"Kway Teow"

"Chinese food", to the average American consists of a 9 p.m. front door delivery in a greasy brown bag containing  a #24 General Tso's Chicken, (extra MSG please) and an egg roll. Don't forget the fortune cookie. Keep the change.

Not really my thing. (Although, there was that excellent take out around the block from my BFF Liz's place in Brooklyn from which we would order sweet and sour chicken with pork fried rice on cold winter days. Mmm mmm mmm! Deeeee-licious!)

Fun fact: "American" Chinese cuisine was actually developed for Western taste first catering to railroad workers in towns where Chinese food was basically unheard of. Served with a side of a roll and butter.

I suppose the desire to sniff out the best Chinese restaurant in town stems from the "Sindhi" in me. Leave it up to a hungry Sindhi to find the finest authentic Chinese restaurant in town. You could almost call us "Oriental Food Snobs". In fact, do.
I'm talkin' "DIM SUM" good! In St. Maarten, my birth town, the hottest "Chinese Grub Hub" is either Pink Pearl (You know what I'm talking about if you're old school SXM) or White Swan . In Miami, it's Tropical (Total hidden gem and possibly the love of my life). In Hong Kong, oh man, don't even get me started.

I'm talkin' about scallion pancakse, bok choy, chili fried mock duck, and chinese tea! Well Daytona Beach, we (anti-P.F. Chang-ers) have arrived! Enter Leanh's.

I suppose last night was destined to be an Asian night. I had planned a four dish meal for my lovely hubby commencing with Japanese Ginger Salad, BBQ Pork Fried Rice, Stir Fry Vegetables, and Black Bean Chicken. Alas, our meal was to be postponed as Dino had a client, Moody, whom he wanted to take out to dinner. When asked what type of cuisine he would like to eat, he answered "Chinese".

Leanh's it is.

Family owned and operated, this establishment is consistently cozy and friendly. Hanna served us today with a smile on her face and a hint of humor in her attentive banter. The restaurant serves complimentary fried noodles with a sweet plum sauce to get their client's appetites going. It's almost impossible to stop picking on them. I dare you to try. If you like your food spicy, however, I do suggest you ask them for their "special spicy sauce". Every time I request it, I'm unsure of how to identify it. So I attempt to describe it: "Spicy, with seeds? I think it's Korean. It's definitely not Sriracha." Today, I came home and googled it. Found a picture.

"Chili Garlic Sauce"  

Duh, Hinaara.

Leanh's menu is unbelievably extensive and each dish is presented in humongous portions. I don't even look at the menu anymore. We already know what we want. Dino loves Chow Fun, also known as "Kway Teow" (pronounced Kyu Tow) which is a rice noodle, a popular Indonesian dish. We usually order the BBQ Pork Kway Teow and customized it this time by adding water chestnuts and shiitake mushrooms. Add some chili sauce to it and its literally heaven in each bite.

We participate in the app called Foursquare, where we are able to "check in" to any location, whether it is a restaurant, bank, or mall. The app's purpose is to promote neighborhoods and give your friends new ways of exploring each city. Certain establishments offer coupons and special offers. Leanh's for example, granted us a free Krab Rangoon after checking in three times. We destroyed the complimentary dish served with their homemade sweet and sour sauce in seconds. I asked Hanna to pack me a pint of it to go. It was the missing ingredient to my homemade BBQ Pork Fried Rice .

I must apologize for my lack of actual pictures as I did not possess a camera at the moment.

Another impressively satisfying meal at Leanh's. 

Their only flaw: No home delivery. 

With plenty of leftovers, the family style meal was relatively inexpensive. Then came dessert. The fortune cookies. Strangely enough, fortune cookies are served as a dessert in Chinese restaurants but the origin is non-Chinese. In fact, dessert in general is not even prevalent in China. Fortune cookies are characterized as "introduced by the Japanese, popularized by the Chinese, but ultimately consumed by Americans".

I guess we do have something to thank American Chinese cuisine for.