Mustard Greens Reviews

Are you put off by cellphone conversations bouncing off the walls? Or an extended family with each member focused on individual cellphones? Or, on our last visit, a 12-year-old virtually lying on the table, feeding herself with her fingers, while the accompanying adult sat opposite, oblivious? The management, sadly, has no policy policing cell calls. We have huddled for as long as 15 minutes while a women in the next booth yelled, yes yelled, in her instrument. So sad, since the service is excellent and the food is good, and the prices are reasonable. We have been here more than a dozen times but are exhausted.

Fantastic Chinese fare in the heart of olde city. Family run and everything was simply delicious. Steamed dumplings and Spicy pickled cabbage, stirfried asparagus and string beans in ginger and garlic were standouts. Asked for my "firecracker" shredded pork very hot & spicy and unlike some places, got my wish and it was the best!

This dining room might best be described as serving a contemporary version of traditional Chinese food. The dishes are light, well-prepared, and not overtly sweet. There are options for the level of spiciness. The cocktails are equally well-done, as is the atmosphere in this smallish restaurant. The service is most attentive. Why we never discovered this restaurant on south 2nd Street is a mystery. Mustard Greens is a great find.

At first, you think that this is going to be a standard Amer Chinese Restaurant. But, when the food comes out, you will be completely surprised. The food is fresh, with light subtle sauces--not the usual overwhelming type. Their dumplings, snow pea leaves, fish, and shrimp dishes are outstanding. And don't miss the fried rice--no soy sauce--just fresh delicious ingredients. I am also fond of their duck (pressed, seared, with a five-spice sauce) , and the Hong Kong Beef (beef with pickled cabbage). Enjoy!

During the pandemic, Mustard Greens continues to serve the same quality food for take-out. Parking for the pick-up is usually very easy, and the food remains hot and appropriate on our return home for dining.

Nice menu with lots of non-typical items but a few favorites thrown in. Attentive service, full bar and an easy atmosphere. Looking forward to going back.

We have been regular customers for many years. Restaurant is pleasant and clean w minimalist design. Key staff have been there for many years and are very professional and attentive. Chef / owner has been there since before the beginning (Previously was chef at another local spot "Tang's" that closed resulting in opening of this restaurant). Food is tasty, light and healthy. Soups are flavorful and hot. Pan fried dumplings are excellent. Fresh fish and occasional lobster are healthful winners. Greens, String Beans and Snow Pea Leaves very good. Szechuan Shrimp, Moo Shu Pork or Chicken, Beef w Black Bean, Fire Crackers all good. Liquor license. Good banquet space upstairs. Good place.

Love Mustard Greens.Best Chinese food in Philly.Been going for the last 17 years with my children and now my grandchildren.Food is delicious and fresh.Will be glad to make you your own dish if you want.Very healthy too.The owner and waiters are so nice and friendly.Try it,you will be glad you did.

When I visit Philadelphia I love to try new places, but this is one I always make sure to schedule into my visit. The menu is small but everything on it is amazing, you will not be disappointed, though I recommend the steamed dumplings dipped in their high grade soy and red vinegar. And the green beans are fresh and perfectly sautéed. For the entree, whatever fits your fancy. A full bar, good wine, and smooth music and classy decor add to a very nice evening, whether it’s business, family or a special evening with your babe, I highly recommend.

The service here was outstanding. Our orders arrived quickly and the dishes were hot when they arrived. The food was good. Most importantly, it was not greasy, nor did it taste like it was made with old, overused oil. I had the spring rolls, steamed dumplings, eggplant with spicy garlic sauce, and grouper cooked with ginger (one of the day's specials). Everything tasted fresh. The spices were more subtle than in many Chinese restaurants where I've eaten, which let the flavor of the food come through.

Celebrated a B day and we went for dinner. The corn soup was good but not exceptional The hot and sour was very nice and balanced heat and sour. The calamari was interesting but the sauce it came with was awful. We used duck sauce and that was ok. If I had it to do again I would have asked for garlic sauce instead One ordered shrimp and scallops Another had spicy shrimp, scallops and squid The third had chicken stuffed eggplant The first dish was plain but seafood was fresh The spicy seafood had a nice balanced heat to the spicy and also fresh The chicken stuffed eggplant was like a novice was cooking. The coating seemed to be a potato starch and the “stuffed” chicken was more like they dragged a piece of chicken across the surface only. The pricing is good but overall not worth going out of your way for

Whenever we visit our daughter in Philly, we walk up the street to this wonderful restaurant. Located right off South Street on 2nd, we are always greeted as old friends. The owner is always attentive and quick to bring us a starting drink. I can only call the food "gourmet Chinese". We ordered Moo Sho Pork with pancakes, garlic rice noodles and beef with satay sauce. I can't explain how delicious the food is. All of the other diners seemed to be locals...the atmosphere is casual and friendly...no rushing, just savoring the deliciousness. One of the highlights of each visit!!!!!

