RESTAURANT REVIEW:

If I were elected to some kind of restaurant czar post and could impose my will freely, I would hand down several mandates.

The first edict would be to outlaw most plastic from restaurants that don’t have a clown as the central theme.

It doesn’t matter to me how casual the restaurant or how inexpensive the food is, there is nothing more depressing to me when I go out to eat than having to put food in my mouth with a plastic fork or spoon.

There has been a trend with inexpensive restaurants to have a fast-food price point, but to make the establishment more like a restaurant.

That I applaud, but the problem is that while prices are reasonable and the quality of food better than fast food, they fail miserably in the décor.

Countless times I have been eating fish and or chicken at a place and one of the tines on my fork has broken off into the meal.

Fortunately, Big Chopsticks feels my pain. The restaurant has made the commitment to serve food inexpensively but has also made the décor more elegant than paper plates and plastic utensils.

The first thing I noticed was the table and chairs in the small restaurant. They are made of what appears to be cherry wood and are pretty nice for a place where most of the people are going to take out their meal.

When I walked in, I was greeted warmly and asked if I was eating in. When I said I was, the young woman behind the counter asked me to sit and then came and took my order.

That small gesture was very impressive. While I sat and waited for my lunch combination, I noticed the condiments on the table.

The salt and pepper were in nice bottles, and hot sauce was in a glass jar.

Silverware was used, and the chopsticks were not the cheap, flat balsa wood kind, but rounded.

Twenty-two lunch specials are available from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Some of the dishes can be served with either beef or chicken, such as the garlic, sweet and sour or orange dishes.

There are other more unique entrees, such as the sha cha chicken, which is white meat with mushrooms and spinach sautéed in a satay sauce.

The seafood dishes are what intrigued me. I had the fish fillet with black-bean sauce, and it was very tasty. The black-bean sauce was very light and subtle, and the Dover sole was extremely fresh and moist. Red and green bell peppers are mixed with onions to complete the entrée.

The combinations are between $5.99 and $7.50 and include soup, egg roll and steamed or fried rice. I was happy to see you can substitute healthier brown rice for an additional 50 cents.

The soup is sweet and sour and was deceptively spicy. I got about four spoonfuls in before the heat hit me. There were also generous amounts of chicken.

Walnut shrimp is the restaurant’s specialty, so I didn’t want to leave without trying it. The dish is the most expensive at $13.75, but it’s worth it.

It was a nice mix of flavored mayonnaise and glazed walnuts that were slightly burnt and very crunchy. The shrimp was firm and a nice size. There was plenty of it and would feed two people easily.

Most of my meal went home with me, and when I asked for to-go containers the woman brought them over and instead of dumping them on the table, packaged up my food for me.

She even threw in some steamed rice in case I wanted it.

This is not a fancy place by any means, but it does seem more like you are dining out rather than just eating. BIG CHOPSTICKS

ADDRESS: 19092 Beach Blvd., Huntington Beach

PHONE: (714) 968-2169

Website: none

Cuisine: Chinese

SPECIALTY DISH: Honey-glazed walnut shrimp

ALCOHOL SERVED: none

ENTRÉE PRICE RANGE: $7.25 to $13.75

FAMILY FRIENDLY: yes

CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED: MasterCard, Discover and Visa

RATING: *** out of 4

JOHN REGER reviews local restaurants and may be contacted at Nolimepublishing@aol.com or P.O. Box 2984, Seal Beach, CA 90740.