2 for $25: Chinatown Restaurant

The Sesame Chicken — with an egg roll, fried rice and wonton soup — is $7.35. (Credit: Katharine Sidelnik)

When I’m in another city and craving Asian food, I head to its Chinatown for the real deal. The Rochester area has a Chinatown, too — in a strip mall in Greece.

My friend Mary, who’s originally from Taiwan, took me to Chinatown Restaurant, where she dines once or twice a month, to prove why it’s worth the drive from her home in Brighton.

The mood
The larger-than-life Buddha near the entrance put me right at ease, as did the tranquil instrumental music, comfortable booth seats and fish tank near our table. There were “regulars” at the full-service bar who were happy to see Mary ...

The food
I can’t remember the last time I got so much food for the money. Each of the 47 items on the lunch menu ($5.95 to $7.95) comes with an egg roll or spring roll, steamed or fried rice and a cup of soup (hot and sour, wonton or egg drop), and the portions were large enough for me to take some home.

Mary and I split the tender Sesame Chicken ($7.35), which we both consider a guilty pleasure, served atop a thin spread of airy rice noodles. A clue to the popularity of this dish at Chinatown: The restaurant goes through more than 1,000 pounds of chicken a week just for its Sesame Chicken meals alone.

We also ordered, on the owner’s recommendation, the Jumbo Shrimp Szechuan Style ($7.95). The shrimp were indeed jumbo, the white sauce was delicate, and the vegetables were incredibly fresh — the kind of freshness you taste when you bite into that first corn-on-the-cob of the summer.

There was nothing particularly special about my wonton soup, but Mary’s hot and sour soup had an appealingly tangy mixture of pork, tofu and wood-ear mushrooms.

The egg and spring rolls came with duck sauce and hot mustard for dipping.

An all-you-can-eat buffet is $6.35.

The drinks
Free refills on sodas ($1.95) and a full bar. Wine and liquor both start at $4.50, and beer starts at $3.25. (Tsingtao, a pilsner from China’s largest brewery, is $3.75.)

The damage: $20

Next time ... I’m getting the Sauteed Scallops with Garlic Sauce ($7.95), because the scallops are said (by Mary, of course) to be huge and cooked to perfection.