Image
  • Writing
    • Andy Gavin: Author
    • About my Novels & Writing
    • All Writing Posts
    • The Darkening Dream
      • Buy the Book Online
      • Sample Chapters
      • Reviews
      • Info for Reviewers
      • Press Coverage
      • Awards
      • Cast of Characters
    • Untimed
      • Buy Untimed Online
      • Book Trailer
      • Sample Chapters
      • Reviews
      • Info for Reviewers
      • Press Coverage
      • Awards
      • Cast of Characters
    • Scrivener – Writer’s Word Processor
    • iPad for Writers
    • Naughty Dark Contest
  • Books
    • Book Review Index
    • Favorite Fantasy Novels
    • Andy Gavin: Author
    • The Darkening Dream
      • Buy the Book Online
      • Sample Chapters
      • Short Story: Harvard Divinity
      • Reviews
      • Info for Reviewers
      • Press Coverage
      • Awards
      • Cast of Characters
    • Untimed
      • About the Book
      • Buy Untimed Online
      • Book Trailer
      • Sample Chapters
      • Reviews
      • Info for Reviewers
      • Press Coverage
      • Awards
      • Cast of Characters
    • Naughty Dark Contest
  • Games
    • My Video Game Career
    • Post Archive by Series
    • All Games Posts Inline
    • Making Crash Bandicoot
    • Crash 15th Anniversary Memories
    • World of Warcraft Endgames
    • Getting a Job Designing Video Games
    • Getting a Job Programming Video Games
    • Naughty Dark Contest
  • Movies
    • Movie Review Index
  • Television
    • TV Review Index
    • Buffy the Vampire Slayer
    • A Game of Thrones
  • Food
    • Food Review Index
    • Foodie Club
    • Hedonists
    • LA Sushi Index
    • Chinese Food Index
    • LA Peking Duck Guide
    • Eating Italy
    • Eating France
    • Eating Spain
    • Eating Croatia
    • Eating Vietnam
    • Eating Australia
    • Eating Israel
    • Ultimate Pizza
    • ThanksGavin
    • Margarita Mix
    • Foodie Photography
    • Burgundy Vintage Chart
  • Other
    • All Posts, Magazine Style
    • Archive of all Posts
    • Fiction
    • Technology
    • History
    • Anything Else
  • Gallery
  • Bio
  • About
    • About me
    • About my Writing
    • About my Video Games
    • Ask Me Anything
  • Contact

Revenge of the Han Dynasty

Nov30

Restaurant: Han Dynasty

Location: 3711 Market st, Philadelphia PA. tel. (215) 222 3711

Date: November 21, 2012 & November 26, 2014

Cuisine: Szechuan Chinese

Rating: Spicy Goodness

_

Every year, we Gavins converge on Philadelphia for the annual ThanksGavin, and every year it starts out with the “Wednesday night dinner.” This time around, we ended up at Han Dynasty, a downtown Szechuan Chinese restaurant. I love Szechuan, but rarely see it. In China, I’ve had meals that were so spicy delicious that your life flashed before your eyes.


Han Dynasty is a new breed of American Chinese restaurant, more hip by far than your typical Chinese eatery.


The menu. The red border is not only auspicious, but prognostic — of the heat!


Knowing we were up for some Szechuan, I dragged some Riesling across the country in my handy winecheck bag.

Parker 92, “The detail, refinement, and lift that characterize the best of 2007 were reason enough, Rebholz said, for him to essay some residually sweet Riesling, otherwise, I’d rather leave that to the Mosel vintners. The 7.5% alcohol of his 2007 Riesling Spatlese Vom Buntsandstein indeed puts one in mind of the Mosel, as well as on notice that this will be wine of delicacy and very high residual sugar. It is also impressively endowed with ripe quince and wafting lily and gardenia perfume, and manages to keep its sweetness balanced so as not to tip into sheer confection, but instead to exhibit seamless purity and nectar-like lusciousness. It should be worth watching for a dozen or more years, and in fact I would personally not even care to revisit it for 6-8 years.”


Not your usual Chinese chinz.


Even the tea comes in stylish (probably Japanese, from the look of them) teapots.

We ordered up a deluxe ($30 a person) tasting menu for 16.


Vegetable fried dumplings. The vegetarian variant of your standard potsticker. These were probably the most disappointing dish, but then again, these puppies are always better with pork.


Spring Rolls.


Chinese hot wings, ordered off the happy hour menu.


Double Dragon Punch. Brandy, rum, amaretto, homemade orgeat, orange, pineapple & lemon juices. The ultimate Scorpion Bowl!


Champagne (style) wine also goes great with spicy Chinese.


Spicy Crispy Cucumber. Beware anything at Han Dynasty that has “spicy” in the name. These were delicious and crunchy, but drowned in chili oil — not that I minded.


Dumplings in Chili Oil. Even hotter. These fiery little fellows burn straight down the gullet.


Scallion Pancake. Not spicy, but observe the lovely red tint to the sauce!


