A Taste of Chinatown
by Diane Goldberg

Shun Lee's Palace
4340 Colwick Road
(Near Cotswold Mall)

Open Sun 12-10, Monday-Thursday 11:30-10 and Friday, Saturday 11:30-11
AMEX/Visa/MC
Price range $9.50 -$13.00

Take a Slow Boat or a Fast Car to Charlotte's Best Chinese

For decades, Shun Lee's Palace, which operates out of a modest building in the Cotswold neighborhood, has won accolades as Charlotte's top take-out or eat-in Chinese Restaurant. A staring slot on every "Best of" list and a coveted first in the 1999 "Taste of Charlotte" competition are well-deserved honors for this long-time Charlotte favorite.

The décor is pleasant, but it is not the overwhelming up-market dragons and gee gaws so many Chinese restaurants favor. The parking lot has ample room. The small bar is usually deserted although you can order cocktails, beer, or wine at your table.

The service is efficient. On a weeknight you can expect to wait only about 15 minutes for cooked-to-order take-out. If you are calling from an uptown or Southpark area hotel, don't worry about not having a menu. Shun Lee serves all the standard Chinese dishes.

What's so special about Shun Lee's? It's the food, friends. Shun Lee's is a restaurant that consistently serves exquisite, fresh entrees, crisp flavorful vegetables, and creative combinations of seafood and spice.

In this era of Chinese take-out at every strip mall, small previously frozen shrimp show up in most seafood dishes. At Shun Lee's Palace they don't! Order the Prawns in Garlic Sauce for a combination of plump shrimp and crunchy Chinese vegetables. For seafood lovers who like it hot, the Prawns in Chili Sauce feature great big shrimp in a tomato-based hot sauce without vegetables getting in on the act. Check the daily special board for seafood specials, Shun Lee's specialties are often dishes that combine shrimp, scallops, and other seafood into one-of-a-kind offerings.

For Oriental aficionados who ho hum the standard chow mien and fried rice, Shun Lee's Palace has a range of delicacies not often seen outside of a large city's China Town. The menu ranges across Canton and into spicy Szechwan territory with occasional stops in areas specific to Shun Lee's. Several creative combos of seafood, chicken, and beef are described on the menu. Vegetarian diners will find a selection of entrees. The wait staff is well versed in the variety of offerings and will be happy to explain the spice quotient of any dish. The moo shoo beef and pork offerings are served with pancake wraps and a thick fruity sauce, which makes a moo shoo dish an excellent accompaniment to one of the hotter menu offerings. Another good complement for the hotter dishes is the special fried rice, a medley of beef, shrimp, pork, and chicken in the familiar fried rice and vegetable base.

The menu also offers several group-dining options with soup, appetizers, desert and a choice of entrees to share. For relaxed dinning or terrific take-out, Shun Lee's Palace is Queen Charlotte's royal restaurant.