Promised delivery time: 35-40 minutes Actual delivery time: 22 minutes
THE SCORE Delivery earlier than promised: 20 Points No online ordering: Minus 5 Points No MSG: 10 Points Fresh tasting food: 40 Points Food securely packaged: 10 Points
TOTAL: 75 points
E-mail menus, snail-mail menus, and door-hanger menus. Where would we be without them? Whether you live downtown, uptown or in the swingin' suburbs, you probably rely on a combination of these menus whenever you want to order delivery, at least until you can start to develop old favorites. When I first moved to my neighborhood a few years back, I was receiving new ones weekly, if not daily. Lately, the trend seems to have slowed as the area is building up, so I was particularly pleased to receive a new advertisement for Lin's China Diner, a College Station import that has branched into Big D.
Scanning the menu, I decided on a couple of usual starters: Vegetable spring roll and a cup of hot and sour soup, plus Thai chicken and shrimp and jalapeño beef for entrees. The first sign of a successful mission showed up at my door precisely 22 minutes after I finished placing the order. When you can beat your promised delivery time by more than 10 minutes, it suggests that you've really got your act together. I quickly plated my goodies and commenced to tasting. Foodwise, Lin's China Diner seems committed to the New School of delivery Chinese: No MSG and fresh, clean flavors. Alas, the spring roll was very ordinary, and while the hot and sour soup had good flavor, it still lacked zest. Luckily, the entrees fared better, particularly the Thai chicken and shrimp: Green beans sautéed with chicken and shrimp in a Thai sauce. Beans were nicely cooked, and the meat was very tender. I was intrigued by the double pepper sign next to the jalapeño beef on the menu, signifying extra heat, so I decided to take life and limb in my own hands and ordered it. As it turns out, there was nothing particularly spicy about the meat, they just cut up extra jalapenos into the mixture. Still, the meat was again wonderfully tender and fresh tasting and made for a satisfying meal. Accompanying steamed and fried rice were good as well. In sum, a good, solid delivery meal and I will certainly hang on to this menu for the next time I'm in the mood for Chinese.
Lin's China Diner 5930 W. Park Blvd, Ste. 1800 Plano 972-931-6666
