What a turnaround. Several months ago, as part of my $100 Baby project, I visited Susanna Foo and had an experience that was, at best, mediocre. I found many of the dishes overseasoned, the atmosphere underwhelming, and the experience as a whole marred by the kind of mistakes that could have been expected at a far less prestigious restaurant.

It was amazing how many people agreed with my assessment; I was, in fact, surprised by how many friends and strangers contacted me to let me know that they, too, had visited the restaurant only to leave disappointed.

But lately, it seems, the buzz has been building again, and I’ve been hearing about meals there that people claimed were every bit as good as they were in the heady days of the restaurant’s youth. In response to that, then, and with no budgetary constraints like there were for my previous visit for Aroundphilly.com, I booked a table at Susanna Foo on a recent Saturday night to check out the rumors of a resurgence.

Those rumors, that buzz—they were absolutely justified.

The service was outstanding from the very beginning—more on that later—and our waiter was not only helpful, but went out of his way to be accommodating and provide the best possible context for the meal. Good service, after all, means that you can focus all your energy on the food and not have to worry about the little things like having enough wine, proper utensils, a full glass of water, or the like. In that regard, the Foo team was exceptional.

This was most apparent in the knowledgeable wine service: Susanna Foo features a three-wine flight for $33. It changes every month, and includes wines that most people may be unfamiliar with. One wine in particular fascinated me, a Koshu from Japan that I’d never tasted before, and which I likely never would have ordered if it had not been part of the tasting program.

The other wines, too, were both well-chosen and clever when considered alongside the menu. Blue Franc (or blaufrankisch) from Washington State, for example, was an unexpectedly successful pairing partner for many of the restaurant’s sweeter sauces. Who knew?

It is, however, inappropriate for me to discuss the service after we ordered the wine: Gabriel Foo, Susanna’s son and the restaurant manager, took an extended wine course I teach at the Wine School of Philadelphia this past spring, and he was at the restaurant the night I visited. (I did not know this would be the case, and, as usual, made the reservation under a pseudonym.) We paid for everything we ordered, but several additional dishes and wines were sent out “on the house.” And while I firmly believe that the food we tasted was an accurate representation of what any visitor would be served—if I thought it was not, I would not have written this review: I would have nothing to gain by doing otherwise, and have no personal interest in the restaurant aside from reporting on it as accurately as possible—the issue of service is less clear-cut.

As for that food, though, it was every bit as extraordinary this visit as it was mundane during my previous one. The humble pork pot-sticker, for example, achieved all the textural complexity that’s so crucial to its success. Brown and crisp in the center, soft, verging on succulent at the edges, these half-moons were so moist on the inside that one of them actually squirted when I took my first bite of it.

The hundred-point crab cake was not only visually stunning but intricately conceived and assembled. A coriander- and ginger-seasoned shrimp mousse, surrounding a crab meat center, was rolled in tiny bread-cubes and deep fried to a crisp, surprisingly light demi-ball that looked more like some sort of sea anemone than a crab cake. It was exactly the kind of creative riff on a familiar dish that Susanna Foo built her reputation on. And rightly so.

Only the gazpacho was less than I’d expected: Seasoned with coriander and ginger and given a kick by jalapenos, it was a solid summertime soup, to be sure, but it lacked that pop of the unexpected that the other dishes had. And while far too many preparations that feature coriander and ginger are overpowered by them in other restaurants, I felt as if they weren’t given enough play in this soup.

Entrees, like that crab cake, demonstrated exactly the kind of creativity and exuberance that the restaurant is known for. Tea-smoked duck breast was just as smoky in flavor as most such versions of it usually are not, and the deep, dark aroma of the meat gave the duck a sense of richness even beyond what it ordinarily achieves. It played well against the mild sweetness of the gingered, brandied cherries from Lancaster and the Fuji apple compote. Only the accompanying potato galette with shiitakes, leeks, currants, and a hit of truffle oil missed its mark; a little too much seasoning took it over the edge.

Crispy whole bass, its body de-boned, flipped inside out, scored like a pinecone, fried in a wok, and framed with a brilliantly colored Chinese sweet and sour sauce, was as tender and moist as any fish I’ve had this summer.

Again, this entree relied just as much on the silky texture of the fish, and its interplay with the crispy crust, as it did on flavor. This is something of a modus operandi here, and seems to be behind much of the success of the restaurant’s best efforts. There was, too, a sense of balance to the sauce, whose sweetness was held in check with the little rounds of smoky jalapeno that made their presence known at just the right moments.

There were other winners, too: The spicy, unctuous side dish of sautéed Chinese eggplant with red and green peppers, onion, scallions, jalapenos, and a homemade chile sauce. The pickled ribs of Napa cabbage and red pepper throughout which the sweet, spicy scent of ginger hovered. The sticky rice with coconut milk and mung beans resting unobtrusively beneath the head of the fried bass. The flourless chocolate ganache tart with strawberry – cardamom sorbet and a raspberry sauce, a dessert just sweet enough to counter all the seasoning that preceded it, yet not cloyingly so.

This was the type of experience that has allowed Susanna Foo to stay in business for so long, despite the ever-increasing competition in the city. And this was the type of meal that reminds you of how exciting a familiar cuisine can be when unexpected riffs and a palpable creative energy are brought to bear on the proceedings. This, in the end, was what we’ve all come to expect from a place with this kind of reputation. It is, once again, wholly justified.

1512 Walnut St,, 215.545.2666, www.susannafoo.com