Restaurant Review:

Chinese food for lunch is a tricky journey because your options are fairly limited.

Riceland Gourmet Chinese Food recognized that 14 years ago and set out to fill a niche.

The restaurant, which is in the Albertsons shopping center, is definitely nothing fancy, but it isn’t run-down, either.

The booths are padded and don’t have any of that telltale wear, which often includes duct tape to seal up any rips in the vinyl.

No, this is simple and clean and a good place to get a quick lunch and satisfy that Chinese food craving.

The menu has the usual items, like Kung Pao shrimp, Mongolian beef and sweet and sour chicken. But I found some items that had unique touches to them and weren’t the usual fare.

When we entered we were greeted at the counter by one of the owners who offered us a sample of the orange chicken.

This dish used a decent amount of orange and didn’t overpower the chicken. That allowed me to realize the quality of the chicken was much better than what you normally find in a fast food Chinese restaurant.

My guest opted for a beef rice bowl. The meat was very tender and thinly sliced. Broccoli, zucchini, mushrooms and carrots accompanied the dish and were all cooked al dente.

I was still thinking about the chicken I sampled, so I ordered the garlic chicken. It was part of a two-item combination. The garlic chicken was filled with garlic, which I love. At a lot of places you have to ask for extra amounts, but not here. It was loaded, though I would have liked to have seen slivers or diced pieces of garlic in the dish. It was mixed with water chestnuts, broccoli, carrots and red chili flakes.

There was a kick to the dish that I enjoyed. Another thing that impressed me was the quality of the vegetables. They were fresh and cooked just enough to give them a crisp texture.

My second item was the chicken teriyaki, and that was good as well. The meat was not swimming in sauce, which I always appreciate, though I liked the sauce and wouldn’t have been annoyed had there been more. The specks of black pepper balanced out the sweetness of the sauce.

The one disappointment is there is no brown rice, so I was stuck with either chow mein or fried rice. I got a combination of the two and was apathetic to both.

They are serviceable, but I didn’t really feel like I wanted the extra calories, so I picked at them.

Plus I wanted to save room for the appetizer we had ordered. The choice was between pot stickers or cream cheese wontons, and after a little deliberation we chose the wontons.

They were more of a dessert than an appetizer. There was sugar added to the cream cheese, and the first bite was a little off-putting. I would have liked to have seen some imitation crab and egg added to them and take out the sugar.

The pot stickers would have been better, but that can wait for another day.

I know I will have a Chinese food craving at lunch, and this will be a perfectly acceptable place to fill it.

Riceland

Address: 3136 W. Balboa Blvd., Newport Beach

Phone: (949) 723-0882

Cuisine: Chinese

Specialty dish: Honey walnut shrimp

Alcohol served: None

Entree price range: $4.59 to $8.99

Family friendly: Yes

Credit cards accepted: MasterCard and Visa

Rating: ***

JOHN REGER reviews local restaurants and may be contacted at [email protected] or P.O. Box 2984, Seal Beach, CA 90740.