Small menu, best Amer. Chinese in Philly. Great vegetarian options.

We can always count on having an enjoyable dinner at Mustard Greens. Unlike many Chinese restaurants, you will not leave with leftovers, but you will certainly have plenty of well prepared Chinese cuisine. My husband's favorite is the Pineapple Shrimp but we have never been disappointed with anything that we ordered. Years ago, they used to serve complimentary honeydew or cantaloupe slices after the meal; now you do not get anything (not even a fortune cookie!). The customers are a mix of locals and people from the suburbs along with a few tourists. Prices have increased, but still a good value.

Having looked at their online menu we made a reservation for an early dinner since we had a commitment close by. The restaurant was empty when we arrived. When we got the menu we were really surprised. The dish that we had both wanted to order was $18.95 and it was listed as $14.95 on their website. The appetizer difference was $6 to $8. We resigned to pay the extra $10 to get what we wanted and ordered since we were on a schedule. Had we not been on a schedule I might have left and gone elsewhere. Oh, yeah - we ordered sodas and were charged $3.20 per can, and while ice was provided, the sodas came to the table on the warm side. The steamed dumplings were actually quite good. However the seafood combination dish that we ordered left a lot to be desired. It included shrimp, squid and scallops and I'm sorry to say I got scallop slices - not whole scallops and only a few. It was bland and there were virtually no black beans in the thin, liquidy black bean sauce. The portion was such that even having had an appetizer it did not satisfy me. I find it hard to remember a dish in any other Chinese restaurant that did not satisfy me. We will not return.

A quaint Chinese restaurant, with some of the best Chinese food I've eaten. Vegetarian options appear to be an after-thought to the menu and are never that great.

A local told us to come to this establishment if we were looking for good authentic food. She was so right! The building is in good shape compared to many in the area and inside is beautifully maintained and clean. We were greeted promptly. The seating has good spacing. We ordered fried and steamed dumplings, mushu pork and noodles to share for our family of 4. It was so wonderful! They do serve alcohol here. We asked for a Sapporo and they couldn’t get that in right now so I ordered a Coors light. The host brought it out and turned the label away from me to present it as a Sapporo. It made us all laugh. He was wonderful!!!

While a Maryland resident for many years, I'm originally from Philadelphia, and Mustard Greens was always a favorite while living there. That said my girlfriend and I only get to Philadelphia every few years, and knowing there is no Chinese food in our area of Maryland (Annapolis) anything as the fresh, light and tasty offerings of Mustard Greens, we dined there last Sat. night for the first time in a couple of years. It was nice to be greeted upon arrival by the numerous long term staff, even though some time since we were there. There seemed to be a number of other long term customers there as well. The service we received was efficient and friendly, and the food to die for. We enjoyed their freshly made steamed dumplings, curry beef soup w/cellophane noodles, hand served traditional style, girlfriend's favorite their Duck Special which while fried and rich, is not greasy and tastes wonderful, and I had my favorite Shrimp with Shitake Mushrooms, delicate and light. They do offer brown rice and we chose it versus white. Short version of long story is that Mustard Greens has always been my favorite Chinese restaurant outside of maybe a couple from previous travel to Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mainland China, and it's nice to know that it's as good as it ever was. Good job Bon and the whole crew! We'll keep coming back on our trips to Philadelphia. You guys should open in MD!

The service was excellent. The place was clean and the food was presented beautifully, served hot and delicious! The wonton soup had light dumplings, not doughy at all. The M Shrimp is not on the menu but it was delicious make sure to ask for it you won't be disappointed. The Pan fried and steamed dumplings are by far the best I've ever had. The beef had flavor, was so tender, you could cut it with a fork and the vegetables were tender crisp cut into bite size pieces and not chunked. The Crab meat fried rice was Delicious. Mustard Greens is by far the best Chinese restaurant in Philly hands-down.

We ordered two chicken dishes, and both were okay but undistinguished. They were just like Cantonese dishes from Chinese restaurants in the 1950s. Maybe there's more interesting food elsewhere on the menu.

Fresh top quality ingredients contribute to excellent Chinese cuisine. The chef/ owner lovingly prepares each dish.

We were looking forward to the Mustard Greens meal we had ordered for takeout.-Despite the over priced menu items we discovered when we got home we got such small miserly portions in small appetizer containers and these were supposed to be entrees!!! And even these were almost half full. And we got only one small portion of rice for all 3 entrees( on the phone when ordering we had been told we would be getting 1 rice per entree) We called the next day to complain about the disappointingly small sizes of the food items compared to the prices plus the shortage of rice. The only answer we got was "That is the size of our dishes . Next time we give you more rice"!!!

