New Harmony

I hate to give a bad review, I really do, especially of places that specialize in vegan food. But this has happened a couple times now, so it's hard to brush it off at this point.

Our first issue is that "chicken" and "spare ribs" are both basically the same thing, which is basically a big ball of dough, mushy with no texture at all. We are used to mock meats with some kind of chew to them. These mock meats are just mush, and not a pleasant eating experience. They also don't give you the meat in the sauce, but instead package it separately, probably because if they did, it would be nothing but goo by the time it got to you. With other more solid mock meats, this would not be an issue.

The second issue is the price. It is over $10 per plate, which is average for a veggie place, but the quality does not match the price. If it was a lower price, or a high quality, I could understand, but the price just does not match the quality.

Finally, the last two times we ordered, they have been much later than it said online. Last time we ordered was 3:30 on a saturday, and it still took an hour and half to get here.

So overall, I appreciate what this place is trying to do, but it is just not for us, and we'll be looking for other options in the future.

Updated from previous review on 2016-12-11

Cannot say enough good things about New Harmony. I don't know why anyone would rate this place less than five stars. Their menu is HUGE! Dinner specials are a good deal - about $14 for a soup, appetizer, main course, and dessert. Their mock shrimp is extremely realistic and delicious. Came here for a birthday party last year and there were about ten of us so we ordered a special large dinner combo for about $100. They brought out about 8 different entrees for us to share. I've never been disappointed here. Try the walnut shrimp, any of the hot pots, vegetable pancakes, and finish it off with some pistachio ice cream.

The restaurant is a traditional Chinese restaurant with the traditional dishes in a vegan manner. The soy beef bun was good and very hearty. The Kung Po Mock Chicken was traditionally prepared, but the soy meat was bland and rubbery. There is a very limited beverage selection, so I stayed with water. Overall, if you are in the mood for traditional Chinese in a vegan style, this place works.

Positive always trumps the negative. And New Harmony is all about the positive. From the delicious choices, both healthy like Gluten-free items, brown rice and steamed dumplings, and the delectable vegetable pancakes, mock meats, drumsticks and other fried offerings that may not necessarily accentuate healthy eating (that some people may rather want to limit), but are treats for a night out.
One of the great classic Asian cuisines. The Dinner Box might be the best deal in Philly, hands down! Ming (the owner) is one of the nicest hosts on top of it. Highly recommended, and a must-visit for any true vegan eating in Philadelphia!!

Instagram- @onecheapvegan

I have several off the bat things to say about this place:
1, the location is great. It is really convenient and on the edge of Chinatown that borders Center City/Old City. It is easy to get to.
2, the staff is great and the food comes quickly.
3, now, I am not the biggest fan of fake meats, but I knew that I had to try things since I was here. It was not bad, but next time I will have a straight up veggie meal.
4, there are typical Chinese entrees here, some of them are traditionally greasy, therefore the vegan version will be greasy as well. A lot of people don't like greasy food, therefore they also have steamed options.
5, the turnip cakes may have been my favorite thing. Also, carrot dumplings.

It's nice to have a good Asian place in the city. Food was good and plentiful. Staff weren't the best communicators. Could stand for some repair/redecorating. Street parking.

My husband and I went here after the Philadelphia Marathon and was really hoping for so yummy Chinese foods, but it was a big disappointment. We ordered pan fried vegetable dumplings, pan fried turnips, vegetable pancake, dumpling noodle soup, and walnut shrimps. Everything was really bad and excessively oily except the walnut shrimps. My husband is Chinese so we eat vegan Chinese food often, and New Harmony is one of the worst we ever had. I do not recommend this place for good Chinese food.

If you ever feel the need to eat so much delicious vegan food that you want to pass out, this is your place (as long as it's Sunday night).

I'm vegan but have non vegan and vegetarian friends that agree that's it's the best Chinese food in Philadelphia. I personally love doing Dim Sum or the Sunday Buffet but everything is amazing, the Vegetable Pancakes are my favorite appetizer, Walnut Shrimp is my favorite with the Orange Beef coming right behind it but all the dumplings, noodles and everything are amazing!! Ming the owner is super nice and a fun guy to talk to. Also they have a private karaoke room you can rent downstairs for dinner party's, it's a blast and the menu for he party's is always the best stuff!! Almost forgot, they have the best vegan burger I've ever had, it's on the appetizer menu, do not forget to order it even if you're already stuffed!!

