Nirvana for the Asian Food Fan Seeking Tasty Dishes and Quantity For a Low Price

An important dental appointment with a longtime trusted provider and friend brought me to Monroeville on Friday, March 8, at which time I discovered the extraordinary, new (having opened in mid-January 2013) Fortune Star Restaurant at 4100 William Penn Highway in the Miracle Mile Shopping Center next to Petland.

I asked directions to it from a clerk at a nearby clothing store before I was ready to have lunch. He knew it well and raved about it, telling me, "Oh, we go there almost every day for lunch. It's a great place. You will be impressed." I was!

The restaurant is attractive, comfortable and spacious. It is fortunate that it is large as it is attracting and will no doubt continue to attract a crowd on a regular basis. 

The service is attentive and friendly. I was pleasantly asked by three different servers whether I wished to have my water refilled.

I was pleased that unlike many other such establishments, the restaurant was not only open before 11 a.m., but there was a significant amount of food in place and ready to consume by 11. 

I believe this restaurant will be a dream fulfilled for many that enjoy Asian food and value. For the bargain basement price of $7.45 for lunch, one can avail themselves of a panoply of dishes, including sushi and hibachi items, plus table after table of other items: hot and cold, totaling dozens of choices. The buffet even includes cheesecake and pies, of which I did not partake.

Two items help to make a great Asian buffet for this diner: a tofu dish and fresh, sliced, ready-to-eat pineapple, and Fortune Star offers both. The tofu came in a vegetarian delight dish along with broccoli, carrots, shiitake mushrooms and bamboo shoots. Tofu is a dish that my experience indicates few Americans enjoy.  It is always a treat to find it as a significant part of a buffet dish. Other tasty choices were egg foo young; rice noodles with vegetables and egg; bok choi; chicken with broccoli; chicken with big, fresh mushrooms. I try to limit my meat eating, but could not resist one small slice of baked chicken. It was succulent, tender, and melted in one's mouth; I could have eaten a pound of it or more.

The food is not the finest Chinese cuisine I have ever consumed and some of the dishes are a bit more greasy than would be my taste, but overall, I believe the quality and quantity are remarkable. I wish we could pull the restaurant to southern Allegheny County!