Midtown Lunch

Today, Luncher John is telling us about a spot he dines at often

For over ten years, I’ve made countless visits to Square on Square, a Chinese restaurant located in the heart of Center City at 19th and Chestnut. While there are plenty of Chinese spots downtown, Square on Square has stood out for its upscale-yet-casual ambience and excellent food. Both business lunch goers as well as Center City shoppers have been filling Square on Square during lunch for years, and with good reason.

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In May I noticed that a new restaurant opened in Chinatown serving a very unique style of Chinese cuisine from the Xi’an. I noted that the name of the restaurant “Xi’an Famous Food” made me think they were related to the popular Xi’an Famous Food locations in New York City, however on my visit I was told there was no relation. Soon after, the original Famous Food contacted the Philly restaurant and asked them to change their name to avoid an infringement suit. The change has happened and the new name is Xi’an Sizzling Woks. Since that first visit, the 10 item hand printed menu has expanded to a vast noodley menu that I had to explore.

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My mouth dropped open while passing through Philly’s Chinatown on the bus coming home from NYC this weekend when I saw a sign for a new restaurant- Xi’an Famous Food.

The bad news first, Xi’an occupies 902 Arch Street, meaning Szechuan Tasty House, one of the better restaurants in Chinatown, is no longer.

The good news- Xi’an food, cuisine from one of the oldest cities in China, is amazing and unique. I was first exposed to it in 2009 in my favorite dingy food court basement, Flushing’s Golden Mall, at  NY’s now famous Xi’an Famous Foods. In the past few years the public has caught on, demanding for more access to the slippery noodles and cumin lamb burgers and resulting in 4 more outposts around the boroughs. Most recently, the original Midtown Lunch was lucky enough to get a Xi’an within its boundaries.

As for Philly, Happy Noodle Bar made some attempts at Xi’an food, but it wasn’t quite right.

So, I had to resort to repeatedly transporting noodles over state lines. Until now.

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Happy Noodle Bar opened last month in the space formally occupied by Nan Zhou. The small spot serves Chinese small bites and soups from various regions of China including Yunan and Xi’an. Then to round it out, the Happy people threw in Korean food and… a bloomin onion (not a joke! it is the first appetizer on the menu though not available when I visited).  Our foray into Happy Noodle Dining was not a continuous happy time.  Please have some patience by reading through the sad, the bland, and the ugly before you come to the good stuff.

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All the way back in my first month of Midtown Lunching in Philly, I was in all my newbie glory when I stumbled upon Tasty Place, the Chinese restaurant located in a basement next to an Asian grocery store. I still have yet to find a better chow fun in the city. When I realized the ridiculousness of that fact that it had been years since I ate at Tasty Place, I went back to try some other things off their extensive menu. And I stocked up on spices at the  grocery store (5 spice powder, ground lemon grass, wasabi powder, and citrus peel powder).

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I am officially obsessed with the Upper Darby Terminal Square area. It is such an unexpectedly diverse block. The pupusas from El Sabroso rocked my world last week. Next, I had to try the dumplings that were named Best of Philly 2012 by Philly Mag at Yang Yang Express next door to El Sabroso.

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Its downright crazy that  I have only eaten at Nan Zhou Hand Drawn Noodle once and that the one time was 2 years ago AND before the move to the bigger location. Silly me. Last time I dug into the braised oxtail hand pulled noodle soup. I applaud my past self for choosing something a little funkier. For this visit, I had to pick a different version of the soup, plus I had to explore the menu a lot more.

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