My favorite neighborhood restaurant--food is served promptly and is fresh. Vegetables are crisp. Love the fish, chicken, and beef dishes.

I eat here at least once a month and decided to finally share what a wonderful restaurant this is!! Every dish is cooked with care and to perfection. Authentic to its core.... this is NOT the Chinese food of takeout and all you can eat buffets. Instead it’s delicate flavors with fresh ingredients, big in taste and high in quality! Service is friendly and there is a full bar. Dishes to try: wanton soup, spring rolls, steamed dumplings( to die for), spare ribs, vegetable noodle, crabmeat fried rice... last week we had the lobster special. This lobster was portioned and cooked perfectly! I would eat here every day if I could.

Exquisite delicate contemporary take on classic Chinese dishes. Craig Laban agrees and you will too. Signature dish is the mustard greens and any sautéed vegetable but don't miss the hot and sour soup.

Friday June 1st, 2012 At my mom's request, we had a family dinner at Mustard Greens, one of her favorite restaurants in Philadelphia. (But a restaurant my older sister refuses to attend for reasons described later.) This is a full-service, full bar, "Asian Fusion" restaurant within walking distance of South Street. Reservations are accepted. (If you call early in the day, leave a message with your details. You will get a return call when they open.) With about twenty tables in the main street-level dining room, the restaurant is tastefully decorated, with dark wood floors and tables. (There is a second floor dining room with its own bar for parties.) The second-floor bathroom is clean. We started with steamed dumplings, tender and tasteful. The spareribs were very good, a little meatier and a little less fatty than in typical Chinese take-out places. Two of us had their famous soft shell crabs, lightly breaded and crispy fried without any greasiness at all. Served with a side of sweet vinegar dressing, this is one of the restaurant's signature dishes. While I might wish for more or different dipping sauces, I enjoyed every bite. My wife thoroughly enjoyed her sea bass and mom loved her Pineapple Shrimp. I sampled the shrimp and agreed it was wonderful. All the dinners were served with brown rice that my wife found delightfully nutty in flavor. We consumed one glass of wine, two different vodkas, and soft drinks as well. If the review ended here, you would understand why this among mom's favorite places. But wait, there is more to tell. First, the restaurant is all hard surfaces. With eighty customers in a small place, the noise level is so deafening that hearing the person next to you is difficult and holding a conversation with the person across from you is an exercise in futility. The service is erratic as they rarely have more than two or three people on the floor including the owner. Our order for appetizers was quickly taken and the food appeared in a reasonable time-frame. But it was almost an hour before we were asked for our main course order which then took more than a half hour to be served. We would have had more to drink, but finding a server proved to be difficult. The tab for the evening was $127 before tip for a party of four. I feel the quality of the food is higher and more creative than typical Chinese takeout. However, the price is probably at least twenty percent more than the food and fifty per cent more than the ambience justify. While I will return to please my mother, the noise level alone is such that I will not suggest this place to anyone not already deaf. If you want a special and different Asian restaurant, try something at Rangoon. No. On second thought, try EVERYTHING at Rangoon. That place is a wonderful alternative. Mustard Greens needs some acoustical baffles, an additional extra server, and possibly a slight price reduction as well.

I finally made it here after years of hearing rave reviews. First I will say that I did take out. Everyone was very nice. The food was just disappointing. I had the general Tso. It came with white rice. There was an asterisk meaning "spicy" on the menu but there was zero spice. It was very crispy but not so much meaty. I feel that I should try it again(someday, lol) Maybe it was a new chef that night or something. Based on this one experience, I can't recommend this establishment when there are so many other wonderful restaurants in the city. And it was a little expensive for Chinese food. One entree $15, hmmm. Didn't even get a fortune cookie😢

I’m not really a huge Chinese food fan but this place was pretty good. It too a while for someone to serve us and they never offered us water but we did order wine and tea. We started with pork dumplings, egg rolls and very food wonton soup. For entrees we ordered vegetable fried rice, excellent general Tso’s chicken that was very crispy, general tso’s that was not fried, steamed shrimp and mushrooms. Overall, it was pretty good. The tables are VERY close together so it was very cramped and very loud when the whole room (that is rather small) was full of people. It was hard to talk and hear others at our table.

This is the best Chinese food in the area. very light and fresh. The restaurant is clean and staff is friendly. Great option for a family dinner or dinner with friends. YUM!

The steamed dumplings were excellent, don't miss them. The hot annd sour soup and mustard greens were bland and un exciting. Seafood scallop shrimp and squid was good but also un exciting. Sesame chicken was ok. Entree highlight was pork with scallions. Hot, spicy, and blew all else away. Atmosphere is sort of minimalist noisy modern. Emphasis on noisy. Service about average.

