Nancy Chang's

Healthy Chinese food? This Chandler Street restaurant has cornered the market on good-for-you dishes.

by Margaret LeRoux

Nancy Chang's 372 Chandler Street< Worcester (508) 752-8899 Hours Mon.-Thurs. 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Fri. 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Sat. noon-11 p.m. Sun. noon-10 p.m. Major credit cards Full bar handicap accessible

Several friends have pestered me to dine with them at their new favorite Chinese restaurant, Nancy Chang's.

"Been there, done that years ago," I replied.

"But you haven't tried Nancy Chang's since it's gone healthy," one friend protested.

Healthy Chinese food? Yes, there are all those vegetables, but my favorite dishes are deep-fried spring rolls, sausage-stuffed Peking ravioli, and anything swimming in Szechwan garlic oil. I was skeptical but agreed to give it a try.

After a meal that combined my friends' "healthy choices" and my own not-so-healthy selections, I have to agree. Nancy Chang's proves Chinese food can be good for you and taste good, too.

Three of us dined early on a week night; nevertheless, the place was full. We got the last booth in the narrow front room, right under the large fish tank. One of my friends delivered an eel report every few minutes.

As thanks for taking them along, they let me choose the appetizers; as a concession to the vegetarian in our group, I passed on Peking ravioli ($5.50) in favor of scallion pie ($3.50). The pu pu platter for two ($14.95) at a table across the aisle looked very tempting, but the combination of spring rolls, chicken fingers, beef teriyaki, chicken wings, fried shrimp, and crab Rangoon is almost a meal in itself. Instead, we chose spring rolls ($3.50). Scallion pie, a Chinese version of a quesadilla without the cheese, contained lots of chopped green onions between two thin flour pancakes that were fried till crispy. The spring rolls were two thin rice-paper- wrapped mixtures of shredded cabbage and carrots. They were deep fried and crispy, but the filling was very bland.

The menu has symbols indicating spicy dishes (a chili pepper), vegetarian (looked like an eggplant to me), and healthy (a heart). Steamed vegetable ravioli ($5.95), for example, has both a heart and an eggplant. There are lots of dishes with hearts, several marked with the chili pepper, and many little eggplants on the menu. Sorry, but there's not one dish with all three, indicating that it's good for you, spicy, and vegetarian. The menu advises vegetarians that they can substitute soy versions of chicken and shrimp in many of the dishes. Chicken can be omitted by request from some of the soups. And brown rice is available instead of steamed rice for an extra 75 cents.

Though we were intrigued by the claims of Dr. Yvonne Chen's herbal energy soup ($6.95 for two), "This soup will help to increase energy, strength and endurance while improving the blood," we opted for an old favorite: hot and sour soup. However, Nancy Chang's ($1.75) has a very dark brown broth tasting heavily of soy sauce, to our tastes it was neither hot nor sour.

We had much better luck with our entrees. Nancy Chang's offers a variety of Chinese dishes. Some cross-cultural standards are listed under the heading "pasta from the Orient," including moo goo chicken fettuccine ($8.75), Peking duck fettuccine ($9.95), and vegetable fettuccine ($7.50). There are several variations of chow mein: roasted pork, chicken (both $5.30), and shrimp ($5.50). And there's chop suey, served with beef, chicken, or pork (all $5.30). Vegetarian ($5.25) options for these dishes are curiously listed under the title Polynesian.

From the classic entrees, we chose scallops Bangkok ($12.95) and sizzling Japanese bean curd ($9.95). The scallops were noted as spicy, but the use of hot peppers was pretty tame. There were lots of large scallops, crispy pea pods, mushrooms, onions, and garlic in a tangy sauce.

The bean curd attracted the attention of a couple passing our table on their way out. It sizzled noisily on a big platter with broccoli, pea pods, tiny corn, and onions. The bean-curd pieces had been coated with rice flour so they had a crisp texture outside, while remaining soft inside.

The third member of our party went for the heart-healthy chicken with pea pods ($7.75), a large serving of chicken breast strips and a garden's worth of pea pods in a mild, light sauce. There was enough left over to make lunch for two.

But the show-stopping dish of the evening was the modestly named Shanghai pan-fried noodles ($8.25). This was a large platter of thin, crisply fried noodles topped with a bounty of large shrimp, chicken breast pieces, pork slices, and lots of vegetables.

The couple across the aisle from us leaned over. "What's that fabulous looking dish?" they asked. One of them even came over to our table for closer inspection. I was tempted to offer a sample, but my friend kept his chopsticks hovering protectively over the platter.

In a final, unusual twist on a standard, Nancy Chang's fortune cookies are tri-flavored like Neapolitan ice cream: chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla. Our bill totaled $54.18 before tip.