China Light Café is a place that my husband and I have
frequented for many years. I would say that it’s a staple in American Fork when
it comes to Chinese cuisine. Despite the fact that I have been there more times
than I can count, I have only ever gotten one thing: the #80 daily special. (Don’t
get too excited, there aren’t actually 80 specials. They count by ten on their
menu for some reason…) This special comes with special chow mein (the “special”
part is that it’s actually lo mein), sweet & sour chicken, an egg roll, ham
fried rice, and a cup of soup. This review will be based on my most recent trip
to China Light Café.
Soup: The soup options this time were Cantonese (egg drop)
soup and cream of broccoli soup. I’m not generally a huge egg drop soup so I
went with the cream of broccoli. Spencer ordered egg drop. Spencer let me taste his soup and it was
fine. I’m always put off by the taste of egg drop soup and I don’t understand
how they’re able to get that thick-ish texture to the broth. Cornstarch, maybe?
Ew. I’m not a fan. But, for egg drop soup, it was fine. My cream of broccoli
was a bowl of cream soup with a very small, token piece of broccoli. The soup
tasted like thickened milk and had zero broccoli flavor. I mean zero. I was
quite disappointed. I should have ordered egg drop.
Special Chow Mein: I have no idea why they call this chow
mein, because it is obviously lo mein. That being said, it is delicious. Truly,
it’s the best thing there. I’m a big fan.
Sweet and Sour Chicken: China Light’s sweet and sour chicken
is a little different than most others that I have had. Instead of cooking
small, individual pieces of chicken, they fry up one long piece of chicken and
slice it. Definitely unusual, but very yummy. The batter is light and crispy
and the chicken is always high quality white meat. A winner for sure.
Egg Roll: China Light definitely does not skimp when it
comes to their egg rolls. They are huge! They seem to be double wrapped (Which
I love! The fried wrapper is the best part, right?) and they are stuffed with
lots of veggies. Very good egg rolls.
Fried Rice: I’m pretty disappointed by the fried rice.
Although it is obviously fried (as indicated by the overall oily texture) there
is very little flavor. It’s like they just tossed the rice with oil and called
it good. There are also carrots, peas, and small pieces of ham with the plain
rice. Honestly, I prefer the fried rice that I make at home.
One note that I must make about the food overall: It is very
heavy. When you’re finished eating, a sheen of oil seems to coat the entire
surface of the plate. Some people really like this kind of Chinese food, my husband
being one of them. I prefer my Chinese food to be a bit more fresh and bold
with fried elements as accents, not as the whole. You won’t taste a ton of
spice, ginger, or garlic at China Light. However, the food is pretty yummy and
very affordable. Whenever I leave China Light, I feel full, satisfied, and like
my arteries are going to clog up on the way home.
