Restaurant Review: Margaret Kuo's

Restaurant:

Address: 175 E. Lancaster Ave., Wayne, PA 19087
Rating: (out of 5 stars): ★★★★
Style: Upscale Chinese and Japanese
Food: Delicious northern Chinese and Japanese dishes
Atmosphere: Elegant dining rooms and refined ambiance
Parking: Metered and street parking
Service: Poised and professional
Price Range: Moderate
Unique Features: Chinese classics, northern Chinese specialties and a full sushi bar

When I get to review a place like it’s always a particular treat. There are very few places that offer such a large menu without sacrificing quality. The service is poised and professional and the dining room is elegant and inviting. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to fully absorb the full Margaret Kuo’s experience this time around as my crazy schedule only allowed for a take-out order. I wondered if having my food to go would compromise my meal in any way. I have had fantastic meals at the Media outpost of the venerable restaurant but was curious about the “take-home dining menu”.

While I was tempted by the specialties of the house and fancy sounding dishes like lion’s head and Szechuan black pepper rack of lamb, I figured those dishes wouldn’t survive the drive home. I arrived later at night and ordered a fancy dragon roll, hot and sour soup, General Tsao’s chicken and brown rice. The roll with shrimp tempura, eel, smoked salmon, avocado, cucumber and spicy sauce was delicious. The shrimp was crisp, the eel wonderfully savory and sweet and the avocado perfectly ripe. The creamy spicy mayo came on the side which made for an excellent dipping sauce. 

The hot and sour soup was fairly good. Loaded with white pepper and brimming with vegetables, batons of tofu and ribbons of egg omelet, this soup is quite filling. Definitely more hot than sour, it was enjoyable regardless.

The General Tsao’s chicken was marked “(spicy)” and you could see a cluster of small dried chiles in the center of the container. There were plenty of fried chunks of actual chicken bathed in a thick, sweet and spicy sauce with a few scatterings of steamed broccoli. This dish appears in many incarnations throughout this country but I never saw anything similar to it when I was actually in China. This decidedly Chinese-American dish is one of my guilty pleasures as it’s not really the best thing for you but always delicious. I will say that this version had more broccoli and the best quality chicken than pretty much any other one I’ve tried. The crisp chicken becomes soft overnight but it still tastes great the next day. The side of nutty steamed brown rice was a perfect accompaniment to this rich dish.

I would recommend any of the sushi selections as the fish is consistently fresh and high quality. In addition, the agedashi tofu is outstanding (this dish does NOT travel well as it’s delicately fried cubes of tofu floating in a mild broth).

The service is excellent. I was offered something to drink while I waited and my to-go packet included a fortune cookie, tea and soy sauce. I was offered chopsticks which I declined. The staff at the Margaret Kuo’s restaurants are always professional and attentive. The prices are a bit higher than other Chinese restaurants but it’s nice to know that one can enjoy an elegant dinner out or a high quality dinner to-go all from the same place.