Robin Garr's LOUISVILLE Restaurant Reviews

** China Inn
Cardinal Shopping Center
1925 S. Fourth St.
(502) 636-2020
With the possible exception of the posh, private Faculty Club, this little joint may just be the best place to eat within walking distance of the University of Louisville's Belknap Campus. On any given day at lunch time, you'll see it packed with students, professors, and a squadron of campus police so large that one wonders who's watching the campus.

The draw is quick, cheap and bountiful Chinese-American fare, chosen from a vast lighted menu along the wall behind a line-up-and-place-your-order serving counter. But fast Chinese eateries are ubiquitious in our town; for the "foodies" among us, China Inn has a more compelling appeal: Alongside the predictable chow mein, chop suey and sticky sweet-and-sour dishes, it is one of the very few places offering reasonably authentic Thai fare.

The Thai bill of fare is a short list, frankly. Pad Thai (home-style Thai noodles) is $5.25 to $6.75 depending on your choice of vegetarian, pork, chicken, beef or shrimp as the main ingredient. A second, less familiar noodle dish, Pad Se Iew, a sweet-savory broad-noodle dish, went on the menu recently for the same prices.

We tried one of each recently and came away satisfied if not blown away: Both dishes were well prepared, extremely generous portions, and the quality was comparable to Louisville's other Thai eateries. Unfortunately, Thai in Louisville is not up to the level of Vietnamese in Louisville, so the local standard is a bit tamed for Western taste buds.

Chicken Pad Thai was a surprising yellow color and showed a whiff of curry aroma but none of the piquant aromas of nam pla, Thai fish sauce, that is standard for the dish, and only a few stray bean threads were tucked among a mound of thin rice noodles; it almost seemed more like curry noodles than a traditional Pad Thai. But it was tasty, and tender boneless chicken slices came with a variety of ingredients - scanty scrambled egg and chopped peanuts, a few pea pods cooked past crisp, bits of fried tofu, and chopped carrot, scallions and onions - to make a dish of complex flavors. Ordered mild, it was hot but not fiery, with a sprig of rather tired cilantro as garnish.

Pork Pad Se Iew featured a thick, quite sweet and salty brown soy-based sauce over wide rice noodles, broader than fettuccine, with tender bites of sliced Chinese barbecued pork tossed over steamed broccoli florets, egg and a few bean sprouts. Ordered "hot," it seemed to be exactly the same fire level as Pad Thai ... with a little plastic tub of hot vinegar offered on the side.

Lunch for two, with large diet colas, came to just over $11. $