But then I wouldn't get any MaLa chicken ($11.25), a very effective medley of chicken breast (stir-fried to keep it tender) with straw mushroom, red and green bell peppers, baby corn, and snow peas — all in a brownish sauce with the only obvious use of fresh ginger we encountered and a sneaky bite at the end. The sole criticism here would be the largish sizes of the chicken slices, easier to tackle with a knife and fork than chopsticks. There was no such problem with Kung Pao Spicy Chicken ($10.25), a Lucky Garden standby, in which the chicken chunks are cut into sizes that roughly match diced celery and peanuts. This dish used to be spicier, but all the other flavors were there.
Chasing the classics is not always the best policy at House of Chang. We asked a waiter which of several tofu dishes was closest to mapo tofu, an old favorite mess of soft tofu, pork, and Szechuan peppercorns, with their distinctive menthol-citric aroma. He pointed to the Szechuan-Style Spicy Tofu ($8.50). Spicy it was, and prettier than most soft tofu dishes, as someone in the kitchen knew how to keep most of the cubes whole while working in the flavoring ingredients. But the sauce was spicy without the old-time flavorings of pork and Szechuan peppercorns. True, it was hard to get those peppercorns for several years while the USDA feared they harbored a citrus disease. They had to be pasteurized, and it took until about five years ago to work out the details with Chinese suppliers. But you can get them now, and I want them back in my mapo tofu, please.
Chung King Spicy Pork ($9.25) used to be twice-cooked for some crispness, and one of the hottest dishes in this repertoire. True to form, it's hotter than its one silhouette implies (the restaurant only indicates one level of hot and spicy to cover a range that elsewhere would require two or three). Texturally, it's the same as other stir-fries, with bok choy stems and green bell peppers the main vegetables.
Beef with Orange Peel makes the most use of the traditional flavorings of dried tangerine peel and dried chili pods. These aromatics used to go into the oil of the final frying, which here is distorted by the use of batter-frying and very large slices of beef. Underdone broccoli, though not usual with this dish, was a good addition.
White rice ($1) is outstanding, with a lot of aroma. Brown rice ($1.25) is also done properly. There are a couple of ice-cream desserts, but fortune cookies with the bill suits the nostalgia. The tea is weak and we drank a lot of it on a cold night. The new owners have departed from Lucky Garden tradition by applying for a beer-and-wine license. Until they get it, it is still BYO.
The new restaurant has been refurbished to eliminate all the clutter of its predecessor's long run, replacing calligraphy gospel texts with minimalist architecture and a few glass cases of art objects — somewhat like Joyce Chen's final restaurant near Fresh Pond. Service on a slow night was very good, with pleasant table talk from one of the owners. With no background music and more widely spaced tables, it's an immediate upgrade featuring fine, modestly priced food. Only a nostalgia freak would demand more.
Robert Nadeau can be reached at robtnadeau@aol.com.
