Kat's 9 Lives

Tofu should be happy reading this review. Lakeside Chinese Cuisine is one of Tofu's favorite Chinese restaurants, if not his favorite. I finally decided to try this place out even though I have probably passed by it a hundred times. Although, I might have been here a LONG time ago and just don't remember. We went for lunch on a Friday and they weren't that busy. The inside decor was your typical Chinese restaurant and it was very clean. There was nostalgic paper mats with Zodiac signs. Service was friendly and the people who worked there were Chinese. The meal started off with your typical Fried Noodles with sauces to nibble on as they prepare the meal.
I opted to get one of the lunch specials. Their prices for the lunch specials were around $1-$3 higher than Irvine's, but then again with the unrelenting high gas prices it's more reasonable to stay close to home. Of course it came with soup or salad, as usual I chose the soup. It was an Egg Drop soup. Despite the chopped water chestnuts, I actually liked the soup. It had a nice subtle flavor and was tasty with the fried noodles.
I decided to give their Mongolian Beef a try. Tofu said it was good, so I went out on a ledge and gave him the benefit of the doubt O=P. The meat was more like sliver slices rather than the flat slices. It was a little crisp on the outside but tender on the inside. It definitely had a lot of flavor, almost borderline salty. Personally I like salty foods, so if you want it more bland I'd advise you to say something. I bet my SALTY sister would like it O=D. The fried chicken and wonton that came with the lunch was only decent, not very flavorful.
Tofu's favorite dish there was Shredded Pork in Special Dark Sauce, sorry if I remembered the title slightly wrong it's been a while. Sadly, they didn't make it the way he liked it. It's suppose to be sweet but the dish overall was bland and not sweet at all. The good thing about the dish was that it was almost all meat with tons of green onions on the bottom. If only it was more flavorful, I would have ate more.
We also ordered the Orange Chicken to share since we had a minimum to hit. The chicken was crispy yet tender on the inside. It's a very Americanized dish, but it was good. The flavor wasn't too sweet, although I wished it was a little more orangey. I also like that this dish was mainly meat and no veggies.
All in all the food was good, especially since I had a coupon for $5 off of $25 that is why we had to order more. Why not, it was basically free. The service was good, they came back once in a while and not too often that I'd find them intrusive. I found this place better than I suspected, it's definitely decent enough for me to come back. Of course I would have to use my coupons again!