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Is Richmond's Zen Fine Chinese Cuisine the best Chinese restaurant outside China?

No, there is better food to be had at many Chinese restaurants in the very same neighbourhood.

Is it the greatest?

That depends on who you ask. In her recently published book, The Fortune Cookie Chronicles, New York Times reporter Jennifer 8. Lee has proclaimed Zen the "greatest Chinese restaurant outside China."

The American-born author - who really does use the numeral eight as her middle name - never clearly defines what makes a great Chinese restaurant.

But her quest did take her to restaurants in 15 countries on six continents, so she must be some kind of expert.

Zen isn't a fusion restaurant. Save for the odd theatrical flourish, it serves authentic Chinese dishes that are similar to those you'd find at Kirin, Sun Sui Wah or any number of local Chinese restaurants.

But it is modern - and unique for Vancouver - as it only offers multicourse tasting menus with individually plated servings. Traditional Chinese restaurants serve home-style platters that are heaped in the centre of the table all at once and must be shared by large groups in a mad free-for-all.

The fact that Zen's self-taught chef and owner Sam Lau has somehow convinced his predominantly Chinese clientele to deviate from the norm and savour Western-style fine dining was what amazed Ms. Lee.

But the clinching factor was the cheap price - $38 for an eight-course dinner.

"Never forget that 'bang for your buck' is a hallmark of Chinese food around the world," she writes.

The widely reported story was a godsend for Mr. Lau, who says he hasn't turned a profit since last year. Thanks to Ms. Lee's rave recommendation, the restaurant has gone from broke to booming almost overnight.

Zen has four tasting menus that change weekly and range from $38.88 to $95 a person. Customers must preorder when making a reservation, and everyone at the table must choose the same menu.

After perusing the options, which were sent by e-mail, my guest and I decided to upgrade to the $48.88 menu, which substituted lobster for Dungeness crab.

We arrived at the restaurant after nearly driving right past. It is discreetly hidden away on the second floor of a strip mall that looks out over a vacant lot. Ms. Lee gave Zen extra points for serving top-flight food in a "dive" location. Mind you, almost every restaurant in Richmond can be found in a shopping or strip mall.

Zen's eclectic decor might be charitably described as a poor man's art deco: black-and-white checkerboard tiles, worn indoor-outdoor carpeting, dimly lit baroque glass chandeliers and a scattering of bright Indian silk lamps with soft jazz playing in the background.

Dinner began with a palate-cleansing shot glass of cold apple "soup," which tasted an awful lot like plain apple cider. Still, when have you ever been offered an amuse bouche in a Chinese restaurant?

Up next was a Japanese jellyfish salad, the most innovative - and prettiest - dish on the menu.

Served in a globular wine glass, the crunchy shreds were tossed in a light vinaigrette with translucent threads of shark's fin, bright green sprouts, delicate pink flowers, fresh lychee, raspberry and grapefruit. It was all gently nestled between a creamy bed of chili mayonnaise and a white cloud of foam.

(Before anyone starts writing angry letters to the editor, please note that the shark's fin came as a complete surprise. I was actually trying to avoid it, having received a tsunami of critical feedback after I wrote about eating the endangered delicacy on Chinese New Year's Eve.)

Mr. Lau obviously needs to be more diligent with his preordering policy. During the course of the evening, we overheard four people at two different tables complain because the Cantonese description of the $38 set menu promised an abalone dish that didn't materialized.

Baked curried seafood wasn't any tastier than the Macanese-style curries I've eaten at other Cantonese restaurants in Vancouver. But it was impressively presented - stuffed in a flaming spiral whelk shell. Double-boiled pork soup came with more unexpected shark's fin. The taste was crisply clean, almost bland, and the shark's fin didn't add any flavour. But the serving vessel, a roasted coconut shell, infused the soup with a mild sweetness and tropical fragrance.

The half-steamed lobster, served in the shell and heaped with garlic, was the menu's real bang for the buck. The meat was incredibly tender and tasted as briny as the sea.

The "house specialty" free-range chicken was an ordinary cold-poached salt chicken, shredded, tossed in galangal (sand ginger) and topped with its pimply skin. I've had better at Sea Harbour Restaurant. Stir-fried gai lan was exquisitely cut (with a leaf for every stalk), but overcooked; same with the soggy, broken up bamboo rice that came with black bean spareribs.

Dessert, however, was fabulous. The black sesame seed mousse, topped with evaporated milk, had the texture of custard and the taste of white chocolate.

Over all, I'd say Zen is a very good Chinese restaurant, but it's not the greatest in Richmond.

If you were to compare it with restaurants in Toronto, Zen isn't nearly as experimental as Susur or as elegant as Lai Wah Heen.

Zen would probably do much better in downtown Vancouver, where the complete lack of fine-dining Chinese restaurants never ceases to amaze me.

But even in its current location, I would still recommend the restaurant and its smartly edited tasting menus to non-Chinese diners who are looking for an approachable yet authentic experience.

In the end, I would still

argue that Ms. Lee has done Zen a huge disservice. She says the restaurant is great

because it's good, modern - and cheap.

The $38 tasting menu used to sell for nearly $80. Mr. Lau slashed his prices in half because business was so slow. Now everyone expects a bargain and he's stuck with a loss-leader menu on which he only makes $8 in profit.

A fairytale ending? Sounds heartbreaking to me.

Zen Fine Chinese Cuisine:

2015-8580 Alexandra Rd.,

Richmond, B.C.; 604-233-0077.