We Love Ong’s Too

Ong’s [MenuPages]
The essence of Chou-Jou [Inquirer]

We’ve always been fans of Ong’s. The low-profile noodle house always seemed like a bit of New York or San Francisco Chinatown that plopped down in the middle of Philly… By that, we mean that it’s a no frills place specializing in dishes that make it to your table in no time and are made for dowsing with lots of hot sauce. In a city dominated by 1960s Chinese relics, vegan Chinese spots filled with crusty punks and overearnest hippies and endless Fujianese joints… It’s refreshing. Damn refreshing.

Rick Nichols shares our love for Ong’s too:


Ong’s began life as the Nice Chinese Noodle House, a nine-table cafe at the foot of Chinatown’s ornate Friendship Gate. Ten years ago it moved (and greatly expanded) to the corner of 11th and Race, the eastern, unannounced gateway to Chinatown. And while I’ve passed it weekly, and even had the occasional big bowl of soup there, it wasn’t until recently that I began to explore, to my growing delight, the wider range of the place.

One day there were the House Special Shrimp Rolls ($6.95), exquisite, spongy, soy-wrappered packets of precisely folded and fried shrimp mousse and scallion, a touch of water chestnut (or jicama) providing crunch. Dipped in sweet plum sauce, the rolls have become a recurring distraction: I find it hard not to order them now, even with a bowl of soup large enough to satisfy any normal eater.

Ong’s [MenuPages]
The essence of Chou-Jou [Inquirer]

We’ve always been fans of Ong’s. The low-profile noodle house always seemed like a bit of New York or San Francisco Chinatown that plopped down in the middle of Philly… By that, we mean that it’s a no frills place specializing in dishes that make it to your table in no time and are made for dowsing with lots of hot sauce. In a city dominated by 1960s Chinese relics, vegan Chinese spots filled with crusty punks and overearnest hippies and endless Fujianese joints… It’s refreshing. Damn refreshing.

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We Love Ong’s Too