Sonoma County Restaurants: Chinois
Windsor is continuing to grow new restaurants that are really good places to eat. One of the newest is Chinois in downtown Windsor on Windsor River Road, just down the street from Omelette Express and across the street from Mirepoix. In fact, it’s so new that the owners are really not advertising it yet. It’s been open six weeks and the staff is still “shaking it out”. My husband and I had lunch there this week and it’s really worth stopping by.
Speaking of the owners, they’re the same people who own Ume, just down the street on Old Redwood Highway on the other side of US 101 – Chef Chang Liow, his wife Kelly Shu and, for Chinois, Kelly’s sister, Debby. Chinois has some similarities to Ume. It’s not a Japanese Bistro this time so there’s no sushi; it’s also, despite the name, not totally a Chinese Bistro either. It’s a bit more broadly Asian, perhaps more Asian fusion, since there are dishes that are influenced by other Southeast Asian cuisines as well as by Chinese cuisine. The similarities are in the attention to detail; the wine list, which is sophisticated and can be truly expensive if you’re in the mood; and the premium sakes that are also available. For those who would prefer to avoid alcoholic beverages, especially at lunch, there is an extraordinary selection of teas that reflect some of the best teas from Asia.
So on to the food. We’ve only tried lunch so far, and the menu for lunch is reasonable – entrees range between $12 and $16. There are appetizers, which looked wonderful, but which we did not try. What we did try were two entrée dishes – Shrimp Sambal and Basil Beef. The shrimp dish had six large shrimp in it and a lovely sauce that had wonderful spices in it, but was not hot. The Basil Beef had a hint of spicy hot as well as the very tasty basil flavoring. Both dishes were served with rice, a really tasty daikon soup and a very nice salad. A coconut crème brulee that combines a hot custard with a cool coconut custard was a really great dessert.
I’m looking forward to trying dinner at this restaurant. It’s really worth the visit.
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