Renee's has high quality (with prices to match)

It was the least likely day of the year to lunch at Renee’s. Everyone else in America was eating hot dogs, watermelon, and burgers off the grill. After all, one doesn’t really think of celebrating the Fourth of July by going out for Chinese food. We were the only diners there for most of the lunch hour. And I guess because it was a holiday, the lunch menu wasn’t available, so we ordered off the dinner menu, which contributed to it being a rather pricey lunch.

Our waitperson turned out to be Renee herself. She was quite attentive and never let my glass of water get empty, which automatically scored lots of points with me.

The décor at Renee’s is elegant, the mechanical woven fans that put on a little overhead show being the highlight. (I recorded it but couldn’t get it to upload to accompany my post. Sorry!) The covers of the menus were woven as well, and the pages were rice paper. I also did not spot a single typo, which speaks volumes for a Chinese restaurant. Classical choral music played over the sound system, and at one point I heard “Ave Maria,” which was an incongruous piece of music to hear on the Fourth of July, but it’s not like we were standing around the barbecue. The bathroom was done quite tastefully and was clean as well.

We ordered the veggie potstickers (6 for $11), which were piping hot and pretty good. I ordered the orange beef ($14), which was listed as one of the house specialties and was wonderful. Dave ordered a chicken dish off the “Iron Plates” section of the menu, which came out on a sizzling hot plate ($15.50). It was good but rather plain, though he particularly liked the mushrooms. Kylie declared the string beans “delicious as always,” ($11.50). Renee’s is Kylie’s favorite Chinese restaurant, and this is the dish she orders most often.

It was a lovely meal, and the service was excellent. But everything was expensive, so lunch—without any dessert or drinks other than hot tea and water—set us back a pretty penny. If you’re on a budget, it may not be the best place to have lunch. But if money is no object, I highly recommend Renee’s.