Stefanie Y.
Yelp
When I saw a UYE (organized by Dave L.) headed to Far East Descendant, I instantly cleared my calendar. I've long heard whispers of how delicious - and how fun - Far East Descendant is, and they lived up to the hype, and more!
I was really glad to be able to go with a big group, which allowed us the try out the beast board! It was...incredible. Just a board overflowing with four types of meat (a huge charsiu beef rib, plum sauce duck, spiced steak, tender pork belly), shrimp two ways (sticky rice with tiny shrips, and shrimp with fried mantou, and delicious carbs (lotus chips and taro fries), served with six house-made sauces (including the most unique ketchup I've ever had) and some very tasty vegetables (yu choy and bok choy) - for...health.
I tried to not eat any rice so that I could fully enjoy the feast in front of me. I still was totally full by the end. For the 11 of us, we ordered two beast boards, and we still had leftovers! Overall, we spent ~$69 pp, which included 2 rounds of shots - some kind of very spicy tequila shot that I will never drink again, followed by baijiu, plus great alcoholic beverages (I had some sort of chamomile spritzer, which I enjoyed a lot) and all the food you could ever dream of eating in one sitting. The service was friendly and different members of the staff took the time to explain the food to us - including some of the cooking techniques and where the martial arts-inspired dish names came from.
There really is nothing else like Far East Descendant in Philly Chinatown (and in Philly in general) - they shine as a more modern Chinese culinary destination, offering a strong drinks program, great service, and solid food with great presentation and a memorably-presented menu.