For over four years now—ever since I read Kay West's review—I've been meaning to try China Chef, mainly for the Peking duck. Last Sunday, I was struck by an irresistible craving for Chinese food, particularly the aforementioned waterfowl. (Maybe it was that, when I was a kid, my family always went out for Chinese food on Sunday nights. Apparently it's some weird cross-cultural quirk—search the terms "Jewish," "Chinese food" and "Sunday" and you'll get 95,000 hits on Google, many of them discussing how American Jewish families have had a Sunday-night Chinese food tradition for decades.)
Anyway, after a bit of trouble finding the place (look for the TGI Friday's in a strip mall on Bell Road by Hickory Hollow Mall and turn in there), my friend and I arrived. The duck was terrific—not greasy (as Peking duck can sometimes be), with perfectly crisped skin. If you've never had it before, it's a delightfully subtle treat, far more simple (and divine) than most Chinese dishes. (See Kay's review for more on the delicacy.) We also had fried dumplings, which were good by Nashville standards, and steamed grouper in a light ginger sauce, which was fairly good though a tad toward the bland side.
Next time, we'll definitely try the five-flavored eggplant, which Kay praised, and which a BITES commenter named Pogo cited as one of Nashville's best dishes in a blog post a couple of weeks ago.
