Located in what used to be the Whistle Stop Cafe, the eatery kept the “Whistle” in its name and all the model trains and train pictures inside, never mind the fact that trains really aren’t the first things that come to mind when you think of Chinese food.

Secondly, a neon sign hanging in the window lights up the restaurant’s name above a picture of what looks like a steaming hot drink, making us stop and think, “Wait, is this a Chinese place or a coffeehouse?”

Lastly, we were baffled by the types of food offered at Whistle Wok: Chinese food and ice cream. Always fans of the frozen treat, we weren’t complaining. But the eclectic combination — along with the 1980s pop playing over the loudspeaker — did make us shake our heads a few times throughout the meal.

You order at the counter at this eatery, which serves up combination plates that include fried rice or noodles (lo mein and vegetables), an egg roll and two or three “hot food items.”

We tried a number of the hot food items, few of which overpowered us with great taste.

Topping the list was the tasty vegetables and shrimp dish, which was served with zucchini, broccoli, carrots, cabbage and water chestnuts in a translucent sauce. The shrimp was cooked perfectly, and it added just enough flavor to still keep the dish subtle.

The sweet and sour chicken was tender, though somewhat dry, and came with a flaming-red sweet and sour sauce.

General Tao’s Chicken came with a sweet and fairly non-descript brown sauce, which made it taste like tolerable sesame chicken without the sesame.

The broccoli beef, a Chinese-American classic, was pretty tasty. The beef was tender and the broccoli wasn’t too crunchy or too wilted.

If you’re only up for subtle garlic flavors, don’t, by any means, order the Garlic Chicken. Served with mushrooms and other vegetables, the dish was incredibly heavy on the garlic taste — enough for us to make faces and open our mouths for more air.

While many of the dishes seemed to use a variation on the same brown-sauce theme, all in all, the food fit the price and the taste was pretty comparable to other “fast food” Chinese restaurants.

The service, however, was far above the ordinary. The server behind the counter let us taste any dish we wanted, and when we stood and gathered our tray to empty it into the trash, the manager stepped out from behind the counter and took our tray for us.

And to add to that, too full to sample any of the ice cream on our way out, we were glad to see that Whistle Wok served only Farr and Russell’s ice cream.

The familiar ice cream selection and the attentive service definitely left a better taste in our mouths than the garlic chicken.