Manhattan Wonton Company Is Back in the Fold

After a brief hiatus, Manhattan Wonton Company has relocated to Doheny Drive, just south of the Writers Guild theater there. (Bastide, a new Provencal restaurant from former Citrus chef de cuisine Alain Guiraud is slated to go into its former location on Melrose Place.)

The Doheny address has been home to a succession of Chinese restaurants but, I suspect, never a place serving New York-style Chinese food--the reason for “Manhattan” in the restaurant’s name. Owner Paul Heller learned to eat Chinese with his uncle, novelist Joseph Heller, on forays through New York’s Chinatown.

So when this former head of television development at Paramount turned restaurateur thought about the menu for Manhattan Wonton Company, it was easy: He just put on all his favorite dishes, and there are a lot. These include egg drop soup, cold sesame noodles, New York egg roll, steamed clams in black bean sauce, chicken lo mein, and shrimp in lobster sauce--and, of course, fried rice.

The new space is huge, with walls covered in elaborate carvings, a jolly Buddha figure in the corner, and plenty of round tables for larger groups. There’s space out front for al fresco dining. And a commodious bar where you can stop in for drinks and dim sum before or after a movie, say.

The food is exactly the same--same cooks, same menu. Heller still sends out a bowl of fried wonton strips and sweet dipping sauce. Freshly fried, still warm, they’re hard to leave alone, but as soon as you finish one bowl, out comes another.

On a first visit, the kitchen is a bit out of sync. Our won ton soup arrives tepid, and the rest of the food comes out in spurts. But the barbecue ribs are better than I remember, and the shrimp in lobster sauce does a New Yorker proud.

All in all, the food is pretty good, the price is right, and the place is fun. They also do take-out. What’s not to like?

* Manhattan Wonton Company, 151 S. Doheny Drive, Beverly Hills; (310) 888-2804; fax (310) 888-2897. Open for dinner daily and for lunch on weekdays. Appetizers $4 to $8; main courses $10 to $25. Full bar. Valet parking.