A neighborhood restaurant with an operatic theme in Skillman.
By: Pat Tanner
Montgomery Shopping Center, 1325 Route 206, Skillman (609) 921-8551 Food: Fair Service: Efficient, but English can be problematic Cuisine: Chinese and sushi Ambiance: Airy, with interesting Chinese opera motif Prices: Inexpensive Hours: Lunch specials: 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Mon.-Fri. Regular lunch/dinner menu in effect all other times: 2:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Mon.-Thur.; 2:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., Fri.; 11:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., Sat.; 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., Sun. Essentials: Credit cards accepted; no liquor license; no smoking allowed; wheelchair accessible; reservations accepted. |
SKILLMAN Neighborhood Chinese and Italian restaurants seem to have a distinct disadvantage: They must set themselves apart from their countless brethren. The Opera Room in the Montgomery Shopping Center seemed, on the face, to have possibilities. Its owners, having enjoyed careers in Chinese opera, chose that as its decorative theme and, if I am not mistaken, originally planned to have live Chinese music on the premises.
The latter, if ever a possibility, never came to fruition, although the restaurant does sport colorful paintings of characters from classic Chinese operas. These are spread out over melon-colored walls in a large, L-shaped room that also features a sushi bar. Tables are well spaced and sport white linen. Overall, the space appears brighter and lighter in tone than many Chinese restaurants. A separate, sunny room up front acts as a private party room.
Our group got off to a good start with pots of the exceptional house tea, which is unusually delicate. The Opera Room’s food, however, rarely rises above standard restaurant fare. The typically huge, cookie-cutter menu is made even more cumbersome with the addition of selections of sushi, sashimi, tempura and teriyaki dishes. Of these, we tried only two smoked salmon sushi pieces ($4) that did not distinguish themselves.
There are certain war horse dishes by which I compare Chinese restaurants. Scallion pancakes ($2.50) here were gummy, pale and chewy, although they were mercifully greaseless. Steamed dumplings ($4.80), both the pork version and the vegetable version, came enveloped in thick, doughy wrappers, and the vegetable filling was downright bitter. The pork filling simply tasted odd.
Chicken fried rice ($7.25) didn’t even make it to a rating of "average." But two soups shone: a spirited hot and sour soup ($1.75) and a remarkable egg drop soup ($1.50) that tasted homemade and freshly made, and managed to avoid those twin disasters: a consistency of glue and a color that glows a phosphorescent yellow.
The only other standout dish was a special of shrimp with mango ($12). Excellent jumbo shrimp were cooked just right in a curry sauce with batons of fresh mango. It didn’t seem particularly Chinese, but it was delicious. The jumbo shrimp in Shrimp Duet ($16) were, likewise, very good. Attractively presented in a sort of yin-yang pattern, half had been stir fried with vegetables in a sweetish brown sauce and half in a spicy garlic sauce. Both sauces were standard, nothing more.
Boneless duck with black mushrooms ($14) was a disappointment mostly due to stringy, overcooked meat and an unpleasant layer of fat. Another special, a generous serving of squid with Chinese sour vegetables ($11), featured pleasantly chewy squid that had been cut into decorative spirals. I especially liked the sour vegetables, although the oyster sauce was insipid.
Having found a few high spots the jumbo shrimp, the soups I suppose it is possible that subsequent visits to the Opera Room could eventually yield a handful of very good dishes. And two pieces of smoked salmon is, admittedly, not a thorough test of its sushi bar. But with so much competition out there, I have to admit I am hard-pressed to persevere.