This pleasant restaurant serves a contemporary version of traditional Chinese food. The dishes are light, well-prepared, and not overtly sweet or spicy. The cocktails are equally well-done, as is the atmosphere in this smallish restaurant.

We ate here with another couple this past weekend and had a great time. The food was very fresh and in some cases unique. The service was good. I would suggest that you order things gradually as they will tend to bring out all of the dishes all together and very fast. If you order gradually, you can control the pace of your meal.

This has become our standard, when I visit my wife midweek in Philadelphia. I am not adventurous, pretty much sticking with the pineapple shrimp. The mustard greens are excellent too. There are some comments about noise. True. The reflective walls mean that on occasion we have shared in the conversations of boorish patrons. One can only cope.

This place was highly recommended by Yelp and Zagat. What a disappointment. The prices are 12-18 dollars for a main course. Not bad if it was good food. In a city with so many fantastic Chinese restaurants I'm surprised how popular this place is. I had a super eggy hot and sour soup. Which smelled an tasted of only eggs. I had their version of general tso chicken which was dry, sweet and oily. Also the rice was pretty bad. Clueless waiter had no idea what's in his food. Waste of time. If you wasn't Chinese food in philly may I suggest Four Rivers

it's ok. nice place but food is american chinese food.

We waited 45 minutes for a table and were excited about all the good reviews we had read. The food was very dull and so not worth the price or wait. The mustard greens we ordered were the best dish. We also like the name of the resturant and the atmosphere. There are other good looking restaurants on the street we should have tried. Next time.

Ate here over Labor Day weekend after a friend strongly recommended Mustard Greens as one of the best Chinese restaurants around. Although the food was good, I wouldn't classify this as more than average. Service was very quick, friendly, and attentive. Water and tea were quickly refilled. Entrees are sliced up for easy sharing and eating with chopsticks. (Restrooms are very clean, too.) The menu is varied but not as long as traditional Chinese restaurants, which can actually make it easier for diners who often have trouble deciding. There are about a half dozen dishes each under beef/lamb, pork, poultry, and a few more under seafood, plus a few daily specials. Serving sizes are smaller than the huge ones we often expect, so plan accordingly. The hot and sour soup was hot but was missing that vinegary tang. The chicken and corn soup was more like a standard eggdrop with some kernels of corn. Dumplings were fine, served with soy sauce and red wine vinegar. The boneless duck was excellent and nicely crisp. Other entrees, however, were less exciting. The sesame chicken is a breaded chicken with lots of sesame seeds and a lemon sauce that was also good over rice. The scallop dish we had had thinly sliced scallops with a light ginger taste. There were several empty tables but the room's acoustics - hardwood floors, not much fabric - felt like it would be noisy with more diners. There's an upstairs room that was not in use when we were there. Prices are very reasonable. Entrees are around $11-15. We found free street parking within a couple blocks. There were also several open metered spots at the South Street end of Headhouse Square. If you're in that area and want Chinese food without going north to Chinatown, this is a good spot. However, I wouldn't go out of my way to get there.

We've been eating at Mustard Greens for 20 years. It's a great neighborhood spot, but easy for everyone to get to. You must get the steamed dumplings. They are the best around. Also order whatever special greens they're serving. The soups are great, too. This is healthy Chinese food - no grease, no MSG, nothing fried. Just super tasty.

This place has been there forever and is consistently good for take out or dine in. Best fried rice!

This place is the real deal. Fresh food. Unique and innovative dishes. Great service. Owner is always there and he greats customers. Mustard Greens is my favorite Chinese Restaurant from NY to DC!

Love the crab fried rice, asparagus & green beans stir fried with garlic and oil. All soups and steamed dumplings are outstanding. Spring rolls are okay but sometimes mushy. Have eaten there numerous times with family and always enjoyed the excellent service and outstanding dishes.

We had a wonderful dining experience. My organization sponsored a dinner for thirty executives from china. They said it was the best Chinese food they had during their two week stay in Philly. The staff was great and Bon put together an incredible meal. The food just kept coming. Very reasonable too!

So fresh and delicious, order the steamed dumplings and sautéed green beans to start. You’ll want a reorder, top quality Chinese food that you’ll feel better after eating.

Got takeout from here a few nights ago, wow! We've always wanted to try, so figured we'd get several items from the menu and we were very impressed. Satiated our Chinese cravings but we felt good about it. Food was very thoughtfully prepared, not greasy, and portions were perfect for two people. You'll also notice in your food here that the colors are fresh and not your standard greasy Chinese (which is usually always brown). Veggies are vibrant and delicious! Definitely recommend the tofu and veggies, the won ton soup, and vegetable fried rice!