Cheng-Du Restaurant
249 N. Main St. Mansfield
Telephone: (508) 339-5946

Hours: Monday through Thursday 11:30 a.m. to 10 p. m.,
Friday 11:30 a.m. to 11 p. m. Saturday noon to 11 p.m.,
Sunday 4:50 a.m. to 10 p.m.

American Express MasterCard Visa accepted

Handicapped accessible

No separate smoking section

Before this goes any further, a thank-you must go out to a reader who wrote South Weekly suggesting this restaurant. Thank you for one of the most enjoyable dining experiences I have had in this area. I might never have discovered Cheng-Du tucked away in downtown Mansfield - not a frequent hangout but soon to be since this culinary find.

Cheng-Du is an excellent Chinese restaurant and seems to be a favorite for the locals who greet each other from across the room. "Outsiders" trying to find the restaurant are warned to keep a careful watch because it is easy to miss the place. "We're small, but we have great food." said a person giving directions over the phone.

The "small" translates into "cozy." And the "great food" translates into food that is really special for this area.

The decor is inviting and relaxing in its simplicity: tables covered in white linen cloths a few wall hangings of Chinese art soft lighting from low hanging lamps. Plus, the room is the perfect size for peeking at other tables to see what diners are having so you can make a decision.

But beware, it will not be easy to decide. The menu is so expansive you could take 20 to 30 minutes just mulling over the possibilities. Each written description increases the appetite so much that you may not make it all the way through the menu.

If you do not, here are some suggestions. The scallion pie ($3.65) is a popular selection that is sinfully good. It is a thin deep fried dough, faintly like a pizza, filled with scallions and served with a vinegar dipping sauce. Cheng-Du's spring rolls ($3.95) are a cut above most restaurants'. They are crisp and light on the oil with tiny pieces of shrimp throughout. And the hot and sour soup ($2.25), which the reader recommended, was nicely done - spicy, with a nice burn that was not too hot.

Other appetizer selections include crab Rangoon ($4.95), barbecued spare ribs ($5.95) and Peking ravioli ($3.75). If you are the indecisive type, the pu-pu platter ($14.50), offering a variety of appetizers, is for you.

The entrees cover all the bases - poultry, beef and seafood. For the vegetarian, there are many vegetable, rice and noodle entrees. Cheng-Du offers many luncheon specials that are combination plates for $4.50 to $6.25. There is also a luncheon buffet Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. for $6.25 per person.

The restaurant seems particularly good at preparing its dishes with fresh vegetables that arrive crispy, not overcooked and all the sauces are thick and rich. Two of the most unusual and tasty dishes sampled were the Strange Flavored Chicken ($8.95) and the Kung Pao lamb ($9.75).

The chicken dish, a house special combined tender chicken breast strips, stir-fried with pea pods, baby corns, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts and sweet red pepper strips in a spicy Szechwan sauce. There was a strong, pleasant ginger taste to the dish.

The Kung Pao lamb, not a common menu item for local Chinese restaurants, included peanuts, hot red peppers, garlic, scallions, dark soy sauce sugar and vinegar. The lamb was cooked using a Szechwan technique that brings out a variety of flavors in one dish -sweet, sour, hot and spicy.

For a bit of drama, order one of the sizzling platters and watch everyone turn around to watch you receive it. The sizzling shrimp platter ($10.95) is an excellent choice. Large shrimp, that are plump and firm with freshness, are stir-fried with pea pods, baby corns and mushrooms in Chinese wine sauce.

If you make it to dessert, you can choose from fried bananas, fried apples, fried ice cream and pineapples for $1.50 to $3.25. But if you cannot, the fortune cookies are a good end to a nice meal.

SANDY COLEMAN
Boston Globe Sunday

"Mansfield's Cheng-Du rates with the best"

Cheng-Du Restaurant - *****

By Dick White

New Bedford Standard-Times staff writer

  I would estimate that 50 people a week suggest we review one restaurant or another... and that's on a slow week. For the last two years, my pal Dave has been trying to get us to review his favorite Chinese restaurant, Cheng-Du in Mansfield.

"I don't even know where Mansfield is," was my initial response.

"It's only about 40 minutes north of New Bedford," he replied. "You've reviewed restaurants further away."

"But I try not to make a habit of it." I said.

"Then don't, but you should review this restaurant."

After having that same conversation with him for two years, I asked Dave and his friend Catherine to accompany Joanie and me on a recent Saturday night.

The moral of the story is that there's a lot to be said for persistence sad even more to be said for Cheng-Du, one of the best Chinese restaurants it has been my pleasure to review.

