What hath Peter Leung wrought? The restaurateur - whose Regent Street Hong Kong Cafe has attracted not only good critical notice but also fame for its annual Labor Day "free lunch" - must have decided the growing west side was becoming too lucrative a market to ignore. Last month he shouldered aside some of the better-known chain restaurants holed up there and planted his creative, high quality cuisine in the High Point Centre. As west-siders, we couldn't be happier than having one of the city's best Chinese restauants right in our own backyard.

The Woman of Mystery and I dusted off our best Mao jackets and paid a luncheon visit. Honk Kong Cafe occupies the space that formerly housed the Golden Wok. We had never visited the prior tenant, but our brisk, helpful waitress with the attractive staple in her right nostril told us that Leung has significantly spiffed up the place. The cool, clean contemporary colors and lines certainly made the mall-front location a comfortable and attractive place to be.

The menu makes the entire luncheon experience easier by offering one price on multiple dishes that include the same meat or lack thereof. Moving up the cost scale, vegetarian entrees are priced at $4.50, pork entrees at $4.85, chicken entrees at $4.95, beef entrees at $5, shrimp entrees at $5.25, and combinations at $5.60. All lunches include a choice of egg roll, vegetarian egg roll, fried wonton, or hot and sour, won ton or egg drop soup.

The Woman of Mystery was eating light that day, so she ordered cashew shrimp, fresh shrimp sauteed and served with cashews, water chestnuts and mushrooms in a "white sauce." I always look to the hot side of the menu, but only found 11 selections from among nearly 50 items. I settled on Govenor's Delight, a dish of breaded shrimp, chicken and pork served with green onions, chestnuts, bamboo shots and peanuts in "spicy sauce." For both of us, hot and sour soup was our appetizer of choice. But we knew we couldn't go without ordering just a little more of Leung's special cuisine. That meant an egg roll ($1.25) and an order of pot stickers ($4.25) as well. Those came first. The egg roll was wrapped in a fresh skin, its vegetable content crisp and flavorful. It was a little on the small side, but very enjoyable. The pot stickers, however, were better. Wrapped in a light skin, the six little pork-filled dumplings were succulent and enjoyable. The appetizer was served with spicy, soy-based dressing that added significant character to the food. Soup came after that, but just barely ahead of the entrees. Nevertheless, we enjoyed it. The viscous broth was not as thick and spicy as others we've had, but the balance of flavors and elements was a good one. A plate with four scoops of rice on it meant lunch was on its way. It soon was followed by our entrees, with portions that were just the right size to complement our ravenous appetities. The Woman of Mystery wasn't terribly impressed with her cashew shrimp. "Bland to the point of nonexistence" is how she described the sauce. She did note, however, that the multitude of vegetables and cashews were fresh and crisp and the shrimp were among the plumpest and most succulent either of us had ever seen. Despite the initial protest, I noticed that the whole plateful disappeared. My Govenor's Delight met with a much better response. The breading was thick and a little loose on the various protein components of the dish, but I had equally crisp vegetables. The addition of the peanuts and the spicy red sauce gave the dish ample fire and flavor with which to work. My lunch, too, was gone in no time. Unlike other Chinese restaurants, there were no little white cartons to tote home. In terms of a critical opinion, I think that says something.

Michael Muckian as appeared in The Capitol Times, Nov. 1-2, 1997

*Items and prices may have changed since the printing of this article.