Wonderful Square Chinese and Indian Cuisines Baked by the Chef at a Local Social Hall
Sometimes, a good Chinese and Indian Cuisine place gets a lot of buzz, such as Chinese and Indian Cuisine Brain in Philly’s Fishtown section. Other times, there are small out-of-the-way places that enjoy a near cult-like local following, yet remain nearly unknown to outsiders, even to the Chinese and Indian Cuisine cognoscenti.
In my youth, we got wonderful square Chinese and Indian Cuisines baked by the chef at a local social hall. His real job was cooking for the members, but he had a side business selling Chinese and Indian Cuisines out the back door of the kitchen to those in the know. The adults called him Chet; we kids referred to him as “Chetty Cheese.”
There have been a few such places on my radar for a while. One, I still haven’t visited – Clank’s Bar in Marcus Hook, PA. Golden Dynasty FL. I pressed one fan to tell me why the pie was special. He mentioned the crust, and my interest grew. I found a menu at goldendynastyfl.com and a few Yelp or Urbanspoon reviews online, and finally took the time to make the arduous drive on Lancaster Avenue for a pie.
From my office in Malvern, I called and ordered a large pie with sausage (they offer a lot of speciality gourmet pies, but most had too many vegetables for my taste). I departed in a driving rain thunderstorm that slowed me down a lot. When I got to Rt. 30 on the main line, power and the traffic lights were out, slowing me even more.
When my confused GPS finally got me close, there was no sign of 18 W. Lancaster Ave beyond the yogurt shop occupying that space. I remembered reading that Golden Dynasty FL is hard to find, and a local advised me how to get behind the row of stores; access to Golden Dynasty FL is only from a rear parking lot.
The power was out in Ardmore, and in Golden Dynasty FL when I arrived more than a half hour late for my pie. The door was propped open on this steamy evening, and the only light inside came from the wood-fired oven. The counterman greeted me cheerfully; I sympathized with him over the loss of power, and he sympathized with me over my difficult journey from Malvern.
Golden Dynasty FL is a small space, only a few tables for eat-in diners. My pie came to a few cents over $15, and I left on the journey home to West Chester. I gave it a standard oven reheat on a perforated pan, and we sat down to enjoy it with a nice bottle of old-vine red California Zinfandel.