CLOSED: Make a point to visit American Fork’s China Light Cafe
China Light Cafe isn’t new to American Fork, but this small Chinese restaurant with big portions and small prices is worth noticing.
You’ll find it in a long strip mall along State Street, among craft shops and other small restaurants. The setting is simple, but the booths and tables inside are comfortable and the room is quiet.
The menu is familiar, so much so that you don’t really need one to order takeout. You want the Kung Pao something, Sweet and Sour something, almond chicken and an order of chow mein, right? It’s all there.
About the only surprise is that China Light offers some American dishes too, including chicken wings, veal cutlets, fish and chips and a selection of steak and chops. You want egg rolls and he wants a T-bone? You can get both here. There’s even some burgers and sandwiches.
We liked the beef and broccoli, and the General Tso’s chicken had just enough of a spicy kick to be good. Our lo mein was less saucy than others we’ve had, but it’s a good mix of squiggly noodles and veggies that makes a lighter lunch.
Popular dishes like Sesame Chicken are a fine standard by which to judge a Chinese restaurant. At China Light, it’s made with a thick, doughy batter surrounding bits of chicken and drizzled with a light, sweet sauce. Sweet like honey, in fact. It turns the big poofy batter into a dessert, almost. The bits of chicken and batter are somewhere between egg-size and tennis ball-size, and there’s 10 or so in your order. Four of them atop some rice are enough for a decent meal.
And that, of course, makes the average price of $7 per order sound all the more appealing. Our four dishes came to less than $30, and we could have fed six people fairly easily. Some of the seafood dishes and, of course, the steaks cost a little more, but even those are less than $10 each.
The $5 daily lunch special comes with portions of two dishes (on a rotating schedule) and ham fried rice. There’s a kids menu with several items under $5, and several more family and combination dinners. The takeout service is speedy and food comes in microwavable boxes, perfect for on the go or a night in.