Dining Out

Mary Furr

It’s hard to believe the variations that chef/owner Robert Chen can

create from a simple cut of chicken, beef or seafood at Taiwan Gourmet,

his restaurant on Beach Boulevard. With humorous, descriptive names like

Treasure Platter, Three Cup Duc Tongues or Tun Bo Leg shank the menu is a

challenge to the appetite and the imagination.

A simple solution is to select the Deluxe Mandarin Dinner ($11.95 per

person), sit back and be happy as charming Tina Wang spreads a feast for

you. First come appetizers -- two fried butterfly shrimp that are not

battered but lightly crisp, two paper-thin wontons filled like ravioli

with a creamy thick seasoned cheese and two fat translucent egg rolls

stuffed with shredded cabbage. There are three dipping sauces -- sweet

and sour, extra spicy and mustard. Mix the sweet and sour with a few

drops of the really hot to make a good sauce for the egg rolls.

Next is sizzling rice soup served table side by a sous chef who scoops

up broth from a tureen filled with fat shrimp, chicken, bamboo and carrot

strips, mushrooms, green snow peas and squares of rice. It’s an excellent

mix of color, texture and steamy sizzle set off by the rice.

We selected tasty fried rice to accompany our entrees. Royal Shrimp is

the most generous mound of firm, pink shrimp and loads of cut vegetables

-- cabbage, cauliflower, zucchini, baby corn, water chestnuts and carrots

mixed in a mildly garlicky sauce. An intricately carved vegetable rose

creates a picture plate worthy of Chagall and is also very good, light

and healthy.

A prosaic sounding entree, Mandarin Minced Chicken, is quite the

opposite. First an oil and soy dressing is poured into cup-like lettuce

leaves, which are then filled with finely chopped chicken, red and green

peppers, cilantro and peanuts. To eat, roll each leaf up around the

filling and bite into a great mix of flavors, especially with the

hands-on approach suggested by our helpful server Tina.

My fortune cookie said, “You have a pleasant surprise coming,” so I

decided to order a “surprise” dessert not included in the special dinner.

Red bean pastry ($3.50) is a dark, slightly sweet skin filled with mashed

red beans made from boiled azuki beans. It’s a very mild dessert as the

Chinese are not given to eating sweets. It’s best eaten with chop sticks

or the tooth picks stuck in each square piece.

Owner Robert Chen apprenticed as a young boy with a master chef in

Taiwan before coming to the United States. Here he has created not only

an exciting kitchen but also a beautiful restaurant dominated by an

extraordinary gold relief of a bridge over a river leading to a village

filled with busy people.

It’s just as busy at Taiwan Gourmet where Robert Chen could not have

selected a better name for his restaurant.

FYI

WHAT: Taiwan Gourmet

HERE: 16883 Beach Blvd.HOURS: Lunch, 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., Dinner, 5

to 10 p.m. daily. Credit cards accepted.

FAX: (714) 843-2050

PHONE: (714) 848-4940