This super sweet Auslese from my cellar went perfectly with all the chili. Quince preserves, baked apple, lily, gardenia, and hints of caramel and vanilla mark the nose of the Prum 2007 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese. With richness yet delicacy and lift it saturates the palate with rich fruit, liquid flowers, vanilla cream, and savory, saline, shrimp shell reduction-like mineral essences. This intense, pure, subtly and truly nobly botrytized Auslese has umami with a capital “U.”


Wonton soup. Not hot, but had a little bit of peppery kick.


Rice helps cool the palette.


Little clams in spicy black bean sauce. Yum. This wasn’t too spicy, although you can see those Szechuan peppers hiding in there.


Dan Dan Noodles. This isn’t the crazy hot traditional version of the dish. Sure, it had plenty of heat, but it also had a nice sweet nutty sesame taste.


Another view.


We had the pork on the side, like high end baco-bits.


Sesame noodles. Same noodles as the dan dan, without the pork or chili sauce. Much nuttier in flavor.


Smoked duck. The duck was probably tea smoked duck, as it had that pastrami-like flavor. Controversial, as some didn’t like that vibe. I did.


Han Dynasty’s take on Honey Walnut Shrimp. These generous shrimp were crazy tempura fried and then glazed with a honey sauce and walnuts. Great rendition of the dish.


Hot shrimp with asparagus. Not a ton of shrimp, but some heat.


This was a special. Lobster in garlic sauce. Yum yum delicious. The lobster itself was perhaps a hair overcooked, but the sauce was amazing and the crustacean was perched on a bed of rich noodles…


Which allowed them to be soaked by the sauce. Yowzie!

Ma Po Tofu. One of my favorite dishes in general, and while this rendition was a touch too salty, it was still fabulous.


Eggplant w/ Garlic Sauce. These were not only very spicy, but had a delicious smokey garlic taste.


String Beans w/ Minced Pork. Fantastic version of this classic.


Pea Leaves w/ Garlic. Another great classic vegetable treatment.


Hot sauce style beef. Stir fried with cabbage and celery in an authentic Sichuan chili oil hot sauce!


Kung Pao style chicken. Peanuts, celery, and chili peppers. Excellent version of the classic.


Scallion Style chicken. Stir fried in hoisin and oyster sauce with onions and scallions. Not so spicy.


Cumin style lamb. Cumin-crusted and stir fried with bell peppers, dry peppers, and onions. Strongly flavored of cumin as you’d suspect with a nice heat. This was excellent, although it wasn’t as good as a cousin of the dish I once had in western China that was drier, on sticks. That one was bright red and relentlessly, throat burningly hot. It was also one of the best lamb dishes I’ve ever had.


Scallion Style beef. Mild and tasty.


Salt and pepper style chicken. Delicately battered and served on a bed of minced pepper and onion.


Salt and pepper fish. Also good, with a bit of heat.


This unusual white wine from Campagnia went pretty well too.


Another special. Whole stripped bass in sweet and sour chili sauce.


The sauce was, you guessed it, hot! But amazing.


Another special, dry fry style shrimp. These puppies were heavily fried (yum) and doused in a healthy dose of chili oil, then stir fried (again).


Spicy Hot Pot. Beware, like most Han Dynasty food, it was hot two ways (temperature and spicy). There was all sorts of goodness in there. Mostly chicken and a bit of seafood. This had some schezuan peppercorns.


The chefs at work: playing with fire!

This was a fantastic Chinese feast. Sure, it burned through my whole GI for 36 hours, but it was worth it. A worthy addition to the catalog of great Wed night ThanksGavin openings. Commenting two years later, and many many great Chinese meals under my belt, I’d have to say this is solid Schezuan style food, a tad modernized, and good stuff. One complaint on my second go (2014) was that they brought all the food in two giant waves, an “appetizer” and “entree” wave. The first time each item came out more or less on its own. This is way too many dishes for a big barrage.

See the rest of the ThanksGavin here.

For more Philly dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Chinese Food, Han Dynasty, hot pepper, Sichuan, Szechuan Chinese, ThanksGavin, Wine
Watch the Trailer or

Buy it Online!

Buy it Online!

Find Andy at:

Follow Me on Pinterest

Subscribe by email:

More posts on:



Complete Archives

Categories

  • Contests (7)
  • Fiction (404)
    • Books (113)
    • Movies (77)
    • Television (123)
    • Writing (115)
      • Darkening Dream (62)
      • Untimed (37)
  • Food (1,481)
  • Games (100)
  • History (13)
  • Technology (21)
  • Uncategorized (16)

Recent Posts

  • OOToro Double
  • Robo Eats - Anarbagh
  • Fred loves N/Naka
  • Major Major Major
  • Far East - Beijing Tasty House
  • Home Sweet Spicy Home
  • Quick Eats - Bafang
  • Quick Eats - Peking Restaurant
  • Quick Eats - MK BBQ
  • Wolfing it Down
  • Big Night at Capital
  • Coche In at Brothers Santa Monica
  • Dirty Dozen semi Grand
  • Date Night at Addison
  • Date Night at AR Valentien
  • Camphor Cool
  • Not all Dim Sum are Created Equal
  • Eating Geneva - Le Chat-Botté
  • Eating Corsica - Beach Lunch
  • Eating Baja - Somu

