Give China Express a solid thumbs up on all counts

Thursday, January 20, 2005

Oriental food is being served hot and fresh in Fairview Plaza. China Express is a quick-stop Chinese cuisine restaurant thats perfect for lunch and dinner.

The modest dining area hosts about 10 four-person booths leading from the entrance up to the order/pickup counter. A stack of 11 x 17, numbered-list style menus awaits customers as they proceed to the cashier/order station. Some of the finer dinner dishes are displayed in an illuminated picture menu case above the counter. And a list of the daily lunch and dinner specials are marked on small boards to the right of the counter above the lone wastebin.

The menu, setup and atmosphere are familiar, mimicking the theme and layout of many small neighborhood oriental restaurants. There are easily over 100 menu items, including all the traditionals, such as sweet and sour chicken or pork, chicken, beef, pork and shrimp vegetable dishes, in variety of garlic, curry or teriyaki sauces. Whether its white rice, pork, chicken or shrimp fried rice or a medley of vegetables and an assortment of wantons, egg rolls and fried finger accessories, China Express is serving it all hot, fresh and fast.

The dining area is a pale blue hue, and there are amusing Christmas style decorations, an eccentricity typical of Oriental enthusiasm and spirit. A modest crowd of dine-in-ers and a steady stream of to-go-ers made their way in and out of the glass front door, annoyingly allowing bursts of cold air to rush in, forcing me to move closer to the ordering counter.

A quick glance at the menu to spot my favorite dish, shrimp with garlic, a spicy vegetable and rice entree that is hard to mess up, and Im in luck. A compliment of a pork egg roll and a diet Pepsi and my wait begins.

Shrimp and garlic sauce, an excited Asian-accented voice called out after only four or five minutes. Remarkable, considering there was a bit of a line when I arrived and people waiting after me that Im sure ordered first. Oh well, my luck. I wasnt complaining. I was already in a hurry.

The hot-n-sour soup was just that. After a feverish shoveling from my tiny plastic spoon, I opted to finish the soup coffee style A note to the owners: Ive eaten in many similar restaurants and normally order the same dish. While I was very pleased with the taste and consistency and spice level of my dish, I was very disappointed with the size of my shrimp.

In most cases, the same dish would feature large shrimp, always a bonus when dining at a fast Oriental spot, but these shrimp were just that, shrimpy. The taste was OK, but for the same price elsewhere, maybe not in Bowling Green, you get jumbo shrimp. I hope this is remedied as I plan on revisiting China Express in the future.

It is a welcome alternative to buffets and circus style eating. Troughs of food are sometimes unappealing to me, and probably for most people.

I rank the food, service and establishment at China Express high. One dish is hard to make a general assessment, but there were enough people eating and carrying on with their various entrees for me to gauge an overall satisfactory dining experience for myself and the others.

If identified, the anonymous food reviewer has been instructed to remove his or her fake nose and mustache disguise and eat all notes taken during any review. However, if youve had no luck pinning this persons identity down, contact Managing Editor Mike Alexieff at 783-3235 for any comments about this or any other review.

New restaurants get an eight-week grace period before being reviewed.  Daily News ·813 College St. ·PO Box 90012 ·Bowling Green, KY ·42102 ·270-781-1700