E Mei Szechuan Style

915 Arch Street (Chinatown)
Philadelphia, PA 19107
(215) 627-2500
Website

Although Han is certainly the most famous Szechuan restaurant in the city, E Mei is probably number two.

Located in Chinatown, E Mei offers a great selection of lunch options to get your spice on a budget.

When you sit down, the give you some hot tea, salted peanuts, and some spicy pickled greens. The greens are absolutely addictive. Spicy, crunchy, and tart, they keep you coming back for more.

On the lunch menu, they offer a variety of dishes for $6-7, and they all come with rice and a side. I went with a hot and sour soup, which was subtle, yet rich. I could not stop eating it.

My other side (I had two meals) was the egg roll. Not bad, just not great. I had a couple of bites, and focused my attention to other items.

For the main courses, I went with one sliced beef with hot and spicy sauce (left), and one shredded pork with long hot pepper (right). I also got one white rice, one fried rice.

The beef was tasty enough, with tender meat, but the sauce was a bit oily, and could have benefited from more flavor. It had a thick, gelatinous consistency that was pretty bland. Some acid would likely have greatly lifted this one, but it was not bad, just not all that good.

The shredded pork with long hot peppers was another story all together. This was terrific. It was reminiscent of the double cooked style pork at Handy-nasty, and I could not stop eating it. Spicy, with just a hint of Szechuan peppercorn, for that hollow, numbing sensation that is so common in Szechuan cooking.

The fortune cookie must know how much I love Philly Phoodie. As it told me I was friends with myself.

This meal cost $13 before tip. Seriously one of the best deals around. I would recommend going, skip the beef, get the pork, and experiment with the menu a bit. I was recommended these two, but will be going back to try some of the more interesting varieties next time.

Sammy Chon's K-Town BBQ

911 Race St.
Philadelphia, PA 19107
215 574-1778
Website

I had been to the Cherry Hill Sammy Chon's, but the new outpost in Chinatown had me intrigued. Koagies are a pretty great fusion concept and the promise of Korean Fried Chicken meant that I was headed to C-town.

They brought out two dishes of banchan, I suppose they throttle your free snacking when you don't order Korean main dishes. Others around me had about seven little dishes.

I went with a four piece order of the Korean Fried Chicken, which they allowed me to order two ways. Sweet soy, and spicy pepper (Diablo) sauces coated the crispy breaded chicken pieces. Unfortunately, this was not the best rendition I have had. Cafe Soho way up in K-town is significantly better. While the batter was crispy, it flaked off very easily, as though they had not been given the proper rest time to let the batter set up. They were still good, just not as good as others I have had.

I also went with one beef bulgogi and one spicy pork koagie. They are served on a Sarcone's roll and come pretty loaded with meat. The spicy pork (jae yook bokum-style) was far and away the winner. Cabbage, pork, onions and a side of white sauce made for a well balanced sandwich. The spicy marinade really packed a punch and the cool sauce subdued the burn.

The bulgogi was slightly disappointing. Especially compared to the pork. It had okay flavor, but really needed some kind of sauce. It was a bit dry without smothering it in the white sesame sauce provided - and when that didn't pack enough punch, a side of go chu jang was required to really round it out.

It was a pretty decent experience, and I would certainly go again, but I would likely try some of their more authentic food, and mop up those sauces with a pork koagie.