Chun Hing Restaurant

Awesome Dumplings. The first time I ever fell in love with Chinese food, it was at a restaurant in Warminster, PA which was also named Chun Hing. Later, long after the Warminster place closed, I found a Chiun Hing at around 15th and Spruce in Philly that also made dumplings the way I like them. They closed to make way for the Kimmel Performing Arts Center, which I guess priced that location out of Chun Hing's reach. When I saw this place with the same name, I thought to myself, "Hmm, I wonder if they make the same awesome dumplings?" I am always on the look-out for awesome Chinese dumplings but unfortunately cannot find them often. But this place has them just the way I like them.

The filling is a combination of meat and napa cabbage--the cabbage sweetens the flavor and fluffs up the dumplings so that the inside is not like a hockey puck. The wrappers are thin rice pasta and not the thick doughy things that so many places serve (usually stuffed with hockey pucks). I ordered my fried, so the bottoms of the dumplings were golden and crispy, but you can get them steamed if you want to save a few calories. The dipping sauce is the traditional and delicious shredded ginger root soaked in red wine vinegar, along with the optional (but IMO mandatory) hot pepper oil.

Along with dumplings, I also ordered the hot and sour soup, which was quite good, and the strings beans and bean curd in garlic sauce, which was delicious. But you have to try the dumplings! I am so delighted to have found a place that makes dumplings this way that I cannot even begin to explain my jubilation.…

Amazing vegetarian options!. I absolutely love this place. I have taken dozens of friends and family here and everyone has loved it. They have quite a few vegetarian options, all of which are delicious! I always get the Vegetarian General Tso's - it's made with fabulous crispy seitan. I went with about a dozen people on my graduation, and the owners asked me what the occasion was and brought a giant dish of ice cream and cookies on the house for everyone! This place is a true gem.…