South Philly Review

For obvious reasons, I have never invited a Philadelphia chef to accompany me on a review.

However, my friend Chris, who is a fine chef and specializes in catering intimate dinners inside the homes of his patrons, was the perfect choice. He graduated from The Culinary Institute of America and would not be recognized in restaurants throughout the city.

After a day of shopping for kitchenware, Chris and I decided to review Old City Asian Bistro. He never says no to sushi.

The restaurant is a serene, lovely space with two waterfalls, a sushi bar, hardwood floors, comfortable banquettes and Formica-topped tables set with green linen napkins.

“The menu is all over Asia,” Chris said. “There are Chinese dishes, Japanese dishes and Thai dishes.”

After perusing the menu, a server asked if we wanted to order. We were not ready but asked for tea. She set two green earless Japanese tea cups in front of us filled with macha, a Japanese green tea. It was a first for me and imparted a calming effect. Another woman filled our water glasses.

We nibbled on first-rate edamame ($4), which were served in their protective pods and dusted with a touch of sea salt.

“These are about the best you can get,” Chris said. “They are not one bit overcooked and they are properly salted as well.”

Old City Asian Bistro is a BYOB. We did not tote any sake with us, but I read on Twitter that the owners offer it complimentary. Our server obliged with a smile and brought me a small sake cup and ceramic carafe filled with warm rice wine.

Six steamed meat dumplings ($5) were absolutely glorious. The wrappers were homemade. The seasoned-just-right minced pork did not fall out of the wrappers after we took one bite. A sauce made with soy, mirin and sesame oil was the perfect enhancement for this starter.

We tried both the lemon grass and Thai coconut chicken soups ($5). Both were winners. The lemon grass version included three, slightly sweet shrimp along with snow peas and white button mushrooms. I do not usually care for coconut milk, but the liquid used in this version paired well with some fresh stock, razor-thin slices of boneless chicken breast, snow peas and white button mushrooms.

“The soups would be better if the chefs used enoki mushrooms instead of the white button,” my friend said.

I agreed. Even slightly heady shitakes would’ve work well here. But this was a matter of personal taste.

To me, Asian tacos are an oxymoron. They are popping up from coast-to-coast. Chris and I were intrigued with the tacos ($8) served at Old City Asian Bistro. We received a platter which contained two small flour tortillas; a mound of crispy, thinly-sliced tender beef; bean sprouts and some shredded carrots, cucumber and jicama. I do not care for soft flour tortillas, so I rescued two large romaine lettuce leaves from the platter and made wraps. They took me straight back to Chez Elena Wu in Voorhees, N.J. where I first sampled them.

“Don’t try the beef with the tortillas,” Chris said. “It just does not work although the beef and vegetables are well done.”

Eel avocado roll ($5) was simply prepared with perfect slightly sticky rice, flavorful eel and creamy avocado wrapped inside with nori.

The O.C. special roll ($12) was the star. Fresh tuna formed the basis for a roll which included rice and was wrapped in a pink-colored soybean crepe. I have never tasted this before.

“I think a Vietnamese crepe would be better in this sushi,” Chris said.

I agreed. The Vietnamese crepe is tastier and is a bit thinner. No matter, we enjoyed the house special.