Restaurant: China Gourmet [1, 2]
Location: 2842 St Vincent St, Philadelphia, PA 19149. (215) 941-1898
Date: November 26, 2021
Cuisine: Cantonese Chinese
Rating: Pretty decent Cantonese
As part of the traditional ThanksGavin progression of meals we often have a second home feast on Friday Night, but this year because my cousin Matt and his wife were justifiably out of steam from the big event the night before, we quested around for tasty place that could take nearly 20 people.
Much to my pleasure we selected this local Cantonese banquet hall.
Fairly typical interior that is pretty much straight out of the SGV.
The menu. Clearly they do a lot of takeout.
This meal involved some really complex ordering. This is the main adult table. This had a mix of adventurous and cautious eaters and even a couple with restrictions.
And then the extra challenging kids table, which due to size restrictions also ended up as the overflow for really picky eaters and those with highly specific dietary needs.
Peanuts.
Fish maw and crab soup. Mild MSG delivery vehicle.
Because some people thought “fish maw” was too weird, we also got Hot and sour soup (which is always delicious).
Lobster with minced pork. Not sure I’ve had it with the pork. Extra yum.
Clams with black bean sauce.
Peppers stuffed with shrimp paste.
Steamed striped bass.
Quail.
Garlic fried chicken. Very tender and moist.
Salt and pepper pork chop.
Snow pea leaf.
String beans.
Beef on crispy noodles.
Salt and pepper tofu.
Seafood fried rice with salty roe. I didn’t tell everyone about the “roe”.
Oranges.
Really a pretty good place, on par with a medium level SGV Cantonese. Not the best ever, but not Chinese American either (at least the way I ordered). Everyone enjoyed it too so my “something for everyone” ordering seemed to have worked out.
