Yummy faux chicken doesn't cluck

I was looking over the menu from our favorite Chinese take-out place last night and was surprised to find soy beef and soy chicken among six dishes listed under "vegetarian cuisine."

I called Zen Kitchen in Teaneck, but was told it only had the soy chicken. So I ordered tangerine soy chicken ($11.75) to be delivered with our usual chicken wings, dumplings, pineapple fried rice and mixed vegetables with fresh garlic. The soy chicken would replace our normal order of  pork spare ribs.

Me and my wife  loved the juicy, chewy textured soy product, which appeared to be battered before it was stir-fried with broccoli in a light sauce, complete with delicious tangerine peel. We will definitely order it again and now we're eager to try soy beef.

The take-out restaurant also prepares Thai and Japanese food, including sushi, and can deliver a whole fish, steamed or fried, to your door.

Zen Kitchen,1443 Queen Anne Road, Teaneck; 
201-837-7322; open seven days

Two terrific spots for Chinese food

I can't tell you how many people feel lukewarm about Lotus Cafe, the Chinese BYO tucked into a corner of the Home Depot-Pathmark Shopping Center in Hackensack. In a way, that's good, because I won't have too much trouble getting a table there again to enjoy its unusual food.

The noodles and soup noodles are terrific, so don't bother schlepping into Chinatown. One of my favorites is zar jiang mein, fat, homemade noodles topped with a robust meat sauce ($6.95). Today, for lunch, I polished off a platter of noodles in abalone sauce ($8.95), with spinach and mushrooms, enough food for two.

But Lotus Cafe has a huge menu, including such intriguing dishes as X.O. beef casserole, squid & pork rendezvous; and chicken, shrimp or vegetarian soong, which is eaten wrapped in lettuce leaves. If you have a special occasion to celebrate or just want to splurge, ask for the extraordinary banquet menu, which lists multi-course meals for four to 10 people.

We once tried the eight-course dinner for six ($95) and were dazzled by the seafood and tofu chowder, three-cup chicken casserole, crispy duck, South Pacific prawns, beef with chili pepper, fillet of sole, Chinese broccoli and Eight Treasure rice pudding (the restaurant granted my request for it, even though ice cream or fruit is the usual ending to that dinner.)

For take-out, we have relied for the past three years or so on Zen & Kitchen in Teaneck.

What other Chinese take-out place can deliver a whole fish, fried or steamed? This is another big menu, with Thai food, soup noodles, sushi and bento boxes. We usually stick to the Chinese items, including vegetables prepared with fresh garlic instead of the gloppy garlic sauce and terrific ribs. Zen's delivery area includes Hackensack, Paramus, Cresskill and Ridgefield Park.

Lotus Cafe, 450 Hackensack Ave., Hackensack; 201-488-7070.

Zen & Kitchen, 1443 Queen Anne Road, Teaneck; 201-837-7322.