At Ben Pao I was issued a pager, the kind that vibrates instead of beeps, to