He (和) — Restaurant in Middletown

We drove 40 miles round trip just for trying this place out. May be the high anticipation brought about some inflated expectations; nevertheless, mine is mixed review teetering to the negative.

The exterior. It's a brick building, not so different from its surrounding neighborhood except for the elegant entry way and tastefully designed signage, He 和. The name is pronounced "her" (with intonation goes as in "huh?"), and is a Chinese word that means "harmony". The naming for a restaurant is unlike any other, in English and Chinese alike, and I applaud the owners for daring to be different. I like the concept and design.

The interior. On the other hand, the interior is somewhat incoherent: the classic crown moldings and door trims, the Avant-garde tables and chairs, and the interior walls sporting the old fashioned green devoid of any wall decors. This simply doesn't work for me and is in stark contrast with the concept of "harmony".

The service. You find any table you want and press the button on the table and the wait staff would come to take your order. What a concept! Our waitress was very friendly and almost over-the-top courteous. She took pride of the restaurant and their offerings. She described the background of various dishes in the menu, as if we're in a tour. Orders were served rather quickly and our table was attended for our needs.

Cleanliness. On the other hand, the busboys were nowhere to be found. For the one hour and 15 minutes we spent in the restaurant, none of the tables were bused. In addition, grease spots were everywhere.

The food. There is no doubt that the restaurant features authentic Shaan'xi menu. While we were there, 95% of the customers were Chinese students from the nearby college! We ordered everything on the first page plus two others most of which I have not tried in all of the Chinese restaurants I've visited. There was a common theme among most dishes -- overly savory and extremely oily. You will find any dish in the form of soup or sauce showing a layer of oil on the surface.

Braised Pork Moburger $4. The pulled pork was too soupy, ruining the toasted buns and making it messy to eat.

Cumin Beef Moburer $5. This is one of two dishes I would recommend. Beef was flavorful and the buns were toasty.

Liang Pi $5.50. Allegedly taking 13 hours to make. It's made of flour processed into gluten which is cut to cubes, and thick films which are cut to stripes. Together they are seasoned and flavored and served cold. It's interesting at first, but then it became to salty to eat by itself.

Sao Zi Noodle $8. The hand crafted noodle was too doughy for me. The serving was small. The soup was impossible to oily to drink.

Chess Pancake $4. This is plain roasted dough, basically to be consumed with other dishes that are too savory. Came in 3 pieces. This was a rip-off.

He Special Noodle $7. It uses the same hand crafted noodles as Sao Zi Noodle. Too doughy and bland - an exception to the common theme.

Spicy Noodle Soup $6. This is the second of the two dishes I would recommend. It was a Sichuan dish based on glass noodles. The broth was sour and spicy. It was addicting.

I was thinking a 3 rating, but I am bumping it to 4 for being the only one of its...

Tried this place because of the reviews with a buddy of mine. As we entered we weren't greeted for a little as the was only one person working counter an serving. Once seated we were told how to order meals throu our phone and explained the buttons on the table. The staff was very nice and helpful. My buddy and I felt it was a little much having to listen the someone explain then show you how to order food the help you because it wasn't working right on one of our phones. In the time it took to explain and show us the do it for one of us the it wasn't working for we could have ordered and had an appetizer. So we ordered meals through our phones even thou this wasn't the simplest thing the navigate. We ordered a wide variety of dishes as I cook and love to try many dishes when I eat at different places. Ok so your probably wondering bout buttons on table. There are buttons the get water filled, call server, clear plates, etc. The appetizers came first with drinks. The drinks were good. Not the best I've had. The appetizers were all good but lacking the favor that I was hoping for, this place was to be very authentic from my understanding n the reviews. The main dishes came and we began the examine dishes and break them down by ingredients and such as I do as many places. My buddies meal was prepared nicely with fresh ingredients and the favors were good. He really enjoyed his dish. My dish on the other hand was swiming in oil. Literally like by 1/2 inch. Not broth or anything else the actual oil used to cook it. The meat inside while flavored well was extremely tough. And all but uneatable as every piece that I tried to eat had bone in it. This was do to the way it was prepared. While I've had food prepared like this before it's important to cook it right so it will fall off the larger pieces of bone or remove them completely. I was very disappointed. I spent so much time removing a pile of bone from my dish I starved myself. My buddy found this funny cause he never seen anything that bad, we didn't complain just payed the bill and tipped then left to go eat...

Alright ladies and gentlemen, here is the truth about this Chinese restaurant named "He" which is located on Middleton and Harrisburg where we went last night. He by the way, means collaboration, with, together, etc and that is what this place is all about. We are visiting from Tampa, Fla with family, while originally from NYC and we are always in a quest to find the best dumplings, noodles, and authentic food we can find. By the way, our family is from Southern part of China, "Guangzhou" and "Toishan" so we know a thing or two about real Chinese food. We have also traveled extensively in China, Asia, and the various cities and provinces there. Well- "He" is an authentic and breath of fresh air for anywhere in the world to experience and eat at. Howard, the owner was fantastic and hospitable and so friendly that we tried to order everything and eat everything on the menu. That is how interesting the experience was. The dumplings, noodles, rice dishes, and teas are to die for. A variety just different than the same old Chinese "fast food" stuff that most Chinese restaurants try to get away with. "He" is not afraid to be authentic and do the real thing. It's a treasure and worth going by to say "Ni Hau!" "How are you?" It will remind you of why it is important to eat out at the family owned places that just...