MARY FURR -- Dining Out

The red and gold facade of Li’s Chinese Restaurant in Huntington Beach

is as much a distinctive part of Huntington Beach as Mann’s Chinese

Theatre is to Hollywood.

Stepping inside is like entering a miniature Chinese palace with

intricate gold-embossed walls and ceiling, colorful pictures of peacocks

done on silk -- a room that holds a promise of such tempting dishes as

mushu pork and orange peel chicken that owner and chef Kai Chen has

offered for the past 27 years to his faithful diners.

Monday through Saturday has 15 quick lunch specials ($3.85 to $4.75),

but if you’re there for dinner, you might as well go all the way and

select one of the family dinners ($8.95 to $13.95 per person) to really

taste what chef Chen can do.

Our choice -- Chef’s Special Deluxe dinner for two ($12.95 each),

began with fried shrimp, butterflied and covered with a crispy batter and

foil-wrapped tender chicken pieces in a tangy garlic-flavored sauce that

were very good. Rumaki is my favorite -- a toothpick tidbit of chicken

liver and water chestnut wrapped in bacon and quickly fried.

And there’s more -- crispy fried won ton skin with a tiny dab of meat

in the middle, tightly stuffed egg rolls and two cuts of medium-sized

beef ribs. These were not as good as expected-- dry meat was disguised

with a mildly sweet barbecue sauce. There are the traditional dipping

mustard and cocktail sauces and a warm sweet and sour one that is

excellent with the egg rolls.

All of that was on the appetizer plate and was only the beginning.

Next was a Chinese specialty, sizzling rice soup. Our server brought a

large bowl of hot chicken broth filled with snow peas, bamboo shoots,

carrots, shrimp and chicken into which he dropped deep-fried rice squares

that sizzled and popped -- satisfying all the senses.

Sauteed sliced chicken ($7.25 a la carte) and pink, plump shrimp

($9.95 a la carte) was my choice from seven entrees -- a colorful platter

filled with mushroom slices, water chestnuts, snow peas, broccoli flowers

and carrots. The fun of Chinese dinners is sharing the dishes, and there

was plenty here.

Another choice is mushu pork ($7.25 a la carte), preparedtable side. A

pancake-sized won ton skin is spread with pungent dark plum sauce on

which is piled a vegetable and pork mix. It’s then neatly wrapped like a

burrito, ready for you to pick up (the only way) for a great mouthful of

flavor.

A well-flavored rice with bits of chicken, peas and carrots is served

with the chef’s dinner, but with the exception of the sizzling rice soup,

the appetizers, rice and entrees could have been served hotter.

Li’s, owned by Grace and Kai Chen, is a beautiful quiet place, a

respite from a busy noisy world. Chef Chen, who grew up in Japan and

cooked at Shanghai Palace on Balboa Island before buying Li’s, serves

Southern Cantonese cuisine, which he says uses less oil and more steam,

less frying and the freshest ingredients to promote natural, pure flavor.

Li’s is a tradition that families in Huntington Beach have grown up

with, a place for a restful light lunch or extensive family dinner.

* MARY FURR is the Independent restaurant critic. If you have comments

or suggestions for her, call (562) 493-5062.

FYI

Li’s Chinese Restaurant

WHERE: 8961 Adams Ave., Huntington Beach

PHONE: (714) 968-5050

HOURS: 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to

10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 3 to 9:30 p.m. Sunday

MISC.: Full bar, take out. Credit cards.