LITTLE ROCK — We haven't quite figured out why you would order pesto chicken or a $35-plus split-bone rib-eye steak in a Chinese restaurant. Especially when there are dozens of non-Chinese restaurants around offering exactly this kind of cuisine.
That's the idea, however, behind the "bistro" part of Chi Dimsum & Bistro, the new restaurant that Lulu Chi has rebuilt, physically and "culinarily," out of the figurative collapse of her eponymous Chi's, West Markham Street and Shackleford Road.
Chi is a restaurateur of long standing with a solid record of success and Asian-fusion credentials that include west Little Rock's Koto (which she has since sold) and Sushi Cafe in the Heights. So we will, at least initially, give her credit for knowing what she's doing.
And we will also give her plenty of props for restoring dim sum to her renovated restaurant,which she reacquired after the Korean family to whom she sold it couldn't make a go of it. (The disappearance of dim sum shortly after the Koreans took over shouldhave been one of the first signs of the apocalypse.)
Dim sum, an array of dumplings and other appetizer-size concoctions served table-side from carts on the weekends and to-order during the week, is one segment of a tripartite bill of fare.
The other two parts appear, commingled, on the printed menu:
Bistro dishes. Some have a slight Asian accent, including Grilled Mango Chicken ($11.39) and Crusted Ahi Tuna ($15.89); others have a more eclectic ring, including the Chicken Pesto ($11.29) and the Pasta Elizabeth ($16.95, with diced chicken, artichoke hearts, Cajun sausage and vegetables tossed in a saffron cream truffle sauce).
Chi has two bistro chefs - Chef Will and Chef Marty - whose names grace signature dishes.
A still fairly impressive lineup of Chinese dishes, some geared toward Occidental appetites and some primarily for Asian customers. The former includes familiar dishes like Egg Foo Young ($7.50), OrangePeel Chicken ($8.50) and Hunan Beef ($9.50); the latter includes rarities, at least in this neighborhood, like Mustard Greens Sauteed With Baby Dried Shrimp ($7.95 or $8.50, depending on whether you're looking at the list of vegetable dishes or the Traditional Chinese Entrees) and Smoked Chinese Ham With Taro ($9.50).
There is also a selection of roasted, barbecued and/or marinated beast, fowl and seafood. (We now know where to turn for broiled pork and beef tripe, each $6 a pound, and Delicious Barbeque Roasted Cuttlefish is only $10 a pound.)
The widest variety of bistro and Chinese choices is among the appetizers. Foremost among the former is Chef Will's Sea Scallops ($7.29), pan-seared and fork tender. If the plate presentation doesn't knock your socks off, the fabulous feta-lime cream sauce, accompanied by a mango chutney, surely will. There are only three scallops on the plate,however, so the thrill, though intense, is brief.
Another winner is Chi's Spring Rolls ($3.25), crisp thin wrappers around a zippilyspiced mix of vegetables, clear rice noodles and pork. (The restaurant has just started subbing spring rolls and purselike fried cream cheese Rangoon for egg rolls and chicken wings with the lunch specials.)
However, the Haru Maki ($5.95), "our popular crab meat spring rolls," were a disappointment, containing not actual crab but a too-generous amount of quasi-crab surimi that cloyed after only a couple of bites.
We were also a little disappointed by our Kung Pao Chicken ($8.50) because it's prepared "dry," no sauce, and the only flavors are those of the peanuts and the red pepper that makes it spicy. Lulu Chi says that's the correct way to prepare it. But we missed the "piquant, spicy sauce" that apparently does come, according to the menu description, on the Kung Pao Triple Delight ($12.95).
We found minor shortcomings in our bistro entrees. The cumin in the crust of the Crusted Ahi Tuna was a touch overwhelming. And although we really liked the flavor of the Balsamic Marinated Pork Tenderloin ($13.95), the three pork tenderloin collops were just a little thick, and the outsides were correspondingly just a shade dry. However, the accompanying corn-and-blackbean relish and lumpy potato cake were outstanding.
The dim sum is as good as it was when Chi's first started to serve it, and that's saying something - you're not likely to find dim sum of this quality outside of a coastal city like San Francisco or New York or Philadelphia, and certainly not in a place without a large Asian population.
That probably explains why it draws a large contingent of Asian customers, especially on Sundays,when the booths and tables in the back are packed. Wait staff wheel heated carts, dispensing round tins of steaming shrimp dumplings, pork ribs in black bean sauce, buns with red bean paste in the middle and, for the truly adventurous, steamed chicken feet.
Order according to what looks appealing, and don't necessarily be put off by the description - steamed chicken feet is something you order just to say you tried it, not something you will likely repeat, but shark fin dumplings are actually pretty good - and pay by the size of the plate - small ($2.95), medium ($3.25), large ($3.95) and special order (price varies).
A couple of new items worth recommending: Steamed Rice Noodle With Chinese Barbecue Pork, a sort of Chinese manicotti with tasty sweet-ish pork inside a large and slightly gooey pasta wrapper, and the Green Tea Sesame Balls for dessert.
Chi has made some major physical renovations to the interior. Eliminating the Sunday buffet has created more room in the front dining area, and Chi has taken advantage by swapping booths where the tables used to be and tables for booths; there and elsewhere, she has movedand upgraded space dividers and enriched the color scheme, while keeping the conical yellow overthe-table lamps that were the chief change made by the former Korean owners.
The big Chinese landscape mural is still on the sloping upper wall, though it's now a little hard to see from some places in the restaurant. A baby grand piano plays itself, through the wonders of modern technology, in what used to be a semiprivate seating alcove at the building's southeast corner, providing everything from heavy classics - we recognized Chopin, Beethoven and Bach - to pop tunes.
Service was generally good, not just for dim sum - though we had some slack periods where there wasn't a cart-pusher to be seen - but for all our sit-down meals.
Although it's easy to find the restaurant, on a bluff overlooking one of the city's busiest intersections, getting there is a bit tricky. The entrance to the parking lot is off Shackleford Drive, the first left off of Shackleford Road north of Markham or the first right off Markham west of Shackleford, through the parking lot of the next-door Ramada Inn (which Lulu Chi also owns).
Chi Dimsum & Bistro Address: 6 Shackleford Drive, Little Rock Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. daily Cuisine: Chinese, dim sum, "bistro" Credit cards: V, MC, AE, D Alcoholic beverages: Full bar Reservations: Large parties Wheelchair accessible: Yes Carryout: Yes (501) 225-8878
Weekend, Pages 59 on 08/01/2008