zhou (the hand-drawn noodle house) which are their 'noodles in pork soy sauce' and their 'noodles in peanut sauce'. This was a mash-up of the two, with the addition of some spicy, hot pepper oil, and was insanely addictive. I am craving them so hard right now just thinking about it. The Dan Dan noodles are presented in a large bowl and hand mixed table-side. I could eat this all of the time. Seriously. So addictive. There is a nutty sesame flavor, coupled with crispy pork bits, salty soy and a spicy kick. Heaven in a bowl.


We had also been planning on ordering a couple of entrees (lunch special is apparently approximately half off of the dinner price, give or take), but we were told otherwise - that we should instead go with the dry pepper style chicken (an 8 on the heat index) and the dry fry style pork belly (a 6). The recommendations I had received from said friend in advance of my visit were turned down by Han and instead he made these new recommendations.

They don't pull any punches with the heat, or the authenticity. It was unlike most Chinese places, so don't go and try to order Kung Pao chicken, or I truly feel Han would (rightfully) kick you out. He had one other server working, but he took every order himself and brought them all out. The other server sat us, and Han told us we were in the wrong seat. When he brought out the food he said, "are you ready for the best meal of your lives?" In another context, all of this would be off-putting, but at Han Dynasty, it adds to the charm. He loves his food, and stands by it one hundred percent. I fully support this approach to restaurants, and wish it were more prevalent. The dry pepper style chicken was hot. The layers of flavor were so deep and complex that the building heat didn't just sting, but it came in waves, and actually developed the flavor profiles more completely. I was hooked. Chicken, peppers, sesame, dry peppers and peppercorns were all that it needed to become my favorite chicken dish I have eaten in quite some time. There was one problem though. The pork belly.

I love pork belly. I love to eat it and to make it, to talk about it and to think about it. This might have been the best I have ever had. Beautiful, impossibly thin ribbons of belly, crispy on most of the surface area. One problem with pork belly is when it is sliced too thickly it can be poorly undercooked; another is when it is not crispy enough it tends to be overwhelmingly chewy. Neither were anywhere close to being the case at Han. The light sauce was smoky, salty, slightly sweet and of course, spicy. The scallions and bell peppers, celery and peppercorns were so amazingly porky and delicious, I didn't stand a chance against this dish, even though I had remarked how I was full after the Dan Dan appetizer. That is, until I licked every presented vessel clean immediately after that statement.


I really can't say enough about the food at Han Dynasty. I want to, and probably will be back this week. It's the best Chinese I have ever had, and I don't know that I will ever be able to go back to anything else.