Welcome to the Louisville Restaurants Forum, a civil place for the intelligent discussion of the local restaurant scene and just about any other topic related to food and drink in and around Louisville.
User avatar
User

Robin Garr

{ RANK }

Forum host

Posts

22984

Joined

Tue Feb 27, 2007 2:38 pm

Location

Crescent Hill

Peking City Express cracks the Chinese restaurant code

by Robin Garr » Wed Sep 01, 2021 9:07 am

Peking City Express cracks the Chinese restaurant code

Smoky and complex, bits of bone-in pork rib are breaded and artfully spiced with bits of mouth-searing, smoky, and deeply alluring hot peppers.
Image

If you’ve never wondered why so many Chinese restaurants use what appear to be very similar menus, you probably don’t get much Chinese takeout. The menus look alike, and the dishes are pretty much the same wherever you go.

What’s that about? It took me a lot of digging, but the often-reliable Internet finally led me to the secret: Most of the menus come from a group of printers packed into a few blocks in New York’s Chinatown, using newspaper-size printing presses to run hundreds of thousands of similar Chinese menus for the whole country!

This may help explain why most of Louisville’s 50 to 60 fast-food Chinese restaurant menus seem very much alike.

So if you drive past Peking City Express on Dutchman’s Lane, don’t let the smallish venue and that giveaway “Express” in its name prompt you to expect just another fortune-cookie-cutter fast-food Chinese joint.

This little place is a direct descendant of Peking City Bistro, one of the Ville’s top fancy-Chinese spots in the ‘00s. It’s perhaps able to serve 20 diners at capacity, and much of its business appears to be takeout and delivery. It’s worth sitting down, though. It still excels with both an authentic Chinese menu and a more standard Chinese-American bill of fare that still contains some surprises; it’s all elevated by the hand of an exceptional Chinese chef.

Peking City’s regular menu might remind you of the Chinese-restaurant standard, but it’s not nearly as voluminous with only about 60 items. Pricing is a bit above the Chinese-American standard, but not enough to rank it as a pricey establishment: Virtually every dish is $9.95 to a maximum of $12.95-$13.95.

We came for the authentic menu, though, and you should too. It’s available on request, and doing so seems to place you among the cognoscenti. It, too, offers about 60 items and is fully bilingual in Chinese and English. ...

Read the complete article on LouisvilleHotBytes,
http://www.louisvillehotbytes.com/peking-city-express

You'll also find this review in LEO Weekly's Food & Drink section today.
http://www.leoweekly.com/category/food-drink/

Peking City Express Chinese Cuisine
4000 Dutchmans Lane
891-0388
facebook.com/peking01

Noise Level: Decibel readings stayed at conversational levels throughout our visit.

Accessibility: The small dining room appears fully accessible to wheelchair users.
no avatar
User

Iggy C

{ RANK }

Foodie

Posts

558

Joined

Mon Oct 10, 2011 9:33 am

Re: Peking City Express cracks the Chinese restaurant code

by Iggy C » Wed Sep 01, 2021 12:36 pm

Love this place! I got slightly addicted to the beef noodle soup this winter. Salt and pepper pork rib is fantastic, too!

Here’s the authentic menu, for anyone curious:

AAC60B79-439E-4C3B-B031-CF65897E45D1.jpeg
AAC60B79-439E-4C3B-B031-CF65897E45D1.jpeg (472.17 KiB) Viewed 3770 times
User avatar
User

Robin Garr

{ RANK }

Forum host

Posts

22984

Joined

Tue Feb 27, 2007 2:38 pm

Location

Crescent Hill

Re: Peking City Express cracks the Chinese restaurant code

by Robin Garr » Wed Sep 01, 2021 1:30 pm

Thanks for sharing the menu, Iggy!
User avatar
User

Mark R.

{ RANK }

Foodie

Posts

4369

Joined

Mon Apr 09, 2007 12:02 pm

Location

Anchorage, KY

Re: Peking City Express cracks the Chinese restaurant code

by Mark R. » Thu Sep 02, 2021 7:26 am

We certainly miss the original Peking City restaurant in Middletown. The chef for this restaurant is actually the father of the chef from the one that was in Middletown. I certainly agree that this 1 is a couple of steps better of him any other of the many take out Chinese restaurants in town, I just wish it was closer to our home. It certainly a place we stop it when we are in that area for a doctor's appointment or whatever. It certainly place everyone needs to try if they are in that area.
Written using Dragon NaturallySpeaking

"Life is short. Drink the good wine first"
User avatar
User

Ron Johnson

{ RANK }

Foodie

Posts

1716

Joined

Thu Mar 01, 2007 11:48 am

Re: Peking City Express cracks the Chinese restaurant code

by Ron Johnson » Thu Dec 08, 2022 3:50 pm

I believe it is closed. sad.
no avatar
User

Iggy C

{ RANK }

Foodie

Posts

558

Joined

Mon Oct 10, 2011 9:33 am

Re: Peking City Express cracks the Chinese restaurant code

by Iggy C » Thu Dec 08, 2022 7:54 pm

Aw man, that really sucks. I will miss that place.
no avatar
User

Rich S

{ RANK }

Foodie

Posts

468

Joined

Mon Jul 05, 2010 12:07 am

Re: Peking City Express cracks the Chinese restaurant code

by Rich S » Tue Dec 27, 2022 3:08 pm

Mirage Express Mediterranean Restaurant is taking over the Peking City Express location, according to a sign on the building. I wonder if it's connected with the Mirage on Preston Highway. I'll definitely miss Peking City, but I'm happy to have a Mediterranean option in that area.
User avatar
User

Robin Garr

{ RANK }

Forum host

Posts

22984

Joined

Tue Feb 27, 2007 2:38 pm

Location

Crescent Hill

Re: Peking City Express cracks the Chinese restaurant code

by Robin Garr » Tue Dec 27, 2022 9:11 pm

Thanks for the update! I kind of hate to hear about Peking City Express since I enjoyed it, but to be honest, I haven't been back since that review. Gotta keep on moving, trying new spots!
no avatar
User

Angel Y

{ RANK }

Foodie

Posts

25

Joined

Mon Jun 21, 2010 11:26 am

Re: Peking City Express cracks the Chinese restaurant code

by Angel Y » Thu Jan 26, 2023 4:21 pm

Mirage Mediterranean is open for business now :)

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot] and 35 guests

Powered by phpBB ® | phpBB3 Style by KomiDesign