Comfort food often comes mashed, roasted, deep-fried or baked, dense with butter and cheese and salt.
It also comes stir-fried, perfumed with soy sauce and ginger.
Kung pao chicken, shrimp fried rice and sesame beef are among the standards of old- school American Chinese food, found in Chinese restaurants in strip malls across the country. Too often, the dishes aren’t prepared with as much care as you would like.
Chan’s Asian Bistro embraces authentic Chinese standards and does them justice. It also offers fine versions of Thai food, a cuisine full of variations on a theme of comfort food.
The portions at Chan’s would satisfy even the most Texan of Texans, and the presentation sits a few notches above the standard strip-mall approach. As a bonus, you don’t have to deal with a strip mall to inhale the grub. You can sit outside in the midst of a blossoming Denver bohemia and people-watch.
Kung pao chicken ($8.75) came piled high, shot through with dried hot peppers, garlic, ginger, onions, shrimp and peanuts.
It had been awhile since I had kung pao’d, but at one point in my life I fancied myself a connoisseur of the dish. One bite of Chan’s version, and I wondered why I ever waved goodbye.
When I see the words “Thai” and “basil” smashed together, I expect a strong basil punch, but frequently I end up with a nudge, or just a wink. Chan’s Thai Basil Tofu ($8.55) struck me hard, the whole dish shellacked in basil flavor. The tofu came in squares that were crunchy on the outside but pillowy inside.
I sometimes use shrimp- fried rice ($7.55) as a barometer of the degree to which a place pulls off its old-school dishes. Chan’s came through: The rice and eggs were dry, the oil a veneer rather than a swamp, the shrimp taut and juicy. Shrimp-fried rice is a signature comfort food; I’ll head to Chan’s when I’m in need of something to ease whatever ails me.
Seafood pan-fried noodles ($11.95) cost a few more bucks than most dishes but probably was worth the extra hit to the wallet. Potent with basil, thick-sauced and dense with seafood, the dish is the kind that inspires cravings.
Sesame tofu ($8.55) offered tofu triangles glazed in something sweet and sprinkled with sesame seeds. You’ve had something like it before, maybe even proffered on a toothpick in a mall food court. Anything remarkable? Nah. I probably wouldn’t order it again.
But Chan’s? I’m already feeling the need for some comfort.
Staff writer Douglas Brown can be reached at 303-820-1395 or djbrown@denverpost.com.
Chan’s Asian Bistro
ASIAN COMFORT FOOD|2005 E. 17th Ave., 303-320-8582|$1.75-$14.95|Lunch-dinner from 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Monday -Thursday; 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday; 4 p.m.-10 p.m. Saturday; 4 p.m.-9 p.m. Sunday. MC, Visa, Discover.
Front burner: Classic Asian comfort food done righteously, in a bohemian neighborhood.
Back burner: Waitstaff not especially knowledgeable about the food, and the service can be a bit poky.
