Little Rock Restaurant Review: Mr. Chen's Authentic Chinese Cuisine

Don't dig to china for great Chinese food. It's right here in Little Rock. One of the first and best discoveries my wife and I made upon moving here this spring was Mr. Chen's Authentic Chinese Cuisine at University and Asher avenues.

I won't claim to have eaten in all the other Chinese restaurants in town. I haven't needed to.  After all, I've already found at Mr. Chen's what I want — fresh, nutritious and tasty Chinese cuisine in an interesting setting. It's seriously good.

Coming from Fort Smith, I was somewhat hip to Asian cuisine. When The Jenny and I were dating and trading weekends in each other's towns, she took me to a local Vietnamese place she raved about. It was OK. To her, Asian cuisine still was uncommon enough in the Rock that it was special. To me, Vietnamese food still was great food, but nothing at this particular venue impressed me. One of the Fort's little talked about assets is the number and diversity of its Asian restaurants. Honestly, that's a whole other blog. Suffice it to say, Fort Smith has several noodle shops, quite a few Vietnamese restaurants and a noticeable contingent Thai eateries. Heck, you can even get French-Vietnamese provincial dishes at one spot: The eccentric and delightful Pho Vietnam.

Small Steam Bun appetizer

Mr. Chen's gives Little Rock an entry that I'm sure can hold its own with its Fort Smith peers. Because I like to test a new place with a simple, staple dish, I ordered the Cashew Chicken on my first visit. (For example, if I'm in an Italian restaurant, then I might order spaghetti and meatballs. A venue that can't get the basics right probably isn't going to do the fancy stuff all that well either). Well, folks, the Cashew Chicken was so good it was nuts. It may have been the best yet. It certainly equals it.

One thing you won't find at Mr. Chen's is a buffet. Nope, there's no long line of overcooked pot stickers and drying out noodles. They give you a menu, you order and boom. OK, it's more of a long sizzle then boom Management warns you at the top that service may be a little slower than you're used to because they cook to order. However, when your food comes, it's damn tasty. I especially loved the diced zucchini cooked with my Cashew Chicken. As for appetizers, they range in quality from the slightly above ordinary egg rolls to surprisingly excellent Small Steam Bun--juicy and meaty with a hint of ginger. A lunch menu is available with prices from $6.50 to $7.50. They offer 22 Ice Flavored Milk Teas (ice flavored?) and 10 Hot Flavored Teas. One of our dinner mates on one visit is a fan of these and gave his drink his own a seal of approval.

Taiwanese Pan Fried Noodles

Pork with Bamboo & Bean Curd

In addition to the aforementioned Cashew Chicken, we along with our tablemates on multiple visits have ordered or sampled Orange Chicken (delicious, with orange peel and peppers in the sauce), Mr. Chen's Kung Pao Shrimp, Salted Crispy Chicken (tasty, but it's a street food that feels like it should come in a paper bag and be eaten with fingers), General Tso's Chicken and Taiwanese Pan Fried Noodles, Beef and Broccoli, Taiwanese Braised Pork, and other dishes. Most were excellent to superior.

Sizzling Tofu

Don't assume you'll get a ton of veggies. Mr. Chen's does not skimp on the meat, but veggies with some dishes are in short supply. One of our friends said next time she's going to order some veggie fried rice with her General Tso's to finish it out. The menu also contains a plentiful number of vegetarian options (try the Steamed Sweet Pea Leaves or Sizzling Tofu) and many more exotic (read: non-Americanized) Chinese dishes we have not yet been adventurous enough to try.

Crab Rangoon

The service is good — attentive but not hovering. Now, some constructive criticism. Some of the table condiments, particularly the packets of take-out mustard on the table, could do with an upgrade though. The temperature could be a little cooler, but it was not unpleasant. To be fair, it has been a very hot summer. An outside entrance also might help. We almost forgot to tell you that to get into Mr. Chen's you have to go through the Oriental Supermarket. This gives you the expectation of eating at a deli with a few tables. When you get your first glimpse, you're relieved to find a quite nice restaurant. Oh, I think the lighting could be taken down just a notch to distinguish it from the market. Finally, instead of Fox or CNN on the flat-screen television that is now required in every restaurant, Mr. Chen's has Chinese television; pretty cool.

Every time we've been in there has been an Asian family or group of Asian diners chowing down. That's good circumstantial evidence that the restaurant's claim that it serves "Authentic Chinese Cooking" may be more than braggadocio. It's probably no coincidence that the quality pledge on the front window is in English and in Chinese. One final word about the food itself. Most of the ingredients appear to be fresh. As you know, that can make all the difference.

One of the semi-private booths at Mr. Chen's

We really dig the interior, too. Although we've yet to test them out, I'm particularly taken with the tables inside private booths that seem especially suited for large parties. 

All in all, Mr. Chen's is a gem. We've been there a bunch and we'll keep going back.

Rating: Mr. Chen's — A.


Mr. Chen's: 3901 University Ave, 562-7900.