Ian Lozada: Images and Words

As a Lexington newcomer, I'm constantly looking for new places to get a good meal. So from time to time, I'll tell you about my latest finds...

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A long time ago, I got a great piece of advice about Chinese restaurants. My Chinese friend told me, "Look for a place that looks like an absolute dump, but is always filled with Asian people. Chances are, it's pretty good. No self-respecting Chinese would pour the money into the decor when he could put it into the food."

I've followed that advice for years and it's never led me wrong. Whenever I see a stylish looking place, inevitably it's filled with Westerners. Even when my father and I went to Hong Kong last year, every nice looking Chinese restaurant was filled with Westerners, and I pulled Dad back from the doorway of a few of them until we saw this place operating out of a basement with a line out the door. We got on the line, and had one of the best meals of our lives.

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Tonight, I finished up meeting with a bride and her planner, and went out looking for a bite to eat. I knew the new row of restaurants on Sir Barton Way (Bajio, Smashing Tomato and Shanghai Bistro) had just opened up, but I didn't feel like anything specific. I figured I'd read the menus outside and pick one. First off... those weren't menus up by the doors, they were building permits. So I went in the first place, Smashing Tomato and realized they were a pizza place, and I'd just had that for lunch. No go. I was going to buzz right past Shanghai Bistro because it looked too stylish, when a series of Chinese guys walked in and immediately started to order. That stopped me in my tracks. I thought about it, said, "You only live once," and went in.

I wasn't going to let them off easy, however. I knew I had to order something that could easily be a disaster in the wrong hands. I ended up ordering the General Tso's Chicken ($10). When the General is done badly, it's soft, not crispy, the sauce is bland, and you get the feeling that you're sitting in the food court at the mall. When it's done right, it's delightful. The other thought in the back of my head was that $10 is about the right price for General Tso's. Depending on where I go, it ranges from $7.95 to $12.95 at Chinese restaurants back home, but when you get caught in one of those all flash places, it ends up drifting a little higher above that scale for some unknown reason.

They said it would be a few minutes, and I grabbed a bottle of Kikkoman soy sauce, got my drink and sat down. It dawns on me that it's 915 PM on a Wednesday, the place closes in 45 minutes, and the joint is still half full. One of the guys comes out of the kitchen with my plate, and it looks really well put together. Sauce is just the right color, broccoli tastefully arranged to one side, small bowl of white rice on the side. I took a deep breath and brandished my chopsticks.

And got a very pleasant surprise. On most chinese takeout menu's, General Tso's is usually listed as being a spicy dish, but it rarely comes out actually spicy. This was not the case. From the beginning, those tell-tale red pepper flakes were visible on each morsel, although I never saw that little chinese pepper that looks like one of the cigarillos Clint Eastwood smoked in the Man With No Name movies. Each bite had a nice crispy snap to it, and not only was the sauce the right basic flavor, it had a subtle little kick to it from the pepper. Moreover, I didn't run into the usual problem of there being an area of the plate where the sauce was too thick and the crispiness turned into sogginess. This was consistent the whole way around the plate.

I was pretty happy with it. Look, one dish doesn't mean a restaurant's great or anything like that, but it's worth another visit.

Shanghai Bistro is located on Sir Barton Way, just between Winchester and Man O' War at 2200 War Admiral Way, Suite 170 in Lexington. (Don't ask me where they got the War Admiral Way part, the menu says right under the mailing address "Corner of Sir Barton Way and Winchester Rd", which isn't exactly accurate either, but you should find it easy enough. Visa/MC/Discover.