ROYAL GARDEN OFFERS EARTHY DELIGHTS.Byline: Larry Lipson Restaurant Critic HIDDEN BEHIND a more prominent building housing a restaurant and nightclub, the Royal Garden in Agoura Hills fights for recognition with a large menu of familiar Chinese dishes The following is a list of dishes that are part of Chinese cuisine. Typical dishes Savory dishes
Trying to overcome its lack of visibility, it offers an extensive all-you-can-eat weekday lunch buffet for $5.99. But once past such come-ons, there's a deep enough bill of fare from which one can uncover certain delightful renditions of Chinese cooking. But it takes more than a single visit to determine the Royal Garden's strengths and weaknesses. One of them is merely getting the right degree of spiciness when ordering the starred (hot and spicy) items. For example, the hot-and-sour soup ($4.95 for two, $7.95 for four) could have been hotter in both temperature and peppery pep·per·y adj. 1. Of, containing, or resembling pepper; sharp or pungent in flavor. 2. Vigorously sharp-tempered: a peppery sales clerk. 3. heat one day. Returned to correct the former problem, the soup tasted much better steamier. But it still had room for spicy-heat improvement, a flaw that simply doesn't occur if a special request is made at the time of ordering. This was found out on a second visit when fish in Szechwan sauce ($12.95) was ordered ``nice and spicy.'' The result was unquestionably un·ques·tion·a·ble adj. Beyond question or doubt. See Synonyms at authentic. un·ques  tion·a·bil the best dish experienced at Royal Garden, simply a generous portion of soft, buttery sole fillets floating in a well-crafted, medium-hot red chile sauce. But spicy honey chicken ($8.95) with chicken pieces coated in a sweet, glazed, crispy batter wasn't specifically requested as ``nice and spicy''; consequently, the total effect was much milder, though there was a very obvious scattering of hot red peppers in the dish. Actually, as it worked out, this chicken dish is quite commendable, probably not needing a stronger peppery boost. Apparently the honey did its job of tempering any potential over- fieriness. Also worth a recommendation is a pastalike dish with a mustard-yellow curry tone, the Royal Garden's version of Singapore-style rice noodles Rice noodles are noodles that are made from rice. Their principal ingredients are rice flour and water. However, sometimes other ingredients such as tapioca or corn starch are also added in order to improve the transparency or increase the gelatinous and chewy texture of the ($8.95) - very thin like angel hair, and studded with shrimp and pork. A passable pass·a·ble adj. 1. That can be passed, traversed, or crossed; navigable: a passable road. 2. Acceptable for general circulation: passable currency. 3. house specialty turns out to be the sizzling siz·zle intr.v. siz·zled, siz·zling, siz·zles 1. To make the hissing sound characteristic of frying fat. 2. To seethe with anger or indignation. 3. beef and scallops ``delight'' ($13.95), mixed with crisp vegetables, and perhaps a trifle oily, in a dark brown, somewhat rich sauce. One of two lamb plates offered - supposedly of Hunan persuasion ($11.95) - was a disappointment. It lacked the usual Hunan heat and was characterized by small, stringy string·y adj. string·i·er, string·i·est 1. Consisting of, resembling, or containing strings or a string. 2. Slender and sinewy; wiry. 3. Forming strings, as a viscous liquid; ropy. pieces of lamb tossed with vegetables. As for beginnings, the kitchen makes nicely pudgy pork and vegetable egg rolls ($5.94) in the Shanghai manner, also with a slightly oily surface. And 10 steamed Shanghai dumplings ($7.95) are of welcome lightness, wrapped in a fairly thin skin with good meaty stuffing and an overall puffy rather than pasty quality - definitely one of Royal Garden's strengths. And when dessert time comes, fried banana puffs ($5.95) appear to be a sound choice, revealing pastry exteriors that denote no indication of oiliness. Just sugary sug·ar·y adj. sug·ar·i·er, sug·ar·i·est 1. Characterized by or containing sugar: sugary foods. 2. Tasting or looking like sugar. 3. satisfaction. Larry Lipson, (818) 713-3668 larry.lipson(at)dailynews.com ROYAL GARDEN Food: Two and one half stars - Service: Three stars - Wine: One star Where: 30125 W. Agoura Road, Agoura Hills. Phone: (818) 879-1901. Meals/hours: Open for lunch, dinner and snacks from 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, noon to 9 p.m. Sunday. Food type: Chinese. Cost: Starters from $1.50 to $14.95, main dishes from $8 to $20, desserts $5 to $6. The $5.99 lunch buffet features salads, seafood, meat, vegetables, noodles noo·dle 1 n. A narrow, ribbonlike strip of dried dough, usually made of flour, eggs, and water. [German Nudel. , steamed and sauteed appetizers, fresh fruits, desserts and fortune cookies. Credit cards: All major. Patio dining: Yes. Two tables in front. Parking/valet: Free parking in shopping center shopping center, a concentration of retail, service, and entertainment enterprises designed to serve the surrounding region. The modern shopping center differs from its antecedents—bazaars and marketplaces—in that the shops are usually amalgamated into lot. Full bar: No. Wine/corkage: Small list of familiar brand names at $3.50 to $8 per glass, $7.50 to $14 for half and full carafes, $18 to $35 per bottle. Corkage cork·age n. A charge exacted at a restaurant for every bottle of liquor served that was not bought on the premises. corkage Noun a charge made at a restaurant for serving wine bought elsewhere : $6. Music/entertainment: No. Takeout/delivery: Both. Reservations: Helpful. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: The puffy steamed Shanghai dumplings, wrapped in fairly thin skin with meaty stuffing, are one of Royal Garden's stronger offerings. Michael Owen
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