Need to escape the crowds at the...

Need to escape the crowds at the Del Amo Fashion Center? Step around the corner and into the elegant and relatively peaceful Shanghai Inn for a delicious and reasonably priced Chinese meal in a soothing decor.

The main dining room’s high ceilings and subdued lighting make it the perfect place to cool off during a day of frenzied holiday shopping, and the lunch specials add to the attraction.

From 11:30 to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday you can choose from 30 Chinese dishes on the luncheon special menu. For as little as $3.95, the restaurant offers a vegetarian main course, soup, small Chinese chicken salad, egg roll, fried wonton, fried or white rice, and a fortune cookie. For $4.95 and $5.95 you can choose main dishes with meat or seafood, such as shrimp in lobster sauce or chicken with snow peas, to go with the same side dishes.

The main course lunch dishes are as big as a dinner portion, and the teams of waiters not only provide quick and efficient service, but also willingly pack up the leftovers.

For those who like spicy tastes there’s hot braised shrimp, Kung pao chicken, eggplant in hot garlic sauce, and several other dishes marked hot and spicy on the menu.

At dinner, the main dishes range from vegetable fried rice for $4.95 to Peking duck for $21.95. Most dishes are in the range of $6.95 (chicken with cashew nut) to $8.95 (beef with black mushroom), with seafood being a little higher than the others. Cocktails and full bar service are offered.

On Saturday and Sunday, the restaurant offers a seafood Champagne brunch for $8.95 from 11:30 to 3 p.m.

If you can’t get there in person for lunch, Shanghai Inn will deliver to the Torrance area for free with orders over $10.

Shanghai Inn, 21424 Hawthorne Blvd., Torrance. (310) 370-5585 . Open seven days a week from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.