The young and lovely owner, Chieh Tang, has opened a second restaurant by the same name in Westboro. I wish she would open a third here.

The restaurant seats only 65, but we were led to a center table almost immediately. The dining room's décor is something out of the Twilight Zone - a decor of both shadow and substance. One side of the room is soft and white with colorful art, the other, black. "Think of it as the Yin and Yang of dining room decor," Catherine said, pouring from a complimentary pot of Chinese tea.

We ordered a bottle of Wan-Fu – a fruity, dry French wine blended to accompany Oriental cuisine. It was a wondrous wine whose boundaries are that of the imagination.

Your next stop: The Wan-Fu Zone.

"So, what's good?" I asked, whereupon both Dave and Catherine went into a litany of menu items.

"What?" I asked. "No chow mein sandwich with ketchup and an Orange Crush?"

Our guests each began with hot and sour soup ($1.75), a rich, thick and very spicy stock with sliced black and regular mushrooms, scallions, bean curd, shallots, whisked egg and hot pepper oil. It was tangy and delicious. The restaurant provided large, Oriental-style spoons.

"God, do I love this soup" Dave moaned.

"I love it, too," Catherine said.

"I love wonton soup," Joanie chimed in.

"And I love a parade," I said.

Joan's wonton soup ($1.75) consisted of an exceptional, uncluttered chicken stock with slivers of pork, mushrooms, scallions and shallots, but only two wontons. Those lonely wontons, however, were graced with two wonderfully spicy pork dumplings that embraced the taste buds.

I ordered a soup called seafood delight (for two, $5.25). It was a bland, unimaginative stock, which is probably the style, but not geared to my particular taste. However, the accompanying garnish (which I ate with a fork) of fresh fish, shrimp, scallops, baby corn, shallots, Oriental mushrooms, scallions, carrots and pea pods was exceptional. It was served in two bowls, and I shared it with the others.

Things got even better when the appetizers -- scallion pie ($2.95), Peking ravioli ($4.25) and spring rolls ($3.25)-- arrived. Dave and Catherine practically got their fingers entangled reaching for the scallion pie. And I could see why. The lightly pan-fried dough with scallions and seasonings was served with a side of potent soy sauce and ginger as a counterpoint. It reminded me somewhat of an Oriental malasada.

The two spring rolls (Mandarin-style egg roll) were great. Succulent vegetables exploded in flavor in a light, tight and airy casing.

The six Peking ravioli were the best I've tasted anywhere -- light brown dough filled with huge, moist and sensationally flavorful pork dumplings. A real treat.

Our pleasant waitress, Kathie, brought out our five colorful and generous entrees.

"Just put everything in the middle of the table," Joanie said. "We'll fight over it later."

We ordered five house specialties and one Yu-Hsiang-style dish. Dave had been raving about a dish called Strange-Flavored Chicken, which Joan kept calling "funny chicken."

The only thing funny about this dish was that they charged only $7.95. It consisted of tender slices of chicken breast, stir-fried with strips of red pepper, bamboo shoots, pea pods, baby corn and water chestnuts in Cheng-Du's very special and spicy Szechwan sauce. A wonderful and deeply satisfying dish.

Joan ordered a magnificent dish with the unlikely name of Jack Levin pork ($7.95). It is named alter a UMASS Boston and radio personality who, we were told, frequented the restaurant.

This dish was made up of shredded pork stir-fried in a terrific hoisin sauce (or Peking sauce) served on a bed of veggies and topped with fresh scallions. It was absolutely delicious, and served with four thin, steamed crepes.

My Hunan shrimp ($9.50) was a perky dish. Ten huge shrimp were marinated in egg whites and Chinese oil, then stir-fried with cubed onions, ginger and tomato sauce, and topped with hot pepper oil. Very lovely.

Catherine's chicken and Phoenix ($8.95) was another winner: deep-fried chicken breast among vegetables -- straw mushrooms, red pepper, baby corn, water chestnuts, Chinese cabbage and broccoli -- sautéed in Szechwan sauce.

We also ordered Yu-Hsiang shrimp ($8.50). Yu-Hsiang, literally meaning "aromatic fish." is a Szechwan style of cooking, delicately mixing sugar and vinegar with garlic and chili sauce. The result is a unique, exotic flavor, which lends itself to beef, chicken, pork or vegetables. This version was loaded with tender, small shrimp, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots and red pepper. Aromatic and wonderful.

The dishes were offset nicely by a huge bowl of perfect white rice.

