Sharing Studio City’s Culinary Good Fortune

“I think there’s this print shop somewhere in New Jersey that makes up the menus for Chinese restaurants all over the country,” said a friend as she perused the offerings at Fortune West in Studio City. True, the menu reads a lot like umpteen others, but that provides a good basis for the reviewer to make comparisons.

Take the pan-fried meat dumplings. Those at Fortune West have considerably more filling than most I’ve encountered elsewhere. The same is true of the plump little steamed shrimp shu mai, and both appetizers have well-flavored fillings.

So does another of the dim sum selections, the minced chicken with lettuce. It typifies two of this restaurant’s best features--attractive presentation and tableside service. Our waiter expertly tossed the chicken and rice noodle filling tableside, then spooned it into the crisp lettuce cups and left hoisin sauce for us to drizzle over before rolling them up.

On another visit we were impressed by how attractively the ingredients for spring pancakes were arranged for presentation. Again our waitress tossed the chicken, egg, carrot, cucumber, bean sprouts and cilantro tableside and deftly rolled them inside the thin Chinese pancakes.

The chef’s specialities portion of Fortune West’s menu features their Hunan and Sichuan cuisine. While the Sichuan hot sesame noodles are served cold, an ample amount of chili sauce makes them a fiery accent to some of the milder menu selections. The sizzling beef, sauteed in honey sauce, is another recommended choice among the spicy dishes.

Good contrasting selections include the orange-flavored chicken salad, a nice variation of the old favorite. The menu listed shrimp with mushrooms, snow peas and broccoli as separate items, but when we requested a combination, they gladly obliged with another mild-flavored winner.

Admittedly this is an Americanized Chinese restaurant, but I did find it disappointing that you needed to request chopsticks. One friend, just back from two weeks in Hong Kong, also pointed out our dinner-size plates. “You would never see any larger than the size of American salad plates in a restaurant over there,” she commented.

Fortune West differs from many Chinese restaurants in that it offers a full bar and a 25-selection wine list that includes four Champagnes and sparkling wines, a dozen white, two blush and seven red wines. Prices range from $12 to $30. There is also a selection of house wines by the glass; sake is available by the jug, plum wine by the glass.

The bar, with 13 stools and four tiny tables, divides the restaurant’s two dining rooms. One dining area is designated no smoking, the other has four smoking tables. The overall color scheme is mauve and gray, with black accents and very subtle lighting in the evening. A large expanse of windows lets in plenty of light during the day and the shrubs outside, decorated with white twinkle lights, become a part of the evening charm.

No desserts are offered, but almond and fortune cookies are presented with the check. I guess the plastic wrappers keep them fresh, but serving an unwrapped version would seem more in keeping with the overall quality of this restaurant.

Finding Fortune West can be a bit of a challenge because a maze of buildings block it from the view of anyone driving along Ventura Boulevard. But it’s worth the effort to seek it out at the back of Gaslight Alley shopping plaza just east of Coldwater Canyon Boulevard.

Fortune West, 12733 Ventura Blvd., Studio City, (818) 760-3867. Open for lunch Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; dinner served Monday through Saturday from 4 to 10:30 p.m., Sunday from 4 to 10 p.m. All major credit cards accepted. Reservations accepted. Lot parking. Dim sum, $3.25 to $10; entrees $6.95 to $15.95; accompaniments, 65 cents to $6.95.