Shanghai Pine Gardens keeps him coming back

Greer Wylder

What is the bete noire at Shanghai Pine Gardens? Food trends and

updated interiors.

At this Chinese restaurant, Balboa Island locals feel at home.

They never taste fussy fusion food, hold vibrating beepers when

tables are ready or see the latest color combinations and hip window

treatments. For more than 30 years, Shanghai Pine Gardens carved out

its niche by serving good Mandarin-style Chinese food at reasonable

prices.

Only a few changes have happened since the parents of Wing Lam, Ed

Lee and Mingo Lee (brothers and owners of Wahoo’s Fish Taco) first

opened Shanghai Pine Gardens on Balboa Island in the early 1970s. The

mirrored one-way windows facing Marine Avenue were replaced by

crystal-clear glass, and the upstairs banquet room was closed off.

The small square restaurant seats just 90 customers. It has

wrap-around booths along the windows, Formica-topped tables and retro

Chinese lanterns.

Owner Peter Chen began his restaurant career there as a waiter in

the 1970s. More than a decade later, he bought Shanghai Pine Gardens

from Mr. Lee. In the 1990s, Chen sold it and, in turn, bought the

Village Inn Restaurant just down the street. He repurchased Shanghai

Pine Gardens last year.

Chen said he didn’t come back for the money -- profit margins are

slim. He missed 30 years of memories and the locals who dine here

regularly. He’s proud of the many restaurant awards that Shanghai

Pine Gardens receives from the California Restaurant Writers Assn. He

doesn’t even have the space to display all the awards.

“We must be doing something right,” Chen said.

Since Chen returned, his improvements include better service and a

few upcoming changes to the 20-year-old menu. For his

health-conscious customers, Chen’s searching for alternatives to

high-carb dishes and adding more vegetable dishes. He’ll keep

standard favorite dishes like the spicy Kung Pao chicken, Mu Shu

chicken, pork, beef, shrimp or vegetables, lo mein noodles and

pan-fried noodles. He’s even going to lower prices on a few dishes.

Chen wants to please customers and always honors special requests.

The kitchen can steam entrees, omit peanuts, adjust hot and spicy

flavors or use less oil.

Shanghai Pine Gardens serves family-style meals or individual

combination plates. The former involves a choice of dishes that

include appetizers; beef, pork, seafood, chicken, vegetables dishes;

then rice and soup. Combination plates are served with egg drop soup,

an egg roll and rice.

At lunch, Shanghai offers low-priced specials that include entrees

priced from $5.25 to $5.75. Those include hot Szechuan chicken,

broccoli beef, moo goo gai pan (white chicken meat sauteed with

vegetables), lemon chicken, sesame shrimp, curry shrimp and

three-ingredient taste (chicken, shrimp and beef with vegetables).

“Gourmet lunches” cost just $7.95 and include soup, steamed rice,

tea, Chinese cookies and a choice of chicken, seafood, beef, pork or

vegetable dishes. The choices include sweet and sour chicken, shrimp

with lobster sauce, bean curd in brown sauce, Mongolian beef and

barbecued pork with snow peas and garlic string beans.

At any time of day, customers can order from the extensive a la

carte menu, which focuses mostly on Mandarin-style dishes but also

offers a selection of Cantonese and Szechwan dishes. Highly

recommended chef’s specials include sizzling beef -- slices of beef

with seasonal vegetables served on a hot platter ($9.95), sweet honey

walnut chicken that’s lightly battered, then sauteed in honey sauce

($9.95) and double happiness -- marinated scallops and shrimp served

with seasonal vegetables ($13.95).

Shanghai Pine Gardens only closes on Thanksgiving, so many locals

celebrate holidays here, and it’s especially popular on Christmas

Day.

* BEST BITES runs every Friday. Greer Wylder can be reached at

[email protected]; at 330 W. Bay St., Costa Mesa, CA 92627; or by

fax at (949) 646-4170.