I grew up in various suburbs around the United States, in an Air Force family, and Chinese food was one of the very few “ethnic” cuisines we encountered. It was an occasional treat to chow down on Moo Goo Gai Pan, egg rolls and wonton soup instead of mom’s tuna casserole or (really quite good) fried chicken. Later in life, though, I came to suspect that the Chinese dishes we enjoyed were Americanized versions of foods that many Chinese natives wouldn’t recognize.
But then a couple of years ago I went to a dinner and show hosted by a Chinese student association at the University of Cincinnati and, to my surprise, the meal was indistinguishable from all my prior experiences with that cuisine. Maybe Chinese and Chinese-American food aren’t as different from each other as I had thought.
China Gourmet has been in East Hyde Park since 1977. Back then, Bing and Jean Moy left mainland China for Hong Kong and then the States, eventually settling in Cincinnati and opening the restaurant. Current owner Matthew Loomis, who bought it from the Moys’ son three years ago, started as a dishwasher there in 1995 and became familiar with the food the family recreated from their home in China.
“Chinese food is very diverse,” Loomis says. “(The cooking) varies a lot depending on where you live in the country.” But, he concedes, “most Asian food in the U.S. has been Americanized.”
What China Gourmet has done over all these years, Loomis adds, is build around the basic, familiar dishes by including gourmet touches and ingredients. A patron can order a meal of Chinese restaurant standards but also have the option of trying filet mignon, beef short ribs or a rack of lamb, he says.
The restaurant is tucked away on Erie Avenue with no street presence and you enter from an obscure parking lot behind a row of buildings that has had a lot of turnover in recent years. The Hyde Park branch of Coffee Emporium is what got me to that part of town. I was recently reminded of China Gourmet and decided to give it a try after a couple decades since my last visit.
When we arrived on a rainy, cold Friday night, I really didn’t know what to expect. If a restaurant has stayed in business for this long, it must be doing something right. Yet I wondered whether it might be hanging on because of past glories and serving locals who return out of habit rather than conviction. Happily, my four companions and I had a pleasant experience at China Gourmet.
The restaurant is quite spacious, with two large dining rooms and a separate bar with more tables. There’s an intimate, extra dining room (“the atrium”), which has tall windows with colorful, decorative mobiles and views of the sky. They have spaced the tables so that the seating is cozy but by no means claustrophobic and even with most tables filled, conversation was easy. It was a nice break from the majority of restaurants nowadays that bombard you with too much noise.
Service was prompt and adequately attentive. Interestingly, we didn’t have a single waitperson and nobody announced that they’d be “taking care of you tonight.” I liked that the entire staff worked as a team to make everything run smoothly.
Another atypical service facet here is that entrées are plated for you, so that a team member gives each diner a plate with part of their entrée and a helping of rice, then sets the remaining entrée beside you. They call it French-style table service, and it’s a classy way to elevate the experience.
Once you get past the soups, salads and appetizers section on the menu, China Gourmet presents main courses under the headings “China Gourmet Classics,” “Hyde Park Specialties,” “What’s New” and “Traditional Favorites.” Among the five of us, we dabbled in most of the categories. We did share a couple of appetizers, the best of which was bacon-wrapped scallops ($12), two large scallops and bacon covered by a scrumptious black bean sauce.
For mains, my friend Patty selected the China Gourmet stir-fry classic (shrimp, pork, chicken and veggies in brown sauce; $18). Bob went with Mu Shu Duck (with veggies wrapped in flour pancakes; $18) and I ordered April’s Seafood Noodle Stir-Fry (shrimp and scallops with veggies over stir-fried noodles; $26 or $15 for a half-order), both from the What’s New category.
Susan and John each picked a Traditional Favorite — shrimp with snow peas for Susan ($18) and sweet-and-sour pork for John ($16). Everyone selected brown over white rice as an accompaniment although my noodles made rice unnecessary.
The only one of these entrées to disappoint was the stir-fry, which had a notably bland sauce. I liked everything about the shrimp with snow peas, as did Susan. The shrimp were large and succulent, cooked just right, and the peas had the perfect level of crispness.
My seafood noodle dish stood out as well, with its pleasing combination of flavors and textures. It had some of that excellent shrimp and also quite a few scallops, crisp vegetables and — best of all, really — it all rested on a bed of nicely browned, crunchy noodles. One of the team of servers had recommended this selection when I couldn’t decide what to order, and he was spot-on.
Later I discovered that the server was actually Matt Loomis, the owner. In a follow-up interview, he told me about the renovations he has overseen since taking over the place from the Moy family. They’ve been fairly minor, although he has plans to do more in the coming months and years.
At the rate they’ve been going, China Gourmet could end up outlasting all of us.
China Gourmet, 3340 Erie Ave., Hyde Park, facebook.com/chinagourmet3340
