We Chinese love to try the newest restaurants. This one just opened 6 days ago with heavy advertising on the Chinese radio stations. We got there at 6pm today just before it got really crowded. Here I am in front of the live fish and crab tanks. Tilapia fish are on the top and catfish are on the bottom. Our waiter got all wet when he was netting our catfish for us ... now that was a fresh fish, all right.

We had a wonderful meal consisting of all-steamed dishes: Plain dungeness crabs, stone crabs with garlic, baby beef ribs with pickled vegetables, a whole catfish, razor clams in black bean sauce, and a pork patty with salted fish. This is not the kind of fancy food you get at banquets; this was home-style food, pure and simple, at its best. It is very hard to find. I was proud to know that the chef is from Toisan, the same area in China that I am from.

Apparently, word had gotten around that the food was delicious; there was a long line waiting to get in as we were leaving. There were also many people waiting to buy the specially priced $3 soy sauce chickens. Selling items at or below cost has become a popular trend among new Chinese restaurants that want to lure customers in.

Chinese Home Style, 101-105 Lafayette Street (at Walker Street), New York, NY 10013 (212) 625-0199