Red Lantern with Rush!

2/22/15

This afternoon I went to The Red Lantern for lunch with my old friend Rushelle and had an absolutely wonderful meal.  I had some trepidation when I pulled into the parking lot and saw that no one (and I mean no one) else was there.  Not one car.  But it was a Sunday afternoon - actually a beautifully sunny Sunday afternoon - so maybe the good people of Worcester had better things to do than sit in a restaurant on the first decent Sunday in I don't know how long.  But the Red Lantern is Rushelle's favorite Chinese place in Worcester and she's a woman whose opinion I trust implicitly, so empty lot or no empty lot, I was psyched.

The host led us to a classic red booth next to the windows, so we had a good view of the street and the restaurant.  Aside from a couple of tired Christmas wreaths on the wall, the decor was classic Chinese restaurant...some art, some shelves, lots of red.  I had a good feeling right from the start.

What did we order?

I ordered Scallion Pancake, Green Beans with Garlic Sauce, and General Tso's Tofu.

Rush had soup, spicy shrimp, and steamed dumplings.  I wish I'd taken note of exactly what dishes she ordered, but at the time it seemed so easy to remember, and now that I'm home the details are gone.  Whatever the soup, shrimp, and dumplings were, they looked pretty good to me

I'm a sucker for classic heavy-duty white dinner ware and when I saw our carefully arranged food coming out in all those gleaming white bowls and platters, I could not have been happier.  

How was it?

The service was fast - super fast - and the food was fantastic!  The scallion pancakes were piping hot and just the perfect mix of crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside.  The tofu was spot-on - nice big cubes of perfectly crispy-on-the-outside-creamy-on-the-inside tofu covered in a tangy orange sauce.  My buddy ordered her shrimp extra spicy and I'll definitely order my General Tso's extra spicy next time I'm at the Red Lantern.  Even though the dish was marked as spicy with a little pepper icon, I'd say it was sweet and tangy, but not really spicy, and I like my spice.  The green beans were nice and crisp, bright green (as was the broccoli with the tofu dish) and seasoned to perfection.

A big bowl of white rice rounded out the meal.

Overall

I've got to say I was pleasantly surprised by my visit to Red Lantern.  I'd done my due diligence and checked out their website to scope out the vegetarian offerings, and I was super happy to see such extensive vegetarian menu, but when I went on Yelp! I was a little put off by all the negative reviews. My Yelp-fueled expectations were pretty low going in,  but from first to last, this was a great veg dining experience.  Everything looked beautiful and tasted wonderful.  I'll definitely be back, but first I've got a lot of Shrewsbury Street to cover!

The Bill

$48 and change for a veritable feast (soup, two appetizers, two entrees, side of veg, rice, and tea) and we each had plenty to take home for another meal.