RAINBOW'S GOLD

A Chinese restaurant that outshines the rest.

I first visited Rainbow Chinese Restaurant on a gloomy weekday night. Nicollet Avenue, lit with old-fashioned street lamps and bustling with Mexican Middle Eastern, Vietnamese, Thai, German and other ethnic eateries, quickly lifted the gloom. The capital of this global village is Rainbow, packed with rainbow coalition of singles, couples and families; Asian, Hispanic, black and white. By 6:30 there was a line for a table.

Rainbow distinguishes itself from the pack of local Chinese restaurants by its value and quality. Whereas an ordinary restaurant might employ a mere three sauces, Rainbow uses a dozen, including soy, fermented beans, curry, barbecue, hot pepper, fish, hoisin and garlic. No wonder local chefs and food critics champion Rainbow. But so do neighborhood residents looking for a bargain. If you're daring, there's squid with pickled mustard green or eggplant with garlic sauce. If not, take comfort in sesame chicken or beef with snow peapods.

Last year Rainbow moved up a big notch in ambience in relocating from a strip mall across the street to its current bistro-like space, featuring seafoam and pale yellow walls, stone floors, a large aquarium, and an inkbrushy mural of a pagoda, willows and bamboo. Unlike many Chinese restaurants where perfunctory plastic lanterns fail to dispel the barrenness, Rainbow's a place where you're glad to stay awhile.

The five-page menu begs for interpretation, which Rainbow's efficient (but harried) servers readily supply. Among their recommendations: anything with black bean sauce, anything Hunan, the pan-fried noodle dishes in a choice of three types of noodle, and the generous noodle soups, including roasted duck and fishcake. Not to worry though: Whether you order shrimp, chicken, duck, or pork, you can count on fresh, crisp vegetables and light, flavorful sauces that don't all taste the same.

The highly satisfying Singapore chow mai fun — a dish chef-owner Tammy Wong suggests to new customers — featured thin noodles sautéed with egg, pork, shrimp, bean sprouts and scallions. Squid with black bean sauce was a knockout. The decoratively cut squid was plentiful, as were the chunks of red and green peppers and onions veiled in gingery dark sauce. The mildly spicy Hunan beef was generously endowed with baby corn, broccoli and carrots. Fresh peapods brightened the curried chicken, onions and bamboo shoots in a golden coconut-milk sauce.

Nuggets of sesame chicken with smokily sauced water chestnuts, mushrooms and onions were pure gold. The thin, crackling shell of the exemplary egg rolls practically burst with a plump filling of pork, onions, shredded carrot and bean sprouts. The Sichuan wontons are delectable steamed packets of savory pork and shrimp. Our only disappointment was moo shu pork, which although a mushroom lover's feast, seemed stingy with shredded pork, not to mention the fact that the crepes verged on dry.

Rainbow has a family feeling — no surprise since Wong's four sisters and brother share in the business and their children sometimes show up, too. In moving across the street, they added a full bar but managed to keep the place small enough so that they can still know their customers.

You don't have to be awfully old to remember when Chinese restaurants were practically the Twin Cities' only ethnic choices. As numberous other immigrants began offering the likes of Ethopian, Thai and Sri Lankan cuisines, Chinese restaurants became formulaic. Rainbow brings back the excitement.