A Peek Inside the New Han Dynasty Kitchen

A few weeks ago we broke the news that Han Dynasty in Old City is planning a move, a big one, to the former Reserve steakhouse at 123 Chestnut Street.

This week, we checked back in to see how things are coming along…

While the dining room still looks basically the same, major changes have been happening in the kitchen. Though they still haven’t figured out what their plans are for the immovable (literally) stone pizza oven, they’ve made the space their own by adding a six-burner wok stove 9above), and the plan stands that they will move overnight to ensure that there will be no service interruption between the old space and the new.

Dave Jenkins, General Manager of the current Old City restaurant, and Ryan Sloan, a Han Dynasty cook whose business card actually reads “ The Great White Shifu,” shared a few details about the menu of Taiwanese street food in the works for the new space. Expect ideal drinking food to compliment the impressive bar real estate of Reserve and appropriate to the level of alcohol consumption in Old City in general. The menu will include something that they call a “Taiwanese burger” (a steamed bun with pork belly), a selection of noodles, Korean-style fried chicken wings, and versions of fried rice with salted fish and scrapple. One other advantage to this new menu is that whereas Han Dynasty’s regular menu items are typically made to be enjoyed family-style, the portions of the new offerings will be smaller–a convenient way to try several mouth burning delights without having to lug a bag of leftovers home in the cab.

The liquor license transfer happened last week and the Health Department visit is imminent. Opening is projected for October 8.

Han Dynasty [Official]