Every month, I collect a public publication called Salem Monthly. This publication is free and has all the latest local news. It’s full of local, restaurant guides, wineries, and so much more! All in all, it’s just a great little find for local Salem residents. The Salem Monthly publication for August 2007 had a ‘Best of Salem’ section in it, and since it was a new area, we thought we’d give a few of these ‘beasts’ a try. We started with the original Kwan kitchen. Voted “Best Chinese Restaurant” by local residents of Salem and Salem Monthly. So, here’s one more opinion of the average Joe…Me.
Kwan’s is located to the south of the center and is quite easy. The parking lot was a little tricky to find in the new area, we had to circle around the block and realized that while the restaurant itself is open on Commercial Street, the parking lot is actually around the back side of the building. . So if you’re new to the area like me, and you see this restaurant from the street, just around the corner on the right, never fear… There’s a parking lot for this place. When we got inside the restaurant, we were greeted by a very friendly gal at the front desk and we also saw quite a nice display of Chinese arts and crafts. The lobby of this restaurant is a gift showcase style shop of beautiful vases, carved buddhas and other various items that you can buy for your home .
We were quickly greeted and seated in the restaurant, and without question we were also served tea and hot water while we picked the menu. The menu itself is more organized in use. The restaurant offers joint-style meals at the front, and then the main dishes are sorted, followed by sides and other special dishes. Combination dinners were priced around $8-12 per person, and 2-person combination dinners started at $29 for two people. The entrees vary in price, starting around $8 a plate. One other great thing to know about Kwan restaurant is that they offer 6 different choices of rice. If you like white rice, brown rice, whole grain rice, or even black rice, you have many choices. to choose from; Just ask!
We decided to try this place because we thought it was the best in Salem, so we had the milk cheese Krab puffer, egg flower soup, General Tso Chicken and Cashew Chicken with a base of long grain white rice. Everything we ordered was incredible! We didn’t choose to order any additional drinks, because we were very happy with the tea and water that were already offered… and when we got our bill, we were pleasantly surprised that even after we had extended and arranged our lunch. the tab is only $30.
There is even more service to talk about than food. Great food, but the service, ahhh the service. First of all, when they serve your meal, they bring it out in a rolling cart. Of course your food is in the cart, but on the shelf below is anything and everything you might need. begin to enjoy your meal. Extra towels, chopsticks, other forks, you name it and they need it at your request. While we were eating, we were not disturbed, our maid kindly interrupted once to see if we needed anything, but other than that we enjoyed the delicious food in peace.
When we were done eating, another waiter stopped by to see if we needed anything to go. We had plenty of food to fill us, and it was superfluous. He brings the cart again, he kindly took one plate from our table at the time of the meal, put it in a cute box in the oriental style, and even gave us some extra rice to take home as well. After moving everything, he also took one step! He put each of our boxes in a brown paper bag for us, so of course it was easy to take our leftovers to the car and in the fridge at home.
A little after our remains had been restored by a young man of the city, who had been detained, our maid returned, and asked if we wished to have any desert. We did not answer, and he politely handed us the bill. But there is none but us. You’re probably thinking, well of course, you can get a fortune cookie in a Chinese restaurant too! We did it, but there is more! We also wrapped two freshly steamed and wet towels to clean up. I’m not talking about the implementation type either. These were soft, warm hand towels that we used to clean up anything that happened to fall with the regular table cloth. She had already impressed me enough.
So, I think it’s safe to say that we will be returning to Kwani for another meal here soon. The food was amazing, the experience was spectacular, the prices were very affordable, and I just couldn’t come home, sit down and tell you all about it. If you live in Salem or are ever thinking about visiting, be sure to put Kwan’s Original Kitchen on your list of places to eat. It’s nothing fancy, nothing fancy, but a really great, really great place to eat, and it will serve you again and again.
