Dining Out Boston

Friday night's dinner was epic.

In celebration of Chinese New Year my friends and I organized a dinner at Chef Chow's in Brookline. Traditionally around ten of us go out to a Chinese restaurant, order six to eight dishes one of which is always Peking duck, and stuff ourselves silly. In past years we've ordered a la carte, a lengthy, awkward process that can take longer than the meal due to unending choruses of "What do you want? Well, what do you want?" and so on. Courtesy is not always the best of virtues, especially when it prevents one from eating supper.

This year we opted for Chef Chow's pre-planned $18.50 per person banquet in an attempt to do away with wishy-washy ordering. The first course was staggering: no fewer than ten plates of chicken fingers, Peking raviolis, and barbecue spare ribs. My stomach already felt swollen after sampling the appetizers. The chicken fingers were crispy, dotted with blackened sesame seeds, and not the least bit over-fried, the peking raviolis tender and flavorful, and the barbecue spare ribs sweet and succulent.

Next steaming bowls of House Special Soup were served. The thick soup could best be described as a combination of egg drop and seafood chowder with a cornstarchy broth, shrimp, and greens. I wasn't terribly impressed with the flavor, so I only had a few spoonfuls in order to save room for the main courses.

People were almost fearful waiting for the entrees to arrive and Bunches even expressed concern about his stomach exploding. Unfortunately (or fortunately), our concerns were justified. Shortly after the soup bowls had been cleared five obscenely large platters of food appeared. First, our courteous and friendly waiter (who must have refilled water glasses every five minutes) brought out a large Peking Duck, pancakes, lettuce, and plum sauce. Unlike in other restaurants where they leave the white people to fumble with the ingredients until large messy duck burritos appear, the wait staff meticulously created all the duck wraps for us. After those were equally distributed, four more dishes, ginger and scallion shrimp, sesame chicken with vegetables, pan-fried noodles, and fried rice, were squeezed onto the table. Every plate was beautifully adorned with flowers carved from tomatoes or carrots. Although the selections were typical "American" Chinese, each one was prepared incredibly well. There was absolutely no tough stringy chicken or oily noodles or limp broccoli: just perfectly cooked vegetables and plump, fairly lean cuts of meat (with the exception of the fried beef), and adequate seasonings. The only thing in excess were the portions.

And of course there was dessert. Fried bananas topped with pink sprinkles for everyone; well, everyone that is except for Bunches, whose stomach had reached maximum capacity an hour earlier.

The total bill came to around $24 per person, not bad considerably everyone went home with their own container of leftovers. Fighting the onset of severe food coma, we all parted ways and waddled to our respective homes. I swore I would never eat again but the next day I longed for the banquet all over again. The Chinese food was among the best I've ever had and the service and atmosphere of Chef Chow's warm and very professional.

My obvious recommendation: next time you crave Chinese, call one day ahead and invite least seven friends to join you at a banquet at Chef Chow's.

The Info
Chef Chow's
230 Harvard St., Brookline
617-739-CHOW
www.chefchows.com