Danlu - Main Line Vibes in Downtown Philly
Danlu is a newly opened restaurant in the University City neighborhood specializing in Taiwanese street eats. A has had this place on his hit list for a while, so one quiet Sunday night, we ambled over from Center City to give this place a shot. Walking in, the ambience is definitely on the nicer side, with a large open room with huge windows and a second floor that overlooks the main dining area. We were seated in a prime people watching location next to the balcony on the second floor, so +1 for that.
However when the waitress got over to us, she did something that is sort of a restaurant pet peeve of mine, which is immediately try and up-sell us. As soon as she came over, she started off by offering us bottled water or pelligrino, which we declined and asked for tap. I mean, I totally get it, waiters want to make some extra money, who doesn’t? But still, to immediately introduce the priced option as the default without mentioning how much it is seems a little predatory. Mini-rant aside, A said he’s actually flattered when waiters try and up-sell him because then he knows he “looks like someone who could afford to be up-sold on something.”
Looking over the menu, the drink list is pretty extensive, especially when compared to the food options. The draft list seems especially well rounded, with over 20 beers on tap. Given that we were looking for a low key dinner on Sunday night, we both declined to sample Danlu’s alcoholic offerings. We went for a tasting menu sort of approach and ordered 3 of the sandwiches to share and two of the larger dishes.
Off the sandwich list, we got the pork belly (pork belly, steamed bun, pickled bitter melon, peanut brittle, cilantro, spicy glaze; $4), the Peking duck (Peking duck, steamed bun, cucumber, scallions, shiso, peanut brittle, sriracha, hoisin sauce; $5), and the Xi’an spicy lamb (Xi'an spicy lamb shoulder, iron pan bread, pickled jalapenos, mint, scallions; $6).
Of the sandwiches, the duck and pork belly were good. Not mad about them but nothing super notable though either. I think I was expecting a bit more given the extravagant list of ingredients in the menu. What I did notice was the price tag (I feel like I’m coming off as super cheap in this post, but I’m a broke grad student, so might as well call a duck a duck right?). The sandwiches come one to an order and are in the $4-6 range. What exactly am I paying for when I pay $5 for this little sandwich? You can buy the steamed buns for 10 for $1 in chinatown and for $5 I could probably get at least a quarter of a duck.
The third sandwich we ordered was the spicy lamb, which was A’s favorite, but I wasn’t a huge fan of the flavor profile. The sandwich on it’s own was a little too sweet for me, though the flavor profile was tempered and improved when I added the pickles that came on the side.
The larger dishes are much more reasonably price (even maybe on on the cheaper side.) To round out our meal, we ordered the Taiwanese pork sausage with crispy brussels sprouts, garlic, and chiles ($7) and the he fen with duck, duck sausage, Chinese broccoli, and pomegranate ($11).
I was intrigued by pomegranate listed in the ingredients but to my disappointment, when the dish arrived, there was no pomegranate to be found, visually or taste wise. The other thing I noticed when the dish came was that the coloring of the noodles was very light. Usually he fen noodles have been seasoned liberally with soy and turn a dark brown color. These were probably closer to an egg shell color. Unfortunately, the lack of coloring predicted a lack of seasoning on the noodles, which were extremely bland. The one good thing about the dish was the generous portioning of duck and duck sausage, which was of the lap cheong variety. Tasty, though I suspect they use the same duck for the Peiking duck sandwiches. I will say that foodbooz gave a pretty rousing review to this dish that I found pretty lacking, so take it how you will.
The brussels sprouts were my favorite dish of the night. The sausage they came with which was the main attraction of the dish was forgettable, but the actual brussels sprouts were laid on top of an incredibly garlicky and tangy sauce that was super addicting. A welcome blast of flavor after the blandness of the he fen. I would totally order this sauce alone on the side and dip everything into it. Though maybe avoid if on a first date or have an important meeting after the meal because the garlic is no joke.
The bill fold that came out was branded with “Nectar” which A recognized as a fancy sushi place out on the main line, an observation that will become relevant in a little bit. As we were walking home, A made the astute point, that for a “Taiwanese street eats” branded restaurant, the decor at Danlu seemed a little strange. The giant hangings in the windows are distinctly Japanese, and the menu has an extensive sake list, as well as a distinct “raw” section. The last time I was in Taiwan, sake was not the drink of choice and the night market stalls offering raw fish with fancy garnishes were few and far between. From his experience, Danlu is very similar in feel to Nectar in a not so flattering way — maybe a little too much cultural appropriation and not enough cultural homage. It seems like the restaurateurs behind Nectar tried to replicate the concept in downtown Philly with a different spin on the concept. Excuse my shadiness, but that aesthetic might work out on the main line, but not in University City with Han Dynasty down the block. There are little pieces of goodness on the menu and the craft beer list is impressive, but Taiwanese Street eats this is not.
TL;DR - Save your money and calories and go one of the many other awesome Chinese places in University City. I recommend Han Dynasty, Chengdu Famous Foods, or Dim Sum House.
