Dining Out with Karen Talbot: Fantasy Cuisine Best Chinese Restaurant in Area
Written by Karen Talbot
Restaurant: Fantasy Cuisine, 20 N. Central Ave., Hartsdale, NY 10580; 914-358-9046
Jan. 28, 2015: "Fantasy" can mean imagination and invention, and that is exactly what this welcome addition to the Chinese restaurants in our area is! Our son-in-law, who was visiting from London, called it a "welcome alternative to typical cookie-cutter Chinese food."
The restaurant opened this summer in the former premises of Café Meze, to give you an idea where it is located in Hartsdale. I suggest that you go on a weeknight or earlier or later on a weekend night. Frank, the host, makes you feel right at home and is very adept at watching who is getting ready to order, pay, and leave.
He has a list and it is best to sign in the moment you arrive. The walls are a combination of white paint and medium wood floor planking with a simulated waterfall in the front bar area room and a simulated fire pit in the back dining room.
We started our dinner with our daughter and her husband with two hot dumpling choices: steamed crab and pork soup dumplings and steamed shrimp and pork shumai. Both were excellent in flavor and both had lots of filling in them and did not have a lot of dough, which you usually get in Chinese restaurants.
Fantasy Cuisine specializes in Sichuan dishes that are conveniently listed on the menu as mild, medium spicy, and spicy, which is very helpful when ordering.
For our main courses, we had kung pao-style shrimp, which had peanuts, green and red peppers, chili peppers, and scallions. It came with lots of chili peppers, and I made the mistake of eating one and could not speak for at least a minute. Another main dish was dry pot style with chicken, which was served in a sizzling mini wok and cooked in a spicy hot pot sauce with mushrooms, green and red peppers, onions, black tree mushrooms, and lotus root. This dish made the tongue tingle, as it was the spicier of these two dishes. Fantasy Cuisine accommodated my husband's request for chicken with Chinese cabbage and peppers in a vinegar sauce.
All three of these main courses were very flavorful, creative, and delicious! They offer nine other mains, which include General Tao's chicken or beef, chicken with broccoli (which our daughter had), beef or fish filet with broccoli, and sesame chicken or beef. We accompanied these dishes with an order of sautéed string beans (the best all of us had ever had) and house special fried rice; both were enough for four people. Chinese beers and cold sake (served in small ice buckets) were enjoyed by all of us.
All portions were generous, and medium prices make this a favorite restaurant to keep going back to. The owner, Auston Chu, also owns Dumpling & Noodle at 26 Palmer Avenue in Bronxville, which you also should try if you haven't already. All of the waiters were very friendly and most anxious to find out how we liked everything.
All in all, I think this is the best Chinese restaurant in our area.
Pictured here: Food critic for MyhometownBronxville, Karen Talbot.
Photo by A. Warner
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