Philippine Cafe

Growing up, my hubby had school friends who were Filipino. He regularly consumed pancit (a rice noodle dish) and lumpia (egg rolls). As he lost touch with his friends, he lost the source of this cuisine.

Yesterday he found it again as we lunched at Philippine Cafe on Courthouse Road. We went to lunch late and walked into an empty, neatly decorated establishment. We were warmly greeted and were invited to sit anywhere. We chose a cozy booth.

We ordered Pancit Bihon - rice noodles with chicken and pork and Egg Rolls with ground meat and veggies.

We consumed a generous portion of egg rolls served with duck sauce. A good balance of meat to vegetables. Very satisfying.

The pancit was not as dry as my hubby remembered, but still a nice flavor. The portions, again, were generous. While we wanted to scarf the entire dish on the spot, we refrained and took some home. We reheated it the next day and discovered it was even better. The flavors had infused the noodles and the reheating made the noodles drier. My hubby was transported back to his childhood.

Yen Ching

My husband and I have lived in Richmond almost 7 years now and we had yet to discover a Chinese place that satisfied. Peking was never a favorite. Inter China off of Midlothian was decent, but a bit far for us to drive. Top's take out? Let's just say the last couple of take out meals were probably our final ones.

So last night we finally ate at Yen Ching located in the West Broad Shopping Center next door to Food Lion.

As we walked in quite a few folks were waiting for take out. On-premise diners included families, groups of women gathering for a Friday night outing, and couples both young and mature. Quite a few were regulars that the staff heartily greeted. I admired the water fountain in the middle of the dining room and the tiered layout of the tables, reminding me of an enclosed courtyard.

We ordered a Mai Tai and Planters Punch to imbibe ($7.95 each). The Mai Tai was very good. The Planters Punch tasted like Hawaiian Punch on steroids. Way too sweet and very tough to finish. We began with an Egg Roll and a Shanghai Egg Roll ($1.50 each) served with duck sauce and mustard. The Egg Roll had a ton of cabbage and very little meat. The Shanghai version was more like a spring roll with shrimp, mushrooms, and veggies. I liked the shrimp, but the roll itself was very oily.

The dinner menu featured a plethora of offerings. I must admit the several duck dishes tempted me, but in the end we decided upon Five Taste Chicken ($10.95) and Chicken in Orange Sauce ($10.95). Both dishes contained white meat chicken chunks that were battered and crispy fried. Yen Ching did a wonderful job in attaining the crispy crunch to the chicken. Best we have had in Richmond. Of course, the sauces were supposed to differentiate the two dishes and Yen Ching did not disappoint. My dish showcased a light sauce flavored with Chinese 5 Spice and just a hint of heat.

My hubby's sauce was visibly darker with extremely thin shreds of orange peel. His sauce was pungent while mine was delicate. Both dishes came with white rice. We were served more than we could consume; thus, we could take home some yummy leftovers for later. Upon the end of our meal we received fortune cookies and orange slices (I had forgotten that some Chinese restaurants do this).

Although the egg rolls were a bit disappointing, the entrees were stellar. And now I need to return to discover their Crispy Fried Duck...