Bites Nearby: Dragon Palace

Welcome to Bites Nearby, another new series that's being broken out on Santa Monica Patch.

For the first installment, gets my vote—and there's an apt reason why.

Even though this restaurant is only about a dozen blocks from where I live, I didn't try it out till Patch contributor Megan Reilly gave it a thumbs-up in her .

What she wrote is true: The lunch specials really are under five bucks each. The food passes the test, too—at least for a not terribly discriminating carnivore like myself.

While the cuisine is Chinese, here's how it compares to other inexpensive Asian restaurants in town: It's just as good as (but much more affordable); a bit better than ; way better than ; and maybe even superior to . Can't confirm that, though: Still haven't had the chance to take up Santa Monica Patch reader Travis 79 on .