Food: Seen it, made it, eaten it

Nutrition Restaurant gets lost in the sea of other Chinese restaurants in the area

Talk about stiff competition. The Chinatown of Cupertino, Cupertino Village, opened yet another Chinese restaurant called Nutrition Restaurant in late October, in addition to Shanghai Restaurant that also had its grand opening recently. However, Nutrition Restaurant fails to distinguish itself from the many other Chinese restaurants in the Village. The food you find in this restaurant can be found in the other ones, except its rendition is worse—and more expensive. The Mongolian Lamb dish ($7.99) has a slightly rotten-meat taste, almost like day old fish. The Enoki Mushroom with Scallop & Braised Tofu ($9.99) had too small of sauce-heavy plate, while the White Sesame Cake with Pork ($2.99) had too little meat. The Kung Pao Chicken ($7.99) had a nice spicy flavor but was not as great as the one from Panda Express. As for the other dishes, they can be easily be beaten taste and price-wise. In addition, Nutrition Restaurant does not have the environment to make up for the unoriginal food. The style of the restaurant gives customers déjà vu moments of every Chinese restaurant in the Village—the open kitchen, white tablecloths, the small white tea cup placed upside down on top of the napkin, and the aquarium of huge, ugly fish. Although Nutrition Restaurant looks just like any other restaurant, the recent renovations make it seem high-end, but not as fancy as the close-by Joy Luck Palace, which has well-dressed waiters and expensive decorations. Nutrition Restaurant is neither a business-attire environment nor a good place for a date.This is not a place of freshness. This is a restaurant for those who want mediocrity. This is a restaurant to visit if the line at Joy Luck Palace is too long.Nutrition Restaurant is located at 10935 N. Wolf Road. Open 7 days a week from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Telephone: 1-408-777-8208.{cc-by}