Tucson Weekly: Wok 'N' Egg Roll! (January 8

Guilin Chinese Restaurant Is A Standout In This Normally Undistinguished Genre.
By Rebecca Cook
IT'S NOT THAT Tucson doesn't have a fair number of decent Chinese restaurants. Throughout the years, many of us have been able to find one or two places that serve a satisfactory moo goo gai pan, a laudable dim sum or an amenable version of the ubiquitous egg roll.
The problem has just been that superlatives don't exactly leap to mind in discussing Chinese restaurants in the Old Pueblo. At least that's been the case until very recently.
Chow Just a few months ago, Guilin Chinese Restaurant opened up across the street from the Loft Cinema on East Speedway Boulevard; from that moment on, the countenance of Sino-dining in this burg brightened considerably.
Named after a city in Southern China, Guilin serves some of the most deliciously authentic Chinese food around.
It isn't that Guilin's menu is markedly different from other restaurants of its kind--although you'll discover a few novelties scattered throughout--or even that the usual dishes are prepared in a completely unconventional manner. What distinguishes Guilin are the vivid tastes and textures of food cooked on the spot with only the freshest ingredients. Compared to the humdrum fare many of us have come to expect, Guilin's Chinese food seems to positively effervesce.
Plus, more than half their menu is devoted to vegetarian dishes. No couple of token tofu dishes here--instead deliberate over the dry sautéed string bean, vegetarian dumplings (a house specialty) or an appetizer of seaweed finger rolls or fried crispy pumpkin.
Never has abstaining from eating meat left so many tantalizing alternatives.
Given the myriad of mouth-watering options, it was difficult to know where to begin sampling Guilin's fare. What dishes would best represent what the restaurant was all about?
Vegetarian egg rolls along with fried crispy yams began our taste-treat experiment.
There was nothing terribly remarkable about the egg rolls, though the crunchy-fresh interior of shredded cabbage and carrots was a delight, as was the crisp outer coating, which retained none of the unpleasant oiliness found in many other varieties. The yams were reminiscent of the best tempura-style vegetables--lightly battered and fried, then served with a soy-based dipping sauce. Promising beginnings.
Next we selected a banquet's worth of dishes: Szechuan-style tofu, sesame chicken, BBQ pork chow mein, tomato beef and another house specialty, shrimp with scrambled egg.
The standout may have been the shrimp dish. Though not especially appealing in its menu description, when combined with a few green peas and some white rice it was surprisingly delicious. The medium-sized shrimp were firm, tasty and fresh.
The sesame chicken, found on almost every Chinese menu in town, was a quiet marvel: thin strips of lightly battered chicken tossed in a semi-sweet sauce of soy, sesame seeds and red chili flakes. While other versions may succumb at times to a jaw-tiring chewiness, Guilin's chicken strips were tender and more meat than fried batter. The sauce suffused a pleasing, spicy warmth into each bite.
For real heat, take on any item prepared Szechuan-style, which in this instance transformed the usually tepid and innocuous nature of tofu into a thing of incendiary magic.
The tomato beef and pork chow mein impressed simply because the flavors were so vivid and distinct. I've sometimes heard people mutter that all Chinese food tastes more or less the same. At Guilin, this stereotype is deliciously debunked with every order.
Portions are uniformly enormous, making it likely that two people could get by splitting a single entrée.
Lunch specials run daily and cost either $3.50 or $3.95, depending on the entrée chosen and whether you'd like to include soup. A continuously replenished buffet is dubbed "All Day Fast Food," and costs between $2.99 and $5.99 depending on how many items you plan to pile on your plate.
An incentive for UA students and faculty to try out Guilin is their 10 percent discount if you present a University I.D. card.
It's true there are a bundle of restaurants to choose from when you're in the mood for Chinese food, but I'm heading directly for Guilin the next time the craving for moo shu strikes. If I find anything this place doesn't do well, I'll be sure and let you know.
Guilin Chinese Restaurant. 3250 E. Speedway. 320-7768. Open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Lunch specials served daily until 3 p.m. No liquor. V, MC, checks. Menu items: $3.25-$9.95

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