Wan Q

13535 NW Cornell Rd, Beaverton, 97229

I don't know about you, but I like my Chinese food greasy. Not so much so that it drips when you pick it up, but definitely so that the bottom of the plate is coated in grease and so are your fingers and your mouth and anything else that touches the food. Which is why Wan Q has been my favorite Portland-area Chinese restaurant for the last 8 or 9 years despite the fact that it's way out in Beaverton.

The huge portions of cheap, greasy food in every shade of brown; the black, red & gold decor; the cheesy early 90's music barely discernible in the background; the separate lounge area filled with cigarette smoke, red vinyl booths and 50-something regulars who pump bills into the video poker machines; the aquarium with neon fish; the aggressively pleasant waitresses who box your leftovers at the end of the meal...these are the things that make a great Chinese restaurant in the NW.

So imagine my disappointment when tonight the portions were halved for the same price, and the food had been de-greased. The egg roll, fried to a lovely color though it was, lacked its usual luster. The orange chicken actually looked and tasted like cubed chicken breast rather than the delightful grayish meat I had come to know and love. The rice looked like it had been fried in a pan coated with Pam rather than oil or fat. I didn't once have to wipe the grease away from my lips or worry about next-day pimples.

I know that most people wouldn't have a problem with healthier Chinese food, but I for one am not happy to see all the flavor being sucked out of restaurants and replaced with low-fat, non-artery-clogging options. Fat tastes good, period. Give it to me.

None of these cream sauces made with half & half and thickened with flour. None of this fat-free sour cream or cottage cheese. None of this margarine instead of butter. None of this skinny mocha no whip. Gimme the fat! Gimme the flavor! Let me worry about walking that extra mile to ditch the calories.

Despite my disappointment in the changes Wan Q has made, it will retain its status as my favorite Chinese restaurant in the Portland area until I can find a suitable, greasy replacement. The portions, though half of what they used to be, are still more than enough. And despite the de-greasing, the food still tastes pretty darn good. I particularly recommend the fried shrimp.

Update: Although I still have not found a new favorite Chinese place, my last visit was so disappointing that I had to remove this restaurant's favorite status. I still love the feisty servers, but the food was terrible. It was all lukewarm as though it had been sitting out all day, and the fried rice was far too fried. Wan Q, what happened to you?!?