Lee How Fook

I go there all the time with my family and it’s probably one of the best restaurants I’ve gone to in all of Philadelphia. Honestly. The best things to get there: Salt Baked Squid, Chicken Pan Fried noodles, and the snow pea greens. The place is amazing.

We had a surprise baby shower at the restaurant’s private room for my wife while visiting from Miami. We were blown away by the food and service, and my wife was surprised! Great time, awesome food, we will be back. My wife who is a native of Argentina is now a big fan of China Town in Philly.

Hands down one of my favorite places to eat in China Town! The food is always tasty and the variety is crazy! They serve your typical Chinese American dishes as well as the authentic dishes! My family and I come here almost every sunday when I’m in town! We get a big order of steamed dumplings followed by some big noodle dishes and the standard soup and duck/​veggies dishes. This place has the best salt baked three treasures, battered and fried shrimp, scallops, and squid! It’s super salty and savory and a bit pricey but well worth the price. Ive been to so many places and ordered it, but this place serves THE BEST one. The other go to dishes here are the Beef Chow Fun with gravy which always has the right amount of wok hei (wok heat) which gives it the intense flavor it has, which seriously lacks at other establishments. The Hong Kong pan fried noodles here are always good too, the noodles are nice and thin, not some crazy thick dried noodles. Definitely one of the best authentic places to go to in China Town with a polite staff!

Seriously good food. We gorged on abalone and chicken soup, roast duck (the appetizer version, not the Peking), and shrimp with walnuts. Hilarious that this joynt’s name is one letter off of the London place Warren Zevon made famous in «Werewolves of London,» but I dunno if that’s purposeful or accidental.
On a return trip, I plan on trying the Peking duck, just because it’s been too long since I had a good version of it. I’m also thinking the clams in garlic sauce might be calling my name.
Know this place is BYOB — bring your own beer or wine, and then settle in for a serious feed. Amid a crowd who’s passionate about this place.

Where to begin? Lee how Fook had never disappointed, the food is so fresh and fantastic! I love all of their dishes, and the service is quick. I have never had a terrible meal here. You know how you get bloated from other chinese restaurants? Not this one, this one leaves you feeling full, and happy. Will come here again when I want something authentic.

Delishishness! The clams in garlic sauce were cooked just right. Although there were some empty shells in the dish that was served. Dumplings soft and tender, large shrimp with egg was presented light and fresh. Pan-​fried noodles with roast pork and vegetable brought back memories of my childhood meals cooked by Apo (Grandma). The meal began with HOT chicken with corn soup for 2 that could serve 4 – 6. Everything was cooked to perfection. We will make this a regular stop in our next Philly trips.

Only been here once. Service was decent. Had shredded chicken mei fun, which was ok, and pineapple ginger chicken, which had a goopy sauce that tasted like water and was only edible after dumping a lot of soy sauce and even then not worth finishing. Seems like from other reviews seafood is more their specialty so that might be a better bet.

I love this place. The service is always very good and I love how the food is fresh, not greasy and not overly salted. Its a small place so that can make it difficult to get a table and its somewhat cramped when full to capacity.

The salted squid is amaze balls!!! Great fresh food and attentive service, my first visit here and I just wanted to try one piece of the calamari score I reach home … I’m eating the whole box this box will be empty by time I reach home

I’ve been coming to Lee How Fook for Chinese cuisine with my family since I was in utero, so I’m naturally a fan. There have been many «up and down» years since the son-​in-​law took over the ownership over 10 years ago, but I just had an excellent meal here last weekend so I felt the need to write a positive review. I can’t wait to go back! This is not your suburban neighborhood Chinese joint. Stick with the classics: (thin skin) wonton soup, pan fried dumplings, SALT BAKED SCALLOPS (I know a lot of people have given positive reviews to the salt baked squid, which I cannot eat, but the salt baked scallops are out of this world), pan fried noodles with beef and black bean sauce, chinese broccoli. I send all of my friends here with this menu and they always give rave reviews. Last Saturday I ate at Lee How Fook and everything was spot-​on delicious. Service was quick and really friendly too. I will be returning again and again.

This is my favorite restaurant in Chinatown. I almost always get the same two things because I love them so much here.
One real standout is the salt baked squid. Yum!
The other is the crispy tofu with crabmeat. Delicious! Big balls of tofu that are crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside, like a mild cheese. Broccoli and chunks of crab meat with an egg-​based sauce finish the dish up. It’s unusual and really good.
All the other things I have had here — like the steamed dumplings, Chinese broccoli with garlic sauce, etc. — have all been great.
It is definitely a modest, not fancy local kind of place. It is my Chinatown comfort food — Particularly for those two dishes!

