Downtown Lunch: Excellent Pork Chop House
Making Downtown office workers jealous is something this blog has been doing for awhile now. To even the score, I’ve brought on Daniel Krieger as an official Downtown Lunch Correspondent to write up some of the tasty stuff you can get in the lower half of Manhattan. He’s a great photographer (insuring good food porn), but more importantly he is a lover of cheap, unique and delicious eats (or as I like to call it- Midtown Lunch’ish food).
How are you supposed to find the right Chinatown spot for a cheap lunch that is going to be better than the 100 other similar spots dotted on a downtown map? Well you can read this column every Friday to start. Or you can ask friends who work in the Chinatown area, which is what I did to find the Excellent Pork Chop House. I asked a friend of mine what her favorite place was for lunch and she immediately said, “Excellent Pork Chop House” on Doyers street. The name of the place is pretty confident and clear. If you go there you gotta try the pork chop because well, it’s probably going to be excellent. If it isn’t they should change the name to something else.
That fried porkchop which costs $2.20 lives up to it’s name. The pan fried chop comes out sizzling on the plate and is perfectly tender. You’re gut instinct is, “hey, this should be covered in something” or “shouldn’t I be dipping this,” but it needs nothing and should be eaten exactly as is— a juicy, flavorful slab of pork delivered on a small otherwise empty white plate.
For a more “substantial” meal (i.e. stuff with other stuff), try the Braised Spare Ribs Soup w/ Lo Mein for $5.75. You first get a cup of clear broth with chunks of boiled meat floating about. I wasn’t sure what exactly I was supposed to do with it, but a few minutes later the bowl of noodles comes out, causing the lightbult of geniusness to go off (dump the broth with the meat onto the noodles!). The dish works very well together and provides a hearty, filling meal.
Like pretty much every place in Chinatown, the Excellent Pork Chop House is no frills, delicious dining. It’s been there for years, and will be probably be there for years more- waiting for you to go in and get that pork chop.
Excellent Pork Chop House, 3 Doyers St. (near Bowery). 212-791-7007
Photos & Post by Daniel Krieger
Posted by Daniel Krieger at 7:00 am, May 23rd, 2008 under Chinatown, Chinese, Excellent Pork Chop House, Jury Duty Lunch, Noodles.
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9 Comments
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Muummmmm…. perfect porcine pleasure….
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$2.20 wow that’s crazy.
Just a note, I’m sure you realize this and are just quoting off the menu, but in no way, shape or form is that lo mein. If Excellent Pork Chop House is Taiwanese, I THINK that type of noodle is called e-mein. -
PS Yea the pool of oil in the picture is so pretty =P so yes your porkchop is covered in something. haha. I’d still eat it!
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I love that place! Pork chop on rice is the best in chinatown! Their style is distinctly different than other places. It is not a pork chop that has an outter crust, but it is usually freshly made and the spice combination makes it super delicious.
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What really makes the pork chop over rice (or with noodles) great is the taiwanese style pickled cabbage. Notice that chopped up light green stuff to the left of the noodles? The combination of the pickled cabbage, along with rice, minced pork, and pork chop on one spoonful, is amazing. The Excellent Pork Chop House usually gives you a generous portion of pickles too.
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Just came back from here. Totally happy about the pork chop over rice. Wasn’t thrilled with the wontons in spicy oil, however.
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Hi webmaster!
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doyers st is such an adventure. tasty tasty pork chops. have to disagree about the wontons in spicy oil. they were absolutely amazing. so fresh tasting and flavorful. they just weren’t your typical wonton presentation.
A friend from Taipei once told me that Excellent Pork Chop House is named for a famous restaurant in his hometown, and that the featured item is far better at the original. That has to be some dynamite pork chop, because the version down on Doyers is very good by me. I prefer the version over rice:
http://www.eatingintranslation.com/2007/10/excellent-pork-.html
For readers who are staying in the city this weekend, the annual Passport to Taiwan festival will be held on Sunday in Union Square:
http://www.eatingintranslation.com/2008/05/food-friendly-3.html