America’s favorite ethnic food? Chinese fare is second only to Italian. From Hoboken to Honolulu, there’s a Chinese restaurant in pretty much every city and town in the country that counts more than a couple thousand residents.

Astoria is well represented with three Chinese eateries, all of them featuring Cantonese-American cuisine (and similar menus) inspired by the food of southeastern China, which is what most Americans are accustomed to when they order Chinese. I decided to sample two favored preparations, Kung Pao chicken and shrimp fried rice, at the three establishments. At each restaurant, I ordered take-out and noted how long my food took to be prepared. I didn’t phone ahead, and (so far as I could discern) no restaurant personnel recognized me. Curiously, none of the restaurants provided chopsticks. Here’s my report.

Golden Star Restaurant

599 Bond St., Astoria, (503) 325-6260

Open daily for lunch and dinner

Astoria’s trio of Chinese restaurants has been around for as long as I can remember. This corner joint near the west edge of downtown has had other owners, but appears pretty much the same inside and out. Cushy high-backed burgundy banquettes that look like they’d comfortably swallow up any diner dominate the main dining area; there are tables and chairs in the other. Both rooms are sparingly decorated.

A sign outside Golden Star advertises northern Cantonese cuisine. When I inquired about how that might differ from regular Cantonese, the hostess flustered a bit, then said simply, “spicier.” The Kung Pao fit the description: The dish was aggressively seasoned (perhaps too sassy for some palates), spiked with flecks of red peppers and potent enough to clear my sinuses. Lots of fresh veggies were in evidence, including sliced or diced celery, onions and zucchini, along with peanuts and water chestnuts. Bits of chicken weren’t as plentiful. The accompanying sticky rice was cooked right.

The shrimp fried rice wasn’t nearly so exciting. The shrimp – small prawns rather than tiny Pacific shrimp – tasted prefrozen. Spatters of egg provided a flavor assist, but the overall taste was bland.

My three boxes of Chinese fare (the Kung Pao, shrimp fried rice and a side of sticky rice) came packaged in a tight-fitting brown paper sack stapled at the top – don’t laugh; such details are important when ordering take-out.

Rating: Kung Pao chicken – B, Shrimp fried rice – C.

Serving size: Enough for two.

Accouterments: Soy sauce, tea bags and a couple fortune cookies.

Waiting time: Six minutes.

Cost: $12.25.

Conclusion: Standard (and filling) Chinese-American fare.

Golden Luck Restaurant

159 W. Bond St., Astoria, (503) 325-7289

Open daily for lunch and dinner

Most Astorians remember this Uniontown institution as the House of Chan. The place has gone through a couple owners since, and now is known as the Golden Luck. Large windows look out over Bond Street; consequently, the interior, done up in yellow and beige, is brighter and more airy than most Chinese restaurants. Booths and chairs in the main dining area (there’s an adjacent lounge) are bright orange, and the carpet is red. Plants and wall hangings contribute to the cheery ambience.

Golden Luck’s food is colorful, too. Mucho serrated slabs of carrots and green peppers, along with the other usual veggies, lent vibrancy to the Kung Pao chicken, which featured both morsels and hunks of breast meat. As is typical, the menu claimed the dish to be “hot and spicy,” but the Kung Pao was medium-spiced. There was no accompanying steamed rice. Good-sized prawns dotted the shrimp fried rice, bedecked with carrots and green onions. Portions here are huge.

Rating: Kung Pao chicken – B+, Shrimp fried rice – B+.

Serving size: The biggest of the three restaurants, enough for three moderate appetites.

Accouterments: Soy sauce and two fortune cookies.

Waiting time: Less than seven minutes.

Cost: $12.70.

Conclusion: Best bang for the buck, and the tastiest food, too.

Hong Kong Restaurant

2813 Marine Drive, Astoria, (503) 325-5344

Open daily for lunch and dinner

Commodious would be one way to describe Hong Kong, the Chinese restaurant with a sign written in English and Chinese. Walk inside and you’re standing amid a collection of deep red booths, including a large communal job that looks like it could accommodate an extended family. A back dining room has numerous tables, while down the hallway is a spacious lounge.

Portions are ample. My Kung Pao chicken – a lunch special that cost two bucks less than the dinner version – came in one of those flat hinged styrofoam containers, with a hefty ration of rice (either steamed or pork fried rice is available) fluffed off to the side. The deep-fried chicken was chunky (like Chicken McNuggets, only irregularly shaped); the veggies were thick-cut. Thing is, this Kung Pao didn’t pack much peppery punch, even though it’s touted as “hot and spicy;” there’s nary a piece of pepper (or any ingredient imparting zest) in the preparation. Plus, the menu claims preparations are Cantonese and Szechwan stye, the latter presumably connoting increased sizzle. False advertising – heat seekers should request the kitchen to kick it up a notch or two.

The shrimp fried rice, on the other hand, showcased an ample amount of prawns, all with more vitality than freezer burn.

Rating: Kung Pao chicken – C, Shrimp fried rice – B.

Serving size: More than enough for two.

Accouterments: Spring roll and wontons with sweet sauce, soy sauce and two fortune cookies (the hostess asked if I required plastic utensils).

Waiting time: Slightly more than five minutes.

Cost: $11.80.

Conclusion: Lots of food for the money, plus some pleasant (the spring roll) and less-than-favorable (the uninteresting Kung Pao) surprises.

Contact the Mouth at The Daily Astorian, P.O. Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103, phone (503) 325-3211 or e-mail mouth@dailyastorian.com

Like choosing a bottle of wine for fellow diners or ordering pretty much anything at a French restaurant, Chinese chopsticks often incite fear in the heart of any American restaurant-goer unaccustomed to their functionality. Of course, most Chinese eateries offer silverware, and those paired chopsticks with Chinese characters on one side of the packaging and illustrated instructions on the other go unused.

To Westerners, chopsticks may not seem as utilitarian as a knife and fork, yet they’ve been in use a lot longer. In his “New York Times Food Encyclopedia,” Craig Claiborne claims chopsticks date to at least the 18th century B.C. Whenever chopsticks versus forks become part of the dinner discussion, Claiborne says he’s reminded of the Chinese man who, “when asked why his countrymen employ chopsticks rather than knife and fork, replied: ‘We Chinese prefer not to butcher at table.'”