Yi Pin Restaurant — Restaurant in Philadelphia

I have been to this location 4 times including today. The restaurant is clean and the food is delicious! Unfortunately the owners customer service approach was poor and dismissive. It was not certain to me during my visit today that my black face was the type of customers she welcomed or appreciated. I went this afternoon to inquire about making reservations for a birthday party of ten at the establishment. I was approach by a woman who was not warm at all or inviting asking what I wanted. After telling her that I wanted to make a reservation for ten, I gingerly walked around the empty restaurant excited to piont out the perfect seating for our table. She look at me and told me flatly that my party had to sit together even when I had not made a request on us being separated otherwise. She in a cold and matter of fact tone said to me, "this is not a Kareoke restaurant". I was confused because as I mentioned, I have been there 3 times prior and I had participated in Kareoke myself. She indicated that they had stopped doing that a long time ago. When probed further, she said they stopped 3 months ago because customers complained that the Kareoke was too loud. She then said that the Kareoke started at midnight at $100 and that "normally people" would pay separately for Kareoke. I didn't mind that at all. As I know of several that were literally around the corner that I could have gone to. Still hopeful that we could have the delicious meal there and Kareoke later in the evening, I asked about the midnight scene. What would it include or, options available regarding food? I needed to get clarity on the Kareoke she mentioned existed at midnight. She became annoyed and said "No food the employees would be going home at midnight". I tried to get more clarification on if the employees would be going home, then how would things work with facilitating the Karaoke? She continued to tell me that it would be $100 and that the staff would be leaving the restaurant at midnight. I didn't understand the logic and her callousness in not trying to be clearer of a Karaoke part having No employees to run it would look like. I also wondered what entertainment were available since the advertisement on thier door and website says "It is equipped with a bar and stage to perfectly integrate gourmet music and entertainment, providing you with a comfortable environment". What is the entertainment?? Baffled and clearly not heard, I was not getting anywhere with this woman. She came off as a little arrogant and condescending with me as she continued tell me what I would be charge at midnight. I proceeded to ask her to speak with the owner in which time she proclaim that she was indeed the the owner. Go figure. ;/ Owner please be kinder to All of your customers regardless of thier ethnicity. Also, clear communication on your cite on what entertainment your restaurant do provide and don't provide makes it easier for everyone. Nonetheless, I suspect currently your interest may not be for customers with skin color...

This restaurant was PLEASANTLY SURPRISING. It was a quaint off the grid kind of place that serves authentic Asian dishes. It was not busy but I believe they should be because the food and service was AWSOME! We had 3 different people serves us & they were all gracious, kind & knowledgeable.

We started off with the famous imported Korean wine, Soju (Leechy flavored) 12% proof. The waitress was kind enough to explain the taste & how people traditionally mix it with a carbonated beverage. It was VERY mild in taste but it was warming to the body & will sneak up on you if you’re not careful.

For appetizers we went with the scallion pancakes, pan fried shrimp dumplings & pork soup dumplings. I cheated on my vegan diet last night and it was definitely worth it! Now that I’m back to my regimen I’m definitely going to try to figure out how to add scallion pancakes to my rotation of recipes. It was my first time having soup dumplings & it was the cutest tastiest way to have a shot of soup. Reminds me a reverse wonton soup because the soup is INSIDE the dumpling! The shrimp dumpling were not bad but weren’t the star of the show.

My husband had the pork belly & I was definitely reaching for some over on his side of the table. We could taste notes of cardamom in the dish which was very nice unique flavor. The dish came with rice and it did have tofu pieces in it which was surprising as well because they kind of tasted like the pork’s consistency.

I ordered the spared ribs & YES! Get it it was tender flavor packed and worth it! Also came with a side of rice & a really cool burner to keep them warm while you’re finishing off the rest of your appetizers.

All & all we’ll be back because being from NY and moving to Philly we are noticing Philly likes to sleep so restaurants close early. Yi Pin is open late and the food is GREAT 👌🏾 Thank you for a wonderful evening immersed in Asian culture from the decor the music the drinks...

Mixed experiences with a warning! Tldr; yes Dan Dan Noodle, warning for raw or spoiled ground pork in dumpling, karaoke isn't real, server may not understand you. Late night may be best bet.

The Good: I really do like this place. The DanDan noodles are absolutely spectacular. I've ordered them all three times I've been here, never a problem with them. Would not order dumplings again but would order DanDan or other things

The mapo tofu is also very authentic seeming and I enjoy taking it to go and eating for the rest of the week. Spicy! I prefer firmer tofu but I suspect the way they do it is the authentic way. Recommend.

The Bad: The problem arose with dumplings on my last visit. I strongly suspect the pork in my chili dumplings was raw. Usually I visit very late night, but it wasn't even 7pm that day. The inside was mushy, cold, sour, and pink.

The server had trouble understanding beyond very basics, and we ordered more dumplings as pork but came out chicken, so I did not argue and just asked for a box to go. When I got home, I cooked the chili dumplings longer and they were fine. Further evidence of being accidentally served raw pork.

The lady that doesn't speak any English was the only server this time. She's very sweet but you'll have no luck explaining anything beyond basic ordering. You may want to point at the menu, but even then we still got the wrong thing.

Overall, I still really like this place. The decor is pretty lovely, the chandeliers are beautiful. But raw dumpling meat was unnerving. Also I resent that they tempt karaoke as an option but the QR code doesn't work because of the split screen

I might suggest this as a very late night place, that's when I've had the...