Way to much flourish on this review. Two paragraphs before we roll into the restaurant. You guys need to fill a page? The restaurant is good. The menu is adventurous for the local kale/beet crowd.

I'd like to say that a good review isn't built on the mention of other restaurants in a negative way. A restaurant should stand on it's own.

A positively shit review Merc. Good job.

"I expect to read nothing interesting or provocative when I pick up your paper with the chick with ice cream cones on her nipples."

I thought Lucky Strike's (39th and Hawthorne) Szechuan was really good. I wonder if they're still open...

I enjoy Mr. Onstad's reviews. His food writing reminds me of the protagonist in Huysmans' "Downstream", doomed in his search for a good dinner.

@Rich Bach: The bar for Chinese in Portland is pretty damn low -- identifiable is good; tasty AND identifiable scans as amazing, etc.

what's good at shenzen, jake? can you actually offer something to the conversation?

that place is protoypical sweet-flavor, stereotype MSG flavor disguising low quality, IMO.

Jake, I'm not your pal, but was honestly curious about what's good at Shenzen. Your initial post suggested you might actually know something about the food. On my part, I've been unimpressed with their squid, lobster, and duck. You certainly are a clever person, though, to use the word "rectum"!

Lucky Strike on Hawthorne is absolutely open and still pretty damn good.

I do understand nostalgia for food you can't get in a new place... I struggled to find a Hawaiian restaurant I liked until Ate-Oh-Ate came on the scene (there are others that are acceptable, but none were what I was looking for).

If you have an interest in comparing apples to apples though, I'd love to hear how Szechuan Chef compares to Lucky Strike; there's no sense comparing it to other regional Chinese cuisines and dim sum restaurants... that's like comparing wyoming steak to louisiana gumbo--not that helpful.