Benson Y.
Yelp
After a trip to the local Hong Kong bakery, the owner recommended if I wanted relatively cheap roast meat type dishes I should visit Lau Kee (which is across the street). This was my first trip to Philly's Chinatown, so I was hoping for a good dinner experience.
As soon as I saw the store front I had a good feeling about it. The restaurant is fairly small, witha window featuring roast meats hanging in and a chef stationed there to serve them up. It's the type of set up I grew up going to and it always brings me a certain level of comfort.
Inside, the space has clearly been renovated (or the business is relatively new). The tiles are very new and clean. The glass where the roast meats are looks new. Even the sign outside looks relatively new (meaning no more than 10 years old tops). The interior has enough seating for maybe 10 or so people tops, and that's exactly what I was hoping for.
I was originally just going to get a roast pork rice maybe with some vegetables. However, when I looked at their (fairly extensive) menu I noticed they had beef with bitter melon on rice! This is one of my favorite dishes. My Grandma used to make it for me so I always consider it a treat when a restaurant serves it up (not all of them do). I also ordered a plate of roast pork to try out.
Service was great. Tea on the table very quickly, nice glass of ice water and extra napkins were on the table all before my food arrived. I worked on my laptop a bit and no one said a thing to me (granted, I was the only one eating in that night). My food came *fast*, like within 10 minutes. I was impressed. Interestingly, they cut the bitter melon into much smaller slivers than I'm used to. The beef was also in smaller pieces than I normally see, but it worked out because it made eating the dish with a spoon much easier. After all, you want a bit of rice, bitter melon and beef in each bite and that's what I got. In terms of quality, I'd put this one level below where I usually get it in NYC's Chinatown. However, I can't argue the flavor was on point and the tenderness was perfect on both the beef and bitter melon.
The roast pork was good, but it was a particular style I've had before that isn't really my favorite. I prefer the style used in places like Big Wong or Deluxe Market in New York City's Chinatown. This one is more fragrant with a healthy dose of Five Spice in the mix. It's *good* mind you, it's just not the kind I grew up with.
One note if you're eating in: the bathroom was *remarkably* clean. I know this seems like an odd thing to point out, but in my experience a lot of smaller eateries in NYC's Chinatown have a hard time keeping their bathrooms clean. These folks did a fantastic job of it!
I really enjoyed my visit to Lau Kee and would happily visit again the next time I'm in town.