I'm stuffed," Catherine said.

"I can't move," Dave said.

"Pass the funny chicken," Joanie said.

For dessert, our guests shared fried ice cream ($2)-- a hot, sweet and crispy shell around a huge block of vanilla ice cream, all topped with whipped cream. Joan and I shared fried bananas (for two, $2.95)-- six hot banana fritters in a light dough with warm honey and sesame seeds. Two delightfully different desserts.

I finished off with the warm Japanese wine they used to give kamikaze pilots, called sake (pronounced SAH-key) at $2.95. Very potent.

Not counting drinks and tip, the bill came to $74.49, including five entrees for four people. This quality meal was worth much more than that.

Cheng-Du is among the finest Chinese restaurants I've found -- well worth the travel and right up there with Weylu's in Brockton and the Cathy Temple in Mattapoisett, the only other Chinese restaurants to garner The Big Five in five-plus years in these pages.

Service is friendly and unpretentious and the ambiance is relaxed. The menu is extensive, inexpensive and utterly creative. It exerts the sort of tender culinary care that hits the mark every time. And its aim is genuine and true. One gets the unshakable feeling that Cheng-Du goes out of its way to care for its clientele.

And that's a genuinely rare combination of the highest attributes in any restaurant, anywhere.

"Mansfield Chinese Restaurant
serves the stars of Great Woods"

By Michael Couture

Enterprise Correspondent

MANSFIELD -- It might not be the restaurant of film stars, as is Graumann's Chinese on the West Coast, but the Cheng-Du Restaurant here qualifies as the eating place of the East Coast classical music set.

Located on 249 Main St., the restaurant has been a favorite of some of the top figures in the classical music field, at least the ones who have appeared at the Great Woods Center for the Performing Arts.

Since the center opened three years ago, the restaurant run by Michael Chao and Jay Tang has become the eating spot after concerts, according to Rudolf Schlegel, executive director of the Great Woods Educational Forum, who has taken some of the music greats to the establishment or directed them to the spot.

"In my opinion, the Cheng-Du Restaurant is the best-kept culinary secret in the area," Schlegel said. "It's great that it's located so close because there is almost an universal appetite among musicians for Chinese food."

From the experiences of the various musicians and singers, and his own, Schlegel is able: to determine that the restaurant is exceptional because of the food, service and friendliness.

"In addition, they serve a great meal at a fair price," he said.

Among the notables who have dined at the restaurant are Lynn Harrell, cellist; Michael Tilson Thomas, former director/conductor at Great Woods, Itzhak Perlman, violinist, and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra members.

"Not all eat after the concert. Some like to play with an empty stomach, while there are others who like to play with something inside them," Schlegel said. "For the ones who go without food, or even the ones who eat before, they expend a lot of energy in the playing and then need some refueling."

What is good about the Cheng-Du according to Schlegal, is that the management will stay open after the usual closing time to serve musicians. All that is required is a phone call, he said.

"And when you come there, you don't get leftovers, but some food prepared from the beginning," Schlegel said.

On some occasions, a person might pick up a large order to take back to Great Woods, Schlegel said. The restaurant wants to accommodate them, which is the reason for its popularity, he said.

"It is a little gem," Schlegel said. "It has attracted quite a following from the various musicians."

Chao says the secret to the success is that it is a family operation, which results in everyone working for a common cause - the satisfaction of the customers. The establishment has been open for 10 years and did a steady business before Great Woods came on the scene. Now, Chao says that the trade from the facility results in a 25 percent increase in summer business. And for that he is grateful.

"The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra comes here to eat mainly at night, but some have come earlier and some have come for the buffet during the day," Chao said.

Classical musicians appear to be devoted to Chinese food, Chao said. As for preference, he says that the entire menu seems to be their favorite, but admits that the kung-pao style food -- a famous style of Szechuan cooking calling for hot red peppers, Szechuan peppers, garlic, scallions, dark soy sauce, sugar, vinegar and peanuts -- stands out. In addition, he said, he hot and sour soup is another dish that the group favors.

"We run a restaurant that cares very much about quality of the product," he said. "We also care about the contentment of our customers."

Musicians and conductors are not the only customers, as the restaurant gets a large share of its trade from locals and from Providence, Fall River and other nearby communities, Chao said.

The menu is extensive and includes dishes in the moo-shi style and yu-hsiang style, among others.

Cheng-Du
249 North Main Street, Mansfield, MA
tel.  508-339-5946 * fax 508-261-8825
e-mail

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