| The first group is part of
the region's large Asian population. They favor what Vivian Lau describes
as Chinatown, or a cosmopolitan combination of many Chinese cooking
styles. To me, the cuisine sounded Americanized. She called it "nice and
simple, and very fresh."
The locals, or a group Lau refers to as "Americans," want - to her
surprise - straight-up traditional dishes, such as seafood with bean curd,
spicy Peking noodles, and fried dumplings.
The Asian diners don't mind a little flexibility, for instance, in
the traditional chicken and fruit dishes. Instead of mangos and chicken,
East Cuisine uses canned peaches - and, perhaps typical of
this restaurant with a sense of big American appetites, a lot of other
items - in a dish called Chicken and Peaches.
The dish comes with snow peas, baby corn, cucumber, cabbage, red
bell peppers, tomatoes, and maraschino cherries used as garnish. Although
different types of rice are offered - including brown - this dish comes
with the customary steamed white rice. It is also seasoned with citrus
sauce.
The Americans also like the traditional spinach and garlic dish (a
Cantonese specialty), Vivian Lau said, and they also prefer the duck with
pine nuts to the leaner Peking duck, an entree that takes more than 36
hours to prepare.
There are also those items on the menu that need footnotes, such as
the "preserved" fish and the "salt-baked" squid.
No need to worry. There is nothing old or prehistoric about the
fish - it's the dried herbs that are preserved. And salt-baked is a
culinary term that doesn't mean the item is salt-encrusted; rather, it's
used in the frying process.
I should point out here that garnish - and I don't mean little
sprigs of parsley - is one of the many aspects that quickly levitate
East Cuisine to the level of fine dining.
Raymond Lau is a master at carving vegetable "flowers," including
the occasional Easter "rabbit" chiseled from a radish.
Aside from the decorative items, the tables are neatly set with
white linen, white paper placemats, and white plates. The decor is
visually calming, with rice-paper screens set in the restaurant's
plateglass windows, and displays of Asian artifacts as well as the most
healthy plants I've seen outside of a nursery.
Based on the clean, well-lighted appearance of the restaurant, I
wasn't surprised to learn that the couple, who were high school
sweethearts, have strong backgrounds in business.
That includes many years of work in a Chinese restaurant in New
England owned by Vivian's family. Vivian's father, "an old traditional,"
ran the place and encouraged learning "by the hand" instead of by the
book, Vivian said.
Overall, the food matches the upscale decor. It is carefully
prepared, fresh in taste and appearance, and modest - that is, in price.
The Laus really know how to create "a happy face," as Vivian calls
it.
During my lunchtime visit, Vivian Lau was not on hand - a rare
occurrence, although the couple have a 13-month-old daughter to care for,
I was told.
(Raymond Lau is also a real estate agent and meets clients when he
is not working at the restaurant's front desk or filling in as chef in the
kitchen that serves food daily.)
I could not fault any aspect of my luncheon, which included shrimp
tempura, miso soup, the "East's Roll" (a cooked sushi roll with crab
meat), and sweet and sour chicken.
Perhaps another "American" would find the sweet and sour a little
on the bright side - the sauce was nearly fluorescent - and the maraschino
cherries were not used as a garnish, but rather inside the dish. (For me,
that meant eating around the dreaded "cocktail" cherries.)
Considering, though, that my dining companion and I each had a pair
of menus to review, with mind-numbing lists of the Chinese and Japanese
offerings, it is a wonder we made any decisions at all.
Contact suburban staff writer Catherine Quillman at 610-701-7629 or
cquillman@phillynews.com.
Broad Axe Shopping Center, 851 W. Butler Pike, Broad Axe.
215-283-9797.
Hours: Full menu served 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday,
11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and noon to 9:30 p.m. Sunday.
The menu: More than 250 Chinese and Japanese dishes, and a raw bar.
There are also numerous vegetarian dishes as well as a "health food"
section with steamed items. It's a BYO, so if you don't like some
traditional beverages, such as green and black tea, bring your own.
I'll have another: With such an extensive and varied menu, it's
impossible to narrow down the recommendations. However, the kitchen is
particularly skilled at steamed dishes as well as flash-frying. The
tempura-fried appetizers are perfected to a feather-light crunch. The
sushi rolls with seafood are excellent, too.
How much: Appetizers range from $1.40 (egg roll) to about $12.95
(soup or noodle dishes). Sushi and sashimi are served a la carte, two
pieces per order, for less than $5. Cantonese entrees are from $9.95 to
$19.95. All major credit cards except Discover accepted.
How loud: Very quiet, but pop music might be blaring during
lunchtime hours.
Reservations: Recommended on the weekend.
Children's menu: No. But with a menu this extensive, families are
sure to find something. The kitchen also will adjust spices to a patron's
taste.
Smoking: No.
Facilities for handicapped: Yes.
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