Midtown Lunch

China King is one of the many Chinese restaurants in China town that have separate menus, the American friendly menu and the more authentic menu (here, FuZhou style). Be clear that you want both menus.

Inside, the finishings are pretty sparse. Our waitress was both over and under attentive. Our waters were not refilled yet she  kept hovering over us while we told her we needed more time to order. It is all about the food though, we had some things that pleased, others that did not.

Our one dabble into the American menu was successful, fried pork dumplings were filled with a very fresh tasting pork/chive mixture.  I was confused about the bits of attached egg and whether that was accidental, but it added a little something extra anyway.

A giant plate of steamed water spinach with garlic was cooked really nicely. I put the leftovers to good use.

The “over rice” section has several FuZhou  style options that are all under $7.

From that section we tried the beef short ribs. I loved the sauce here, but the ribs instead of being that lean style that the Koreans do so well, were instead really fatty. It was hard to get enough meat off it. I haven’t given up on these cheap platters, and would come back  for the fish filet or to get crazy and try the tortoise.

The other cheap section revolved around noodles. The lamb noodle soup was not a success. It was really more mutton that lamb. The pieces of meat were covered in a layer of thick nasty skin and the broth tasted like it was made from literally the oldest lamb on the farm.

And while walking out, look out. Nicholas Cage is bangkok dangerous….

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

• Two menus means more options
• Great dumplings and greens

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

• Fatty Ribs
• Old ass mutton soup

China King, 922 Arch  St, (215) 922-2880