Kingly, affordable standard

Gas prices are nearly reaching the cost of bottled water. Modest homes in Costa Mesa are now million-dollar residences. Yet diners can still eat out like kings on the cheap.

At Pan Asia Mongolian Bar-B-Q in Costa Mesa, you can feed a family of four a Chinese dinner for less than $30. And you can customize the ingredients to suit your tastes. You can add mild curry sauce or spicy ginger sauce to your stir-fried meats and vegetables or create a healthy dish by omitting fats and sodium.

The neighborhood Chinese eatery opened in 1980 on East 17th Street just opposite Plum’s Cafe. Now it feeds the second generation of its original customers.

In 2000, Anita Lam and John Chau took over Pan Asia Mongolian Bar-B-Q from Anita’s retiring uncle, Paul Cheng. The couple, originally from Hong Kong, owned one of the few Chinese restaurants in Israel for 20 years. Taking over the established Mongolian barbecue eatery was an easy transition for them, especially since chef Orlando Ramirez has cooked here for more than two decades.

Those who aren’t much for change will love this restaurant. Cheng’s original menu items and decor are still intact after 25 years. The far-from-subtle dining room features colorful Chinese paper lanterns, potted plants, maroon carpeting, black lacquer chairs and plenty of knick-knacks, figurines and tchotchkes. Cheng loved animals, so he filled the walls with pictures and stained glass works of pandas, monkeys and tigers.

At Pan-Asia you’re in control of the outcome of your meal. Famished diners order the all-you-can-eat Mongolian barbecue meal for just $9.95. Most customers order the No. 2 meal, which consists of one serving of barbecue meats, two pocket biscuits to fill with meats, a baby egg roll and a mound of rice ($6.50). Meat choices include beef, pork, lamb, turkey and chicken in any combination. Vegetarians can skip the meats and fill a bowl of vegetables to stir-fry.

A cup of corn soup precedes the meal, which tastes like a combination of egg drop soup and chicken-broth based corn chowder.

Next a bowl of sliced frozen meats arrives at the table. And guests carry their bowls back to the salad-bar style counter where they can top their meats with sliced onions, broccoli, carrots, cilantro and bean sprouts.

Cylinders of sauces and oil can be ladled over bowls. Selections include mild sauce (mostly water, sugar, and soy sauce), lobster sauce and hot pepper oil. After shaking on garlic powder and sesame seeds, the chef quickly sears the meal on a sizzling circular metal grill.

Other meals include the Mongolian barbecue dinner with fried shrimp, choice of barbecue meats, fried wontons, biscuits and rice ($7.95); and the Pan-Asia, which consist of four jumbo fried shrimp, five dumplings, a choice of barbecue meats, biscuits and rice ($9.30).

There are only four lunch choices. They all include Mongolia barbecue meats with combinations of baby egg rolls, shrimp, rice, soup, biscuits and fried wontons ($4.35 to $5.95). Complimentary jasmine tea comes with meals.

If you’ve set your sights on dessert at the end of the meal or picking from an extensive wine list, you’re out of luck. Pan Asia does not offer desserts, and there are modest wine choices.

Yet, Pan Asia Mongolian Bar-B-Q serves another purpose. It’s just a simple restaurant that pleases loyal customers for its friendly service, stir-fried foods, retro Chinese decor, and inexpensive food.

IF YOU GO

* WHAT: Pan Asia Mongolian Bar-B-Q

* WHERE: 369 E. 17th St. in Costa Mesa

* WHEN: Open from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Saturday; 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday. Lunch is served from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dinner menu is offered at 3 p.m. until closing

* INFO: (949) 646-4644

* BEST BITES runs Fridays. Greer Wylder can be reached at greerwylder@yahoo.com; at 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626; or by fax at (714) 966-4679.

20051223irxpovnc(LA)A bowl of Mongolian barbecue at Pan Asian Mongolian Bar-B-Q