RESTAURANTS : The Bar Has Funny Drinks but the Chinese Cuisine is a Serious Affair

I can’t figure out why Shan-li Palace isn’t attracting a larger crowd. Maybe the management at this fine Chinese restaurant in Anaheim forgot to hire a geomancer--one of those Chinese mystics who can determine whether the ground is spiritually auspicious--before the place opens.

Owner Pauline Yang places some of the blame for the restaurant’s slow business on nearby construction that makes the restaurant hard to find. Shan-li Palace is in Anaheim Hills, which is already difficult to find. Until a few years ago, even hamburgers were scarce in this northeastern arm of the county. Now the world is coming to Anaheim Hills in the form of small, ethnic restaurants such as Shan-li Palace, and this developing community is starting to savor big-city treats such as whole steamed catfish with black bean sauce.

Shan-li Palace has a pleasant, understated dining room with comfortable hand-carved chairs and tables dressed simply in pink linens. The only wild thing about the place is the bar, where you can sip funny drinks with unpronounceable names from hollowed-out coconut shells and watch TV.

There is nothing funny about the food, though. A team of chefs from Taiwan puts out traditional Mandarin-style cuisine--highly spiced, multicolored dishes with great appeal to Western diners. If only the solicitous waiters (they change the plates after every course) wouldn’t try to do too much second guessing, things would be near perfect.

This is what I mean: When seated, Western guests are handed a big bowl of those thick, crunchy noodles straight from the can, while Chinese guests get a plate of pickled cabbage, carrot, radish and cucumber--the Taiwan-style condiments you find in smaller, family-style Chinese places. That just doesn’t strike me as a fair trade. When I queried the waiter about it, he replied, “American people don’t like pickles.”

When it comes time to order, you may find yourself encouraged to eat one of the more mundane dishes: egg roll, sizzling rice soup, shrimp with snow peas, you know the bit. Although we found these dishes well prepared, we soon discovered the kitchen can do much better.

Steamed dumplings, which the waiter tried to discourage, were wonderful--thick-skinned and plump with a juicy pork filling that has the faint taste of scallion and garlic. Spinach-bean curd soup, which the waiter also seemed to think we wouldn’t like, tasted as fresh as if the spinach had been plucked from a garden out back. And twice-cooked pork, the Sichuan pork dish that we were warned would be too spicy, was the best version of the dish I have had in recent years, a fiery mixture of boiled, sauteed pork, red and green chili, onion, cabbage, carrot and hot bean sauce.

Curiosity yields dividends in places like this one, as a second visit proved. Even though the waiter had informed us that the fresh fish was red snapper, we figured that he was holding something back. He was. It turned out that the kitchen had just gotten a load of fresh catfish, presumably for the Asian clientele.

“Are you sure you want catfish?” asked the waiter. “I think you don’t like it.” We insisted we did, and it turned out to be delightful, delicately steamed whole in black bean and ginger. When we gobbled it up, he seemed genuinely surprised.

I suggest that you be adventurous at this restaurant. You are likely to come away with a big smile on your face. Beef with sa-tsa sauce has an anchovy-based red sauce that comes from a huge can. (I know because when I asked what was in the sauce the waiter brought the can out for me to examine.) The dish has a strong, pungent flavor, and it goes well with plain rice. Spicy chicken has a light breading, lots of garlic and chili and the fragrant aftertaste of fresh peanut oil. It is sheer heaven. Ditto for the hot braised shrimp.

There are plenty of mild dishes that are also well-conceived. You don’t need exotic cravings to have a good dinner here. Moo-shu dishes (minced meats and vegetables rolled up burrito-style in little crepes) are excellent. Noodle dishes are tender and fresh. And vegetable dishes such as sauteed spinach and hot braised eggplant are prepared with care and expertise.

Dishes to avoid? Yes, there are a few. Shrimp toast is far too oily. Crab meat asparagus soup contains that awful surimi , the red-dye imitation crab that seems to be creeping into too many restaurant kitchens these days. Orange peel beef is mostly cornstarch; you can hardly tell you are eating beef.

Don’t leave without trying the candied apples and bananas, which are flamed table-side and then plunged into a bowl of icy water to crystallize. This is one of the few Chinese desserts that seems to have a universal following, and the kitchen here knows how to do it right. Upscale restaurants in Hong Kong and Taiwan don’t do it any better.

With all these good things, it just doesn’t seem fair that the only fire this restaurant has lit to date is under some sliced fruit. Maybe they need to move the furniture around. The geomancer would know.

Shan-li Palace is moderately priced. Soups are $2.95 to $4.50 (for two), $4.95 to $6.50 (for four). Appetizers are $3.50 to $8.50. A great variety of main dishes are $4.25 to $14.95, and Peking duck is available for $22 if ordered a day in advance.

SHAN-LI PALACE

5634 E. La Palma Ave., Anaheim

(714) 779-1410

Open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and Sunday. Open until 11 p.m. on weekends

MasterCard and Visa accepted