lifestyle

The Barrio Chino on the edges of Santa Ana and San Felipe still maintains much of its identity, but for years now the new Chinese neighborhood in Panama City is El Dorado. On every visit there's some new restaurant or store to try.

On this Saturday, I had a few things to look for (and not find) in the gordo clothing section at Saks and a couple of hours to kill before I had to be covering an event elsewhere in the city. First, downstairs to a little Chinese grocery to get the Yunnan-style instant noodles (rice, not wheat, thus non-gluten and not so filling), some dried fruit (this time some red dates) and the usual staples of Chinese mushrooms and mustard greens.

That grocery shopping done, I still had most of my time left and it was late in the lunch hour, so after looking at a few new places I exited the main shopping center building at the back, on the Super 99 side, and crossed the alley to a building behind, and within it a place I hadn't been before, Restaurante California. The red front and Chinese characters were a giveaway --- but of course California does have a long-established Chinese community.

Inside I found a place of unremarkable decor, with everyone working there and the people at three of the four occupied tables Chinese. In and out of the private dining room in back came and went young Chinese men, 20s and 30s range, with dress and hair that suggested that they're not from here. (It's not a problem for me. Our immigration system could be improved but Chinese people coming here to work, do business and raise families is a mostly positive thing as I see it.)

The service was friendly and efficient, but not particularly fast. The rather plain decor was matched by a relatively quiet sound level. This is a good place for a conversation over tea.

I put in my order for oysters a la plancha and spring rolls, no rice please. A few minutes later the waitress came out and said they were out of spring rolls, so without looking at the menu again I substituted wontons.

Enhanced gout risk! I always take that chance by eating oysters, but I did not take into account that these wontons were filled with a chopped mixture of mostly shrimp, with water chestnuts and garlic. It was going to be an ultra-purine lunch, but those wontons were really good.

Then came the oysters.

The norm for Chinese-style fried oysters in this country is that they are lightly cooked, and there are people who avoid them for fear of catching some germ from an undercooked oyster. It's not a completely unreasonable fear, but Panama hasn't had many reports of that sort of health hazard. But in any case, the Restaurante California's ostiones a la plancha were well done, crispy at the edges, on the large side and in a brown sauce that included slices of ginger, white onions and green onions. The sauce had a little bite to it but wasn't as gingery as those that I have had at other places.

This was an ample serving of oysters, and the wonton order was really appetizers for two or three people. It was a major pigout, washed down with plentiful tea and cold water.

The prices of food have been climbing over the past several years in Panama, in stores and in restaurants. Tip not included (although I did tip on my usual gringo scale, having worked for tips in my lifetime and received proper service, the bill was $18. There are cheaper and more expensive places to eat, but it was a fair price.

I don't do stars and I will hold the superlatives, but I do believe that I will be back to Restaurante California.