When Simon Teng came to Syracuse 18 years ago, he was toldthe city didn’t need another Chinese take-out restaurant.

Teng moved away from New York City and hissuccessful Chinese restaurant for one reason: his kids. Teng wanted to bring his family closer by raising his kids in a more low-key environment.

Armed with the desire to open a fine-dining Chinese restaurant and more than 40 years of experience in Szechuan-style cuisine, Teng opened China Road, located at 2204 Brewerton Road in Mattydale, about 10 minutes outside of Syracuse.

I’ll admit, China Road is a little hard to find. Located next to a Laundromat, there’s only a tiny, simple sign with the restaurant’s name scrawled in red letters to indicate its location. Once inside, Teng himself gives you a warm greeting, and the restaurant’s soothing atmosphere is instantly captivating.

You’re taken to your seat by a smiling waiter and provided with complimentary appetizers of pickled radish (pleasantly tangy, sweet and spicy), fried wonton strips with sweet chili sauce and tea. When I lived in China for a year, tea was a classic way to begin a meal — the evening was already off to a good start.

The staff was incredibly attentive – if you ever need a menu item explained, ask Teng. Although he does not cook all of the dishes himself, they are all his recipes.

I will let you in on a China Road secret: There are two menus. The first is a more standard — but still very good — Chinese-American menu. The second is the authentic Szechuan menu, a specific type of Chinese cooking that I didn’t know about untilall of the dishes had been ordered and brought out.Upon realizing this, I asked Teng to bring me one dish of his choosing.

A few minutes later, a plate of sautéed greens arrived at the table. Teng said it was fresh pea greens, pea shoots and garlic, but the price of the dish varies daily according to the produce available at the market. The complexity of the dish was astounding. The golden-brown fried crispy garlic intermingled with the light soy seasoning of the pea greens and pea shoots. The dish was bright, flavorful and simplistic. It was perfect.

Since I didn’t know about the second menu (trust me, I won’t make that mistake again), most of the dishes I had were from the first Chinese-American menu. If traditional Chinese food isn’t your thing, the Americanized cuisine at China Road is among the best I have had. It is not greasy, heavy or cluttered in flavor like most of your run-of-the-mill take-out places.

We had two appetizers: steamed vegetable dumplings ($4.20) and cold noodles with vegetables in sesame sauce ($4.50). The dumplings were packed with scallions, spinach, shiitake mushrooms and rice vermicelli. The dumpling skins were perfectly cooked — not mushy like overcooked dumplings can be — and the vegetables inside were tender and flavorful. The noodles had julienned carrot and cumber and were cooked nicely. There was also date sauce on top, adding a wonderful sweetness.

For the main dish, we had shrimp fried rice ($7.25). This was one of the better renditions of fried rice I’ve had in a while. The small shrimp were not dry, the rice was seasoned properly with just the right amount of soy sauce and, most importantly, was not overly greasy.

The last dish we had was the Eight Treasure vegetables ($9.25). Tofu, green bell peppers, carrots, cabbage, shiitake and rice noodles were coated in a cornstarch-thickened sauce. Often, cornstarch sauces can taste gummy and thick, coating your tongue in an unpleasant way. However, this version did no such thing. As for the portion sizes of the dishes, you get a lot of bang for your buck.

The Chinese aren’t big on desserts and China Road follows suit. The only dessert option is a honey-glazed fried banana. But with food this good, dessert was the last thing on my mind.

Next time I go to China Road, I’ll order entirely off of the second menu, or even let Teng choose my meal for me, as some of the other diners suggested. I never thought sautéed vegetables could deliver such unbelievable flavor, and I can’t wait to see what else Teng has up his sleeves.

Published on January 22, 2013 at 10:40 pm

Contact Riddley: rsgemper@syr.edu