Fear of a Tastless Planet
Posted on November 10, 2005
China Cafe
Lake Creek and Hwy 183
The shopping center at the corner of 183 and Lake Creek is a cool little place. The Alamo Drafthouse is there. There’s a Jason’s Deli and a Kinkos I use every so often. On Monday, however, I found the hidden jewel of this little consumer Mecca. It’s one door down from the drafthouse. It’s unassuming.
It’s China Cafe.
Stepping through the doors into China Cafe is fun, because this restaurant is somewhere around a thousand times nicer than any stripmall restaurant should be. The whole place is done in reds and blacks, lit in a subtle way. It’s beautiful. The only thing breaking the image are the neon beer signs over the bar, but we’ll forgive those.
China Cafe’s wait staff is quick, attentive, and sharply dressed. My waiter almost beat me to the table, and my iced tea arrived about four nanoseconds later.
During lunch, you need to get one of the lunch specials. This a heaping helping of food for under seven dollars, the kind of price you’d expect at a greasy take-out place (ah, I live those places). I ordered the Kung Pao Chicken and some hot and sour soup. The soup was incredible, my new favorite in the city, full of tiny slices of green onions and large slices of white mushrooms. Yummy!
And the chicken… ah, that’s the stuff. Heartier than you’d expect, tastey as all get out. The chicken was full of peppers, both chili and bell, and so many other ingredients I couldn’t keep track of them. It wasn’t too hot (I wasn’t sweating by the time I finished), and I sure was full by the time I was done. Barely had room for my eggroll, which was light and crispy, as close to a spring roll as you can get and still be fried.
Yeah, so I’ll be going back. I heading their Saturday. See you there.
Highs: Damn near everything!
Lows: Do we really need a Coors clock?
Rating: Is the cook single?.5
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