Sitting under rows of ornate Chinese lanterns with the smell of ginger and fried chicken wafting throughout the restaurant, I forgot I was smack dab in the middle of crowded downtown Athens, Ga. at lunch hour. What appears to be a hole-in-the-wall of a restaurant located on the corner of Broad St. and College Ave. is actually a Chinese food spot that will make your taste buds return for second helpings.
At Cheng’s Downtown, for a mere $5.37 a person gets their pick of any two entrée items, rice or noodles and a cup of soup. The lunch buffet offers around 15 different entrée choices. Not only does Cheng’s Downtown offer dishes made with chicken, beef or seafood, but they also have a selection of cuisine that is either made with tofu or vegetables. Catering to the ever-growing population of health-conscious vegetarians and vegans, they do not, however single them out from the other carnivorous creatures of Athens. All selections are showcased in throughout the same buffet-style serving case. There are three choices of soup: hot and sour, egg drop, and vegetable wonton soup.
For my soup appetizer, I stuck with a personal favorite of mine, egg drop soup. The egg drop soup was flavorful but contained many unusual ingredients that made this soup stand out from what you expect in the traditional dish. However, the entrees I sampled did prove to be a cut above the rest. The Kung pao chicken is mixed with the perfect proportion of spices, peppercorns, and assorted stir-fry veggies that culminate in a mild and delectable serving. The tofu dish, labeled solely TOFU in all capital letters on the buffet line, was by far one of my favorite entrees I tried at Cheng’s Downtown. The first flavor to hit my taste buds was the sweet taste of ginger, undercut by the spiciness of chili peppers. The most disappointing dish was curried chicken, which seemed bland to me because I am more accustomed to the more piquant Eastern Indian prepared version of the entrée. According to the waitress, the dish included chicken, combined with soy sauce, curry powder and green veggies, which tinted the final product green. The lack of flavor in the curried chicken was made up in the peppered chicken dish. The peppered chicken tasted largely of black pepper and soy sauce but had a satisfyingly crisp taste that left my palette feeling cleansed. “I’ve never tried anything as zesty as this peppered chicken before at a Chinese restaurant,” said Matt Sanders, my boyfriend who accompanied me on this trek for decent Chinese food. The fried pork rice was fluffy and savory. This was a pleasant surprise after trying rice at other Chinese buffets that have the distinct metallic flavoring that leads one to believe the rice has been sitting in a heated serving bin all day.
 The service was fast and friendly at Cheng’s downtown. Before deciding which dishes to try, the waitress allowed us to sample several menu items on toothpicks and pointed out which dishes were spicy. She was also attentive to refilling our sodas and making sure we had everything we needed for our meal. From the outside, Cheng’s Downtown looks as if it should have been renovated 20 years ago and I was always wary of eating there. However, upon eating a meal at Cheng’s Downtown, anyone can see that it provides a clean environment, good service and affordably priced delectable dishes in serving sizes that you could only finish if you had gone without eating for a day or so. My meal at Cheng’s Downtown proved to be a purely positive dining experience that I did not expect from appearance of the restaurant’s exterior which goes to show that “you can’t judge a book by its cover.”
At Cheng’s Downtown, for a mere $5.37 a person gets their pick of any two entrée items, rice or noodles and a cup of soup. The lunch buffet offers around 15 different entrée choices. Not only does Cheng’s Downtown offer dishes made with chicken, beef or seafood, but they also have a selection of cuisine that is either made with tofu or vegetables. Catering to the ever-growing population of health-conscious vegetarians and vegans, they do not, however single them out from the other carnivorous creatures of Athens. All selections are showcased in throughout the same buffet-style serving case. There are three choices of soup: hot and sour, egg drop, and vegetable wonton soup.
For my soup appetizer, I stuck with a personal favorite of mine, egg drop soup. The egg drop soup was flavorful but contained many unusual ingredients that made this soup stand out from what you expect in the traditional dish. However, the entrees I sampled did prove to be a cut above the rest. The Kung pao chicken is mixed with the perfect proportion of spices, peppercorns, and assorted stir-fry veggies that culminate in a mild and delectable serving. The tofu dish, labeled solely TOFU in all capital letters on the buffet line, was by far one of my favorite entrees I tried at Cheng’s Downtown. The first flavor to hit my taste buds was the sweet taste of ginger, undercut by the spiciness of chili peppers. The most disappointing dish was curried chicken, which seemed bland to me because I am more accustomed to the more piquant Eastern Indian prepared version of the entrée. According to the waitress, the dish included chicken, combined with soy sauce, curry powder and green veggies, which tinted the final product green. The lack of flavor in the curried chicken was made up in the peppered chicken dish. The peppered chicken tasted largely of black pepper and soy sauce but had a satisfyingly crisp taste that left my palette feeling cleansed. “I’ve never tried anything as zesty as this peppered chicken before at a Chinese restaurant,” said Matt Sanders, my boyfriend who accompanied me on this trek for decent Chinese food. The fried pork rice was fluffy and savory. This was a pleasant surprise after trying rice at other Chinese buffets that have the distinct metallic flavoring that leads one to believe the rice has been sitting in a heated serving bin all day.
 The service was fast and friendly at Cheng’s downtown. Before deciding which dishes to try, the waitress allowed us to sample several menu items on toothpicks and pointed out which dishes were spicy. She was also attentive to refilling our sodas and making sure we had everything we needed for our meal. From the outside, Cheng’s Downtown looks as if it should have been renovated 20 years ago and I was always wary of eating there. However, upon eating a meal at Cheng’s Downtown, anyone can see that it provides a clean environment, good service and affordably priced delectable dishes in serving sizes that you could only finish if you had gone without eating for a day or so. My meal at Cheng’s Downtown proved to be a purely positive dining experience that I did not expect from appearance of the restaurant’s exterior which goes to show that “you can’t judge a book by its cover.”
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