Reader's Choice: Residents Pick Avenue East As Top Spot For Chinese Food

It was a close race, but in the end, 38 percent of readers who participated in our recent Reader's Choice poll selected Avenue East as their favorite Chinese food restaurant in town.

Avenue East isn't your typical chinese food joint. Sure, you can still find your beloved beef and broccoli and other staples of chinese take-out such as wonton soup. But Avenue East goes a step beyond the paper menues and grease-soaked paper bags that we know - and generally enjoy - at other Chinese food places. The chic, subtly-lit restaurant with its modern tables and fixtures boasts cuisine prepared without MSG, and using healthy ingredients such as canola oil and white meat chicken. Many, but not all, of the entrees offer nutritional information on the menu as well.

The restaurant opened just over two years ago in a large space at 16 North Union Ave. in Cranford's Downtown Business District. In addition to typical Chinese fare, the resaurant - as many Chinese places are doing these days - also offers other Asian-inspired dishes such as Thai curries and sushi. Avenue East bills itself as an "Asian fushion" restaurant, but many resients still go there to dine on traditional Chinese food. One of the most popular items on the menu is the wonton soup. Readers claim that what sets the soup apart from other take-out places is the small, delicate wontons and flavorful broth.

Abigail Breslan, a Somerset County resident who goes to Avenue East whenever she's visiting relatives in town, is a fan of the garlic shrimp and the satay beef.

"I try to come here whenever I can, and I'll usually order extra food to take back home with me," Breslan said as she was leaving Avenue East after a recent meal.

Avenue East is open from Monday to Thursday, from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday from 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.; Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. and Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.

The Chinese restaurants that were included in the Reader's Choice poll, and the results are as follows:

•   30 (38%)
• China East   1 (1%)
•   25 (32%)
•   22 (28%)

Total votes: 78