My son and I made a stop here (we were in town from Texas) and left impressed. The service here is as polite and efficient as can be and the food ain’t too shabby either.
We stopped in during a non-​rush hour time and were treated like a million bucks. Not sure the server believed me when I said we traveled from Texas to eat at Lee How Fook, but she at least humored us when my son asked if they served a big bowl of beef chow mein. (Poor woman. As if she hasn’t heard that a thousand times.)
Bottom line: We shared the Salt Baked Squid and really liked it. A little on the chewy side but what the hell? It tasted divine. He ordered the Kung Po Lobster (made with langoustines) and was quite taken with its nice balance of savory and spiciness. I had the Szechuan Eggplant and was also pleased. As another reviewer mentioned, the sauce for the eggplant is on the sweet side though and not what I’d consider Szechuan. Thankfully, the condiments at the table helped alleviate that issue.
Excellent restaurant in every way. I’ll definitely be back next time I’m in town.

News flash! This place is a BYO! Came here a couple years ago and wanted to do a review, but got so drunk I could barely remember the meal. My bad.
Fast forward to the present and I came here with a group of 15. We were seated in their banquet room. From what I learned, that bathroom is nicer than the main dining room. Both rooms have Lazy Susans for larger parties. Best way to tackle the menu is go with a few people and order a bunch of things.
Go for anything salt baked! Your tastebuds will thank you, but not your cholesterol count. Other things that are great are the peking duck, the pan fried noodles, scallops in vegetables, sautéed Chinese greens, and the beef in sweet and spicy garlic sauce. The dumplings are just alright, but I think the pork steamed ones taste better and less greasy and then pan fried vegetable ones. All around, a sound place for Chinese food.

My mother and I were in Philly for my birthday. I am a Chinese food lover and I decided that I wanted Chinese food. We took a shot in the dark and bam! The food was great. The Chow Fun was great and the OMG the pan fried noodle with seafood was great. I highly recommend that you come here.

The best hot and sour soup in Philadelphia. Period. The salt baked squid is another specialty that is done perfect.

Our group of 5 tried Lee How Fook for the first time today and all I can say is, «wow.» Each dish that we tried was more delicious than the last.
The dining room is very small, although it looks like there might be a banquet room on the other side of the kitchen. Two servers were easily able to handle the space.
Every table is served tea to begin their meal. Even though it is an entrée, we got the salt baked seafood trio — shrimp, squid, and scallops — as an appetizer along with the pork buns. I think the shrimp was the best part of the trio and the dish lived up to its name — SALTY but delicious. The pork buns were awesome
For entrees we got pork noodle soup, General Tso’s chicken, seafood fried rice, and Triple Delight Black Pepper Hot Pot. It was all delicious and well plated, but the Hot Pot was especially excellent and unique.
Parking, as expected, is in short supply — a condition that is exacerbated here by all of the «authorized vehicles only» spaces that are taken up due to the restaurant’s proximity to a police precinct house. There are no shortage of restaurant options in Chinatown, but a visit to Lee How Fook is worth your time!

I definitely enjoy eating here and appreciate the service I’ve gotten. I haven’t tried too common items off their menu – my boyfriend and I love fish dishes and salt baked squid, so we usually only order that here. Their salt baked squid is definitely one of the best I’ve had in Chinatown. We also order the Sea Bass Filet with black bean and hot peppers. This dish is quite delicious – the fish is tasty and the peppers are crispy! We always ask for «spicy» and they definitely listen to us.
I also want to rave about their service, specifically one younger male server. One Friday evening on our way out of town, we got a flat tire and had to call AAA. We decided to have dinner here while we waited assuming AAA would take forever. However, they showed up as soon as the food arrived, so my boyfriend left to attend to that. Our server was very thoughtful. He put our food back in the kitchen in warmers so it wouldn’t get cold (I was obviously waiting for my boyfriend to come back before eating). He gave us fresh rice as soon as my boyfriend got back. We really appreciated his thoughtfulness! All other times, the service has been decent. It’s a small place, so it can get filled up quickly. When it’s really busy, we may have to wait some time to get our water glasses refilled, but they definitely do their best to keep up. I definitely recommend this place if you’re in the area.

