Midtown Lunch

Today, Nick from My Inner Fatty is satisfying his Chinese food craving by visiting the Sang Kee in the Sharaton Hotel. I know Lunchers Becca , Wayles, and Matt are fans too.

Chinese food is one of those things that I constantly crave. I know sometimes it’s not exactly the healthiest meal, and more often than not, I tend to regret my decision of overeating these grease laden meals, but there’s just something I can’t pinpoint that has me going back all the time. Probably the MSG, I swear it’s like nicotine to an Asian person. Anyway, last week, I found myself wandering University City with a group of 7, trying desperately to find a proper lunch location. Turns out, this is much more difficult than it seems. Most places that come to mind are either quick meal solutions (i.e. carts), which aren’t suitable for a large group to have a sit down meal. Luckily, a solution was remarkably close.

Maybe this is an unfair blanket generalization, but I don’t normally expect to find great food in the lobby of a hotel. This goes double for Chinese food. It’s just not the type of thing that feels at home in a relatively upscale location. In my mind, good Americanized Chinese food tends to be greasy, cheap, and found in storefronts more appropriate to that description. Sang Kee Noodle House effectively ruins that entire statement. The latest in the family of ‘Sang Kee’ restaurants, this one is nestled on the first floor of the Sheraton in University City. With virtually no wait time, a fantastically varied menu, and moderate pricing for a sit down joint, Sang Kee might legitimately be in a class of it’s own when it comes to ML Chinese fooding in the area.

Given the criteria of a sub $10 meal for ML, you pretty much have the pick of the menu, since most items hover around that price point. It would seem foolish to go to a noodle house and neglect their noodle offerings though, so Shanghai Noodles were picked as the dish of choice. Described as udon noodles, shredded pork, shitake mushrooms, bean sprouts, napa, scallions, and carrots, this is a dish that’s beautiful for its simplicity. Aside from a layer of pork oil coating the thick tender noodles, the primary character of this plate comes from the smoky flavor the noodles and vegetables acquire in the cooking process. The pork is just fatty enough to induce guilt, the noodles just slippery enough to leave a pleasant aftertaste, and the vegetables just numerous enough to convince you that you’re eating healthily. At $9, this certainly isn’t cheap (2x the cost of most food trucks!), but given the location, the suitable quantity, and the excellent quality, it’s a lunch worth splurging on. Side note: I saw someone get this for takeout, and it looked like they packed the box pretty good… possibly more so than the dine in amount.

Something that fell outside the ML pricing but was too delicious to not mention- the snow pea shoots sautéed in garlic. This is a dish that should never be absent from any table during a Chinese meal. Not overcooked in the slightest, these shoots were as tender as they should be.

I realized that if you ask for the lunch special, you can get a beef broccoli rice dish + drink + appetizer for a $9 meal combo. Their rendition of the classic beef and broccoli was more than adequate. The beef was superbly tender, without any hint of tendon in any of the bites I took. The broccoli had a beautifully pungent garlic scent… and that sauce was something else. A compromise of light and viscous, it had a certain clingy property that evenly coated whatever rice it touched in deliciousness.

So, what to take away from all this? Sang Kee Noodle House serves up some pretty dandy noodles, has a decently valued lunch menu, and cooks tremendously good snow pea shoots. Don’t be immediately turned off by the price, and don’t skip it just because it’s in the lobby of a hotel.

THE + (What somebody who likes this place would say)

• Oh cool, I can eat in the lobby of a hotel
• I want a place to sit and enjoy my food in a land full of food carts
• Nice ambiance, quick service, and generally cleaner than most Chinese placess
• Tremendous variety throughout the menu

THE – (What somebody who doesn’t like this place would say)

• I can buy SO much more Chinese food down the street
• Kind of wish there was a bit more authenticity built in

Sang Kee Noodle House, 3549 Chestnut St (@ 36th St), 215 387-8808