Just Like Old Times

Although it’s long since gone out of fashion in favor of authentic regional cuisine, I’ve expressed my love for old-school Americanized Chinese food here many times with no sense of shame. I came of age eating it frequently during the 70s and 80s and still am always excited to find places that look like the restaurants of yore and have menus that echo their appearance.

Philadelphia’s Chinatown is sorely lacking in such places. My longtime favorite – the Imperial Inn – closed in 2019, while David’s Mai Lai Wah – the other remaining restaurant that used to fit the above description – has limited themselves to takeout service since the 2020 outbreak of the Covid pandemic. 

Chinatown’s Sang Kee Peking Duck House, which I posted about in 2021, has been around since 1980 but lacks a retro look and specializes in Hong Kong style noodle soups and barbecued meats. Yet while it doesn’t have the look or menu about which I tend to wax poetic, they do still offer a handful of the classic Americanized dishes that I grew up eating. And they do an especially good job of preparing Shrimp with Lobster Sauce, one of my go-to dishes since I was a boy. 

Sang Kee has opened several locations in the Pennsylvania and South Jersey suburbs in more recent years. I met my mother for lunch recently at Sang Kee Asian Bistro in Wynnewood, PA. 

They offer a very similar selection of dishes to those found at the original location. Although it’s all good reading, I zoomed in on the “Tradition” section of the menu to make sure they still offer shrimp with lobster sauce. I was in luck.

The only real decision I faced was what to order for a first course. While egg rolls are my usual appetizer of choice, Sang Kee doesn’t offer the traditional style of egg rolls that I like. So I instead opted for pan-fried pork dumplings. 

My mother went for a lunch bento box, a term Sang Kee has co-opted from Japanese restaurants. From the listed options, she chose a Peking duck roll, vegetable lo mein and shrimp with fresh garlic sauce. 

All of our food was brought out at the same time, with the bento box arriving on one large plate. 

My mother gave high marks to the Peking duck roll and shrimp with garlic sauce, although I think she’d have been happier with another shrimp or two. The vegetable lo mein was nearly vegetable free. 

As for my meal, the pan-fried dumplings were top notch with a beautiful sear on the underside and tasty, juicy pork within. 

Just the sight of the shrimp with lobster sauce made my heart flutter. There were an abundance of egg yolk streaks, peas, jump shrimp, and, perhaps most importantly, ample chunks of pork. 

Back in the halcyon days of American Chinese food – also known as the mid to late 20th century – shrimp with lobster sauce almost always included minced pork. But it’s become increasingly rare in later years. One is more likely to find mushrooms mixed in than pork nowadays. But not at Sang Kee. They still do it the right way. 

I’m certain that I haven’t had such good shrimp with lobster sauce since the 2021 meal at Sang Kee’s Chinatown outlet that I posted on. Unfortunately, I don’t see it on their online menu any longer. But the Wynnewood spot is close enough for me to continue to enjoy it when I feel that yearning. 

Although we didn’t order any barbecued meats or noodle soup, they also does a fantastic job with those.

All in all, Sang Kee, whether in Chinatown, Wynnewood, or I would assume any of their other locations, is almost certainly my favorite Chinese restaurant in the Philadelphia region.