Favorite Food Posts

  • Food Home
  • Food Index
  • Foodie Club
  • Hedonists
  • LA Sushi Index
  • Chinese Food
  • LA Peking Duck
  • Eating Italy
  • Eating France
  • Eating Spain
  • Eating Croatia
  • Eating Vietnam
  • Eating Australia
  • Eating Israel
  • Ultimate Pizza
  • Margarita Mix
  • ThanksGavin
  • Foodie Photography
  • Burgundy Vintages

Recent Comments

Tags

Andy Gavin Arts beef Book Review books Burgundy BYOG California Champagne Chinese cuisine Chinese Food Cooking Crash Bandicoot Dessert eating-italy Fantasy Fiction Food Foodie Club Game of Thrones Gelato George R. R. Martin HBO hedonists Italian cuisine Italy Japanese cuisine Los Angeles Naughty Dog pasta Pizza Restaurant Restaurant Review reviews Santa Monica Santa Monica California SGV side dishes Sushi Television ThanksGavin The Darkening Dream vegetarian Wine World of A Song of Ice and Fire

Archives

  • March 2023 (9)
  • February 2023 (11)
  • January 2023 (14)
  • December 2022 (11)
  • November 2022 (13)
  • October 2022 (14)
  • September 2022 (14)
  • August 2022 (12)
  • July 2022 (9)
  • June 2022 (6)
  • May 2022 (8)
  • April 2022 (5)
  • March 2022 (4)
  • February 2022 (2)
  • January 2022 (8)
  • December 2021 (6)
  • November 2021 (6)
  • October 2021 (8)
  • September 2021 (4)
  • August 2021 (5)
  • July 2021 (2)
  • June 2021 (3)
  • January 2021 (1)
  • December 2020 (1)
  • September 2020 (1)
  • August 2020 (1)
  • April 2020 (11)
  • March 2020 (15)
  • February 2020 (13)
  • January 2020 (14)
  • December 2019 (13)
  • November 2019 (12)
  • October 2019 (14)
  • September 2019 (14)
  • August 2019 (13)
  • July 2019 (13)
  • June 2019 (14)
  • May 2019 (13)
  • April 2019 (10)
  • March 2019 (10)
  • February 2019 (11)
  • January 2019 (13)
  • December 2018 (14)
  • November 2018 (11)
  • October 2018 (15)
  • September 2018 (15)
  • August 2018 (15)
  • July 2018 (11)
  • June 2018 (14)
  • May 2018 (13)
  • April 2018 (13)
  • March 2018 (17)
  • February 2018 (12)
  • January 2018 (15)
  • December 2017 (15)
  • November 2017 (13)
  • October 2017 (16)
  • September 2017 (16)
  • August 2017 (16)
  • July 2017 (11)
  • June 2017 (13)
  • May 2017 (6)
  • March 2017 (3)
  • February 2017 (4)
  • January 2017 (7)
  • December 2016 (14)
  • November 2016 (11)
  • October 2016 (11)
  • September 2016 (12)
  • August 2016 (15)
  • July 2016 (13)
  • June 2016 (13)
  • May 2016 (13)
  • April 2016 (12)
  • March 2016 (13)
  • February 2016 (12)
  • January 2016 (13)
  • December 2015 (14)
  • November 2015 (14)
  • October 2015 (13)
  • September 2015 (13)
  • August 2015 (18)
  • July 2015 (16)
  • June 2015 (13)
  • May 2015 (13)
  • April 2015 (14)
  • March 2015 (15)
  • February 2015 (13)
  • January 2015 (13)
  • December 2014 (14)
  • November 2014 (13)
  • October 2014 (13)
  • September 2014 (12)
  • August 2014 (15)
  • July 2014 (13)
  • June 2014 (13)
  • May 2014 (14)
  • April 2014 (14)
  • March 2014 (10)
  • February 2014 (11)
  • January 2014 (13)
  • December 2013 (14)
  • November 2013 (13)
  • October 2013 (14)
  • September 2013 (12)
  • August 2013 (14)
  • July 2013 (10)
  • June 2013 (14)
  • May 2013 (14)
  • April 2013 (14)
  • March 2013 (15)
  • February 2013 (14)
  • January 2013 (13)
  • December 2012 (14)
  • November 2012 (16)
  • October 2012 (13)
  • September 2012 (14)
  • August 2012 (16)
  • July 2012 (12)
  • June 2012 (16)
  • May 2012 (21)
  • April 2012 (18)
  • March 2012 (20)
  • February 2012 (23)
  • January 2012 (31)
  • December 2011 (35)
  • November 2011 (33)
  • October 2011 (32)
  • September 2011 (29)
  • August 2011 (35)
  • July 2011 (33)
  • June 2011 (25)
  • May 2011 (31)
  • April 2011 (30)
  • March 2011 (34)
  • February 2011 (31)
  • January 2011 (33)
  • December 2010 (33)
  • November 2010 (39)
  • October 2010 (26)
All Things Andy Gavin
Copyright © 2023 All Rights Reserved
Programmed by Andy Gavin