Visiting Philly-
Had many appetizers....carni wife really enjoyed the pork buns and turnip pancake while I enjoyed the buns as well as spring rolls, spare ribs, and peanut chicken

The restaurant was poor in lighting. We got sited at a dark small corner in the restaurant due to the pram. Had set lunch and it was so-so. The dim sum looked quite appetizing though, should have order that. It seems like, they have all you can eat buffet on Sunday evening at 12$.

I returned to New Harmony and 6 years later it just wasn't the same. Too bad I didn't find out until $70 later.

Lotus Cakes Studio no longer makes their cheesecakes (which I wasn't told until after I had paid. But to be fair, I didn't ask either.), so they were not as good. The chocolate cheesecake was pretty good, just not as good as what I was used to from them.

My "chicken" dishes (fried "chicken" and broccoli with a pineapple sauce; General Tso; "chicken" satay) were just ok. Nothing inspiring or memorable about them. The broccoli that accompanied 2 of the dishes was really good though.

My Scallion Pancakes and Sesame Balls were very good as well. I should've saved myself $60 and just got that.

Needless to say, I was extremely disappointed this go 'round.


Updated from previous review on Friday January 23, 2009
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I was in town for a family function and based on the reviews here, I decided to give New Harmony a try. I ordered (to go): Vegetarian Spring Rolls, Fried Sesame Balls, Scallion Pancakes, Spinach Pancakes, General Tso's 'Chicken', Moo Shu Veggies, String Beans in Szechuan Sauce, Broccoli with Garlic Sauce, and Raspberry Cheesecake.

The Moo Shu Veggies, String Beans, and Broccoli dishes were good. Everything else was SUPERB! SO delicious beyond my vegan belief, b/c at the time, we didn't have anything that came anywhere near close to this back home. (I couldn't keep my non-veg*n family members away from my food!) The food was fresh, perfectly seasoned, and exciting. The staff was very friendly and helpful during all of my questioning. To top it off, everything was reasonably priced as well.

And that vegan raspberry cheesecake was to die for! Never would've guessed it was vegan. I craved it so badly once I got back home that I had to look up the lady who makes them for New Harmony.

I consider New Harmony a cheat day! Yes, they have multiple delicious dishes-- all vegan, but it does have a lot of salty fried food. So, of course it's yummy!

Before we went vegan my husband was a huge fan of Chinese food. So when I saw there was a fully vegan Chinese place in Philly we had to check it out! The place was pretty dead when we got there, but it was early for dinner. Our waiter was very nice and kept our water full the whole time. We both got the dinner that came with a soup, appetizer, entree and dessert. It was a great value. I loved my wonton soup and the vegan ice cream at the end was wonderful! I had noodles for dinner and an egg roll, both were fine, nothing amazing. My husband got the general tsao's and liked it. The food at New Harmony didn't knock my socks off, but it was fun to get that same little Chinese restaurant experience without having to worry about what to order.
Updated from previous review on Friday November 07, 2014

shabby vegan Chinese place with an extensive menu including dim sum options which is what we ordered. some items were outstanding. some only fair. but overall, a good all vegan restaurant worth visiting and returning to.

This was my second time visiting New Harmony. I don't live in Philadelphia but made sure to visit New Harmony on a return trip. This time I visited for lunch. The $6.95 lunch specials were great! I had the curry with mock chicken. I know a lot of vegans and vegetarians don't care for mock meats but I tend to like them, and I did here as well. The curry had a nice homestyle flavor. The lunch also came with a choice of spring roll or soup and rice. I was definitely happy for $6.95! The service was also very friendly. Thanks, New Harmony!

This is like your standard Chinese restaurant--except that it is vegan. I myself am less into mock-meat foods nowadays, but of this type of restaurant, this is a pretty good one--I enjoyed the food here, and have no complaints.

I love New Harmony. The most amazing dishes are their walnut shrimp, incredible cheesecake, and hot & sour soup. I love their buffet and think it's an excellent value.