Out to lunch: Chinese Home Style Cooking

Jop che ba (front) and Bul go ki (back). Bob Modersohn/Des Moines Register

In Ames on a quiet Sunday, my husband and I intended to try a different restaurant, but it turned out to be closed despite the fact that we called ahead and were told it was open. Must have been too quiet a Sunday. So, we took the man-on-the-street approach and asked a couple of young men for a recommendation. One raved about Chinese Home Style Cooking, a couple of blocks away, so in we went.

Scene: Nothing fancy. The restaurant has rows of molded-wood tables and booths, a long counter where you order, with menus posted behind, and the kitchen beyond that. The windows across the front of the dining room and white walls ensure plenty of light and the place was spotlessly clean on our visit.

Décor consists mostly of framed Asian-theme artwork and, on the counter, a stack of colorful beverages: Thai tea and juices made of papaya, roasted coconut, mango, guava and sugar cane.

Food: To appeal to Iowa State's diverse Asian population, the counter man told us, the restaurant offers dishes from all over China and several other countries. The specials board listed rock salt shrimp, salmon-fried rice, jumbo scallops, kim che fried rice, rock salt ribs, kung pao squid and Szechuan squid.

From the regular menu, we ordered Bul go ki ($7.25) thinly sliced beef with scallions in a slightly sweet but garlicky, spicy gravy and, for some vegetables, Jop che ba ($7.25), which combines stir-fried slivers of pork with zucchini, onions, mushrooms and clear noodles. The stretchy clear noodles, we learned, are made from an extract of green beans. Interesting to look at and a challenge to wrap around a fork, they don't taste like much. That whole dish was a little light on flavor compared to the beef, but the ingredients were fresh and firm, if not crunchy.

On the clock: About a half hour from walking in the door to putting down our forks (didn't try the available chopsticks).

Bottom line: I'd like to go back on a cool fall day and dig into the Bul go ki, with its comfort-food gravy, and sample more from the rest of the menu, too.

Receipt:
Bul go ki: $7.25
Jop che ba: $7.25
Total, with
tax: $15.37