Seafood in a Soothing Setting

There is no sea cucumber on the menu at Hong Kong Royale (220 N. Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills, (213) 273-1060). No jellyfish either. Nor will you find any of the exotic items that can make eating in Chinese restaurants such a wonderful adventure. What you will find are fish tanks with crabs cavorting around in them, and a menu devoted to seafood cooked primarily in the Cantonese style of Hong Kong.

As you might expect of a restaurant that is just across the street from Max au Triangle, attention has been paid to the decor. The small, understated restaurant is painted in soothing tones of celadon, with latticework and stately plants giving it a garden-like air. The menu tends to be heavy on luxurious seafood: shrimp, abalone, lobster, scallops and crab are prominently featured, and when I asked for “double pleasure sole,” it turned out that the last one had been sold the day before.

The food I tasted was unremarkable, but there were some flashes of imagination, like bits of jalapeno peppers that made a hot and sour soup really spicy. And it you find yourself in the neighborhood around lunchtime, this would be a good place to think of. Where else in Beverly Hills are you going to find a complete lunch served on tablecloths for $4.95?