Another Chinatown BYOB well-​kept secret!
Our group ordered one dish each and shared the wealth — we also tried the much talked about Salt Baked Squid! This interesting dish is featured in the seafood section, which I feel is a bit misleading because it’s most definitely more of an appetizer. I don’t think one person could sit and eat this dish on their own simply because it is so true to its name! It’s definitely a unique taste worth experiencing, but I would say it’s best for a group of 3 or 4 to share!
The Triple Delight with Black Pepper Hot Pot was excellent — it’s chicken, beef, & scallops with string beans. Also tasty was the Ma Po Tofu and the Duck with Black Bean Sauce. Hands down winner of the evening however, was definitely the Pan Fried Noodle with Shredded Pork — heavenly!
The servers are really nice, and you can tell that everything is made fresh because it takes just the right amount of time for your meal to come out of the kitchen. There are so many dishes we’re excited to try during our next visit!

there are many things i like about lee how fook.
THE TEA
yes, there is hot tea provided BEFORE ice water. very important detail. a light chrysanthemum tea is the perfect complement to lunch.
THE FOOD
salt baked squid: a Unilocal declared favorite. so of course, i had to try it. and i agree, it’s delicious! crispy and salty, but not overly done in either respect. this is like the much lighter (though unsure if it’s much healthier) alternative to calamari.
mapo tofu: eh, less than standard. too much on the non-​spicy side for my taste and a little too «westernized.» but you really can’t go wrong with tofu. heart.
lamb casserole: yummy! stewed lamb with bean curd in a casserole dish has everything i love and nothing i don’t. even the leftovers were so good the next day. and i never say that about chinese food leftovers.
what i didn’t like?
THE RICE
the rice was terrible, though they give you a lot. how can i be picky about rice? because i eat it everyday so i know the difference between good and crap.
THE SERVINGS
dishes are really small for a chinese restaurant, especially at those menu prices. i’m a little begrudged by that because it goes against every fiber of my chinese (read: cheap) being.
conclusion? 3.5 STARS rounding up because groupon saved me money: D

I was looking for some Chinese comfort food during my recent visit to Philadelphia and Lee How Fook was a delightful find on the edge of Chinatown. I have to admit, the picture on Unilocal of the dry-​style chow fun (gwon-​chow-​gnow-​haw) didn’t hurt…
The restaurant has some pretty authentic selections as far as Hong Kong/​Cantonese cuisine, at least I could understand most of what was being said behind the revolving door leading to the kitchen. Aside from the two of us, there was another Asian family of 3 that we were seated next to, and the rest of the parties in the restaurant were Caucasian. I would have to agree with Ramen F. and say that the ambiance is not as intimidating as a hole-​in-​wall place with ducks hanging in the window would be to beginners. The waiters all speak English and the menu is bilingual, all things that help to make the environment more friendly. The caveat is that they also have a «Chinese» menu with additional dishes that we recognized and could order from…
The half order of Peking Duck surprised me in a couple of ways. First of all, if this was really Peking Duck, then I wasn’t very impressed. The Peking Duck that I’m used to has a crispy skin which is prized and is usually served with steamed buns and hoisin sauce. The duck that we had was more like ordinary roast duck, the presentation was a bit low-​key. Now, it’s possible that we ordered roast duck instead of Peking Duck, I’m going by the online menu to help me write this review and I don’t remember if we ordered one or the other. It would behoove those who can tell the difference to ask the waiter what they are getting. In any case, the duck tasted alright as long as it was just roast duck…
The Flavored Beef Brisket Hot Pot (gnow-​nom-​faw-​bow) was very good, everything that I was looking for as far as comfort food. The beef is of a lesser cut but is braised until the flavors of the ginger, garlic, and scallions are all melded together with the meat into a delightful stew. Eat this with a lapping bowl of steamed rice and you get a delicious beef bowl…
We needed some sort of green vegetable to balance out all of the meat so we also ordered some Sauteed Chinese Broccoli (hong-​gneen-​guy-​lon) to go with our dishes. The broccoli stalks were crisp but not chewy, and the dark leaves had a slight mustard taste, just as they should. The oyster sauce is thick and sweet, and serves to offset the flavor of the leaves somewhat. I thought the quality was pretty fresh…
I thought the prices were very reasonable…
We walked away, satisfied and food happy; glad to have found this oasis of Cantonese cuisine during our vacation…