Two Different Approaches to Oriental Cooking

Two of our newer Chinese restaurants are quite unusual. And they couldn’t be more different.

Lester Wong might not agree with having Malee’s, his Coast Highway restaurant, classed as Chinese. Malee is the name of his charming wife, and she’s Thai, like much of the cooking here.

Malee’s specializes in high-end Oriental cooking with touches of Cajun and Continental. It’s all quite sophisticated--perhaps too sophisticated for the expectations of people who drop in. The couple had a successful restaurant (also named Malee’s) in Scottsdale, Ariz., before moving to Newport Beach, so they are more than a bit perplexed by their slow start. Blame that on a large, somewhat cold dining room and a location that was formerly home to an Italian sandwich shop named Guido’s, which lived a short life.

Let’s hope Malee’s has a better fate. It certainly deserves one.

Wong really knows his way around the kitchen. He once cooked at David K’s, an uptown Chinese restaurant in New York, and his food is far from mom-and-pop fare. Phuket shrimps, for instance, are extra large prawns stuffed into won-ton skins along with a delicious forcemeat made from chicken, water chestnuts and herbs. They’re delicate and flavorful at the same time.

Appetizers run to things such as spicy baby ribs, an eccentric-but-winning version of Thai barbecue crusted with Cajun blackening spices. Wong is Cantonese, so he’s fond of dim sum and keeps a selection on his menu at all times. His crisp, juicy pan-fried dumplings have a touch of ginger. Siu mai , steamed dumplings with a noodle wrapper, are made with an oddball filling based on minced turkey.

Wong does imaginative things with fresh fish too: steaming sea bass with ginger and scallions Chinese-style, like the top restaurants in Monterey Park; braising halibut in coconut milk Thai style, even poaching salmon in cheesecloth the way a French chef would.

Meat eaters can choose Mongolian lamb chops, broiled and marinated in rosemary (an herb that probably does not exist in Mongolia, but why argue with success?) and the house specialty, Cajun blackened Angus steak, which the chef says was a favorite of Rudolf Nureyev at the Scottsdale Malee’s.

Wong’s numerous Thai dishes are more familiar, and deftly done. Boneless duck is stewed in a traditional Thai red curry, with lightly cooked spinach leaves accentuating the flavors. Evil jungle princess chicken is cooked with lemon grass, coconut milk and galanga root, just as it would be in almost any Thai home.

This is on any account an interesting place, and Malee herself is one of the more engaging hostesses you’ll ever meet, a woman who makes it clear why Thailand’s nickname is Land of Smiles. But remember, this is fine dining (complete with a good wine list), so don’t expect mom-and-pop prices.

Malee’s is moderately expensive. Appetizers are $4.95 to $9.95. Entrees are $10.95 to $18.95.

The Outside China Cafe, on the other hand, is almost maddeningly predictable. A pity, because the kitchen evidently has talent.

This handsome new place in the Brea Mall is a striking suite of casual rooms filled with Chinese artifacts from silk embroidery to carved bamboo roots shaped like shrunken heads. You lunch directly on the black marbled plastic tabletops. For dinner, they are covered with tablecloths.

This is one Chinese restaurant where you have to ask to get a fork . All tables are set with chopsticks, but those who cannot wield them with expertise get a little help from a set of patent chopsticks placed alongside. These are scissorlike contraptions called yan-yan chopsticks (for sale at the cash register, if you like them) consisting of two chopsticks joined at the hip like, well, Siamese twins. They’re supposed to be fail-safe (don’t count on it).

What you eat here may not excite you but should be satisfying. You’ll start with a complimentary dish of spicy Sichuan cabbage, which is one of the best things the restaurant serves. There are appetizers such as goat cheese won ton with raspberry sauce that bow to trendy faux-Chinese tastes. One is the crisp, creamy crab puff won tons, which have smooth and very un-Chinese fillings.

Golden dumpling pot stickers, though, are great--perfectly browned on one side, doughy and juicy on the other, with light pork centers. The soups are good too. Hot and sour soup is tangy and dense, wor won ton soup has a clear, clean finish. In fact, even the giveaway egg flower soup is tasty in this kitchen’s hands, with a slippery, egg-rich broth.

Expect the tried and true: no surprises, no chances taken. The workmanlike kung pao chicken has few peanuts and an abundance of long, slim, deadly hot dried chilies, but, oddly, the dish doesn’t taste hot. Shrimp in lobster sauce is similarly bland, though fresh-tasting. Combination fried rice has a dark soy countenance (liven it up with the delicious house chili paste).

The best tactic might be to try moo shu pork, which is meant to be a bit bland. This version has thin crepes, a sweetish plum sauce and that good minced vegetable and pork filling. It’s nearly perfect. I’d also come back for the restaurant’s spicy tofu, made from high quality fluffy squares of bean curd. Too bad there aren’t a few squid or live seafood preparations on this menu.

This is one of those Chinese restaurants where the employees eat better than the customers, common when a Chinese restaurant has a good chef.

Outside China Cafe is moderately priced. Starters are $1.50 to $4.50. A la carte items are $4.50 to $15.95.

* MALEE’S

* 1400 W. Coast Highway, Newport Beach.

* (714) 650-8243.

* Open daily for lunch, 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., and dinner, 5:30 to 10 p.m.

* All major credit cards accepted.

*

* OUTSIDE CHINA CAFE

* 705 E. Birch St., Brea.

* (714) 990-8989.

* Open daily, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.

* American Express, MasterCard and Visa.