San Francisco's Chinatown is more than just a distinctive neighborhood packed with Chinese eateries and restaurants. It is a feast for the other senses as well with marvelous opportunities for people watching, browsing in curio shops and absorbing the engaging culture of China.
As Salt Lake's mosaic of cultural diversity continues to grow, there are smaller, almost microscopic glimpses of San Francisco's ethnic diversity in and about our valley. And we had that sense during our recent luncheon visit to the Little World Chinese Restaurant on South State, once occupied by a national franchise food outlet.As we entered, an elderly Chinese gentleman was leaving with a large box, bulging with whole steamed ducklings. Oriental families were eating with their children. Family and friends streamed in and out of the small open kitchen, visiting and chatting in Chinese. A small deli case displays appetizing ducks, steamed chickens and barbecue pork.
Thanks to our anonymous "deep palate" source, who keeps me posted on the latest arrivals on the Oriental dining scene, we knew we had to zero in on a few of the specialties, in particular the chicken with black bean sauce ($5.95). The dish came with a wonderful array of crunchy vegetables, including green pepper, onions, zucchini, bamboo shoots, with tender chunks of chicken, in a rich well-seasoned sauce that was not too salty and as flavorful as any sauce we've had around town.
Sensing our curiosity about what the other diners were having, our delightful waitress suggested several other items that are not on the menu, which carries a lengthy list of traditional Chinese dishes. Those will have to wait for another visit. In the meantime we savored her wonderful suggestions, which included Chinese broccoli with shrimp cakes in a light soy sauce sauteed with plenty of fresh ginger and Cantonese-style "fat noodles" stir fried with bean sprouts, bits of pork and scallions. These two dishes were generous, well-prepared and unique in contrast to some of our more recent forays into other Chinese restaurants.
She also brought us out a sample plate filled with the different steamed poultry and barbecued pork from the deli case. These were juicy morsels cut just right for picking up with our fingers, an interesting contrast to the hype of the prior occupant's claim to serve "finger licking good" chicken.
Other items on the surprisingly lengthy menu include combination dinners for $6.25, each with choices that include sweet and sour chicken, Szechuan-style shredded pork, sesame chicken or kung pao chicken, to name a few. The dinner also comes with ham fried rice, paper-wrapped chicken, egg roll, soup and fried jumbo shrimp.
Chef's specialties include General Tso's chicken, shrimp with black pepper, Peking or salt-baked spare ribs, Mongolian beef, and the Little World four treasures. A host of appetizers from sesame toast to pot stickers, four kinds of soups, curry or lemon chicken, beef with oyster sauce, mu shu pork, black mushrooms with bamboo shoots, lo mein, chow mein, egg foo yung and over a dozen varieties of noodle soups round out the menu that features about 90 items. Most of the dishes range in price from $4 to $6.
If you want to relive some of the culinary and cultural pleasures that characterize San Francisco's Chinatown, then you should visit the Little World Chinese Restaurant.
Rating: * * * *
Little World Chinese Restaurant, 1356 S. State, 467-5213. Open Monday through Thursday, 10:30 a.m. until 10 p.m.; until 11 p.m. on Friday and Sunday; and midnight on Saturday. Take out available. Credit cards accepted; no checks.