RESTAURANT REVIEW : A Cantonese Number : China 28 chefs’ skills with regional dishes mean the restaurant will probably outlast most competitors on the Boulevard.

“These Chinese restaurants on the boulevard never seem to last very long,” re marked a friend as we approached Encino’s China 28. “Maybe this one will be different.”

The odds are against it, I thought. Ventura Boulevard is literally lined with Chinese restaurants, and it never ceases to amaze me how little difference there is between them. Most specialize in Mandarin dishes, occasionally starred to indicate that they are spicy--although they almost never are--and have comfy but uninspiring decor that runs to bright lights and soft pastels.

In those respects, China 28 holds few surprises. The sign tells you the specialty here is Mandarin-style seafood (whoop-dee-doo!) and the pale salmon walls, mint green tablecloths and hospital-style poster art recall almost any Chinese restaurant that has opened since the late ‘70s.

I had to blink when my friend pointed out the fish tank. “That’s a good sign,” he said, and he was right. Few suburban Chinese restaurants bother to have a tank for live seafood by the door, and even fewer serve the traditional Cantonese tea pastries that anchor this restaurant’s sumptuous Sunday buffet.

That dim sum buffet, we were soon to discover, is something different, not to mention a terrific deal at only $9.95. Like any Chinese buffet, this is strictly all you can eat and every man for himself, but with several attractive extras, such as fresh fruit.

At brunch you should dive right into Chinatown staples such as cha siu bao and siu mai, probably the two best dim sum on this buffet. Cha siu bao are raised white bread puff balls attached to sticky paper, stuffed with an even stickier filling of sweet barbecued pork. I’d describe siu mai as an ersatz dumpling, fatty pork minced with water chestnuts inside a noodle wrapper. China 28’s are about the size of chicken nuggets, and a perfect match for the smoky house chile sauce.

After a few crisp-skinned, juicy pot stickers (kuo tieh ) and flaky pastries filled with a canary-yellow egg custard ( dan tat ), you’ll be ready to tackle the main part of the buffet. The steam table leads off with hot-and-sour soup and a bland entry called seafood soup--basically just egg flower soup with a few shrimp thrown in. Then you progress to such dishes as pepper-salt whole prawns, dry sauteed spare ribs, broccoli beef, sweet and pungent chicken and garlic sauce fish.

Only the sweet and pungent chicken lets you down. The thin strips of chicken are buried in a thick cornstarch breading, and the sauce is boring. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that one of the best is the pepper-salt prawns, perfectly fried and properly sprinkled with spiced salt. This is a Cantonese dish and, like the dim sum, a dead giveaway that for all the restaurant’s Mandarin appearances, the chefs here are Cantonese. (As you’ll find in the vast majority of Chinese restaurants outside the San Gabriel Valley.)

That means that any time you’re ordering a la carte, you should stick to Cantonese dishes. It’s not like you’ll run out of choices. Most of the seafood comes with either spicy black bean, ginger and scallion or pepper and salt, Cantonese preparations all, and there are dozens of dishes rooted in Canton province.

My friend and I returned for a fine pepper-salt crab, a wiggly crustacean that our waiter pulled from the tank and formally introduced to us before cooking. We also dined on steamed vegetable dumplings, sauteed shrimp, and, for a change of pace, lamb Hunan style in a ponderous brown sauce. He devoured them all as if he’d just gotten out of jail.

I was particularly impressed with the dumplings and the shrimp. The dumplings are as green as pine needles from spinach mixed into the dough. Sauteed shrimp are simple: oil, salt, rice wine and the shrimp. In the hands of a good Cantonese chef, that’s all it takes.

As for the Mandarin dishes, this kitchen does not accord them the respect that real northern Chinese chefs would give.

So forget about the Mandarin stuff. China 28’s skill with dim sum and other Cantonese specialties means this is one restaurant that will probably outlast most of its competitors on the boulevard.

WHERE AND WHEN

Location: China 28, 17337 Ventura Blvd., Encino.

Suggested Dishes: steamed vegetable dumplings, $5.25; sauteed shrimp, $12.95; crab with pepper and salt, $15.95-$18.95, depending on size.

Hours: Open 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays and 11:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Buffet brunch is 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Sundays only.

Price: Dinner for two, $25-$40. Full bar. Parking lot in rear. All major credit cards.

Call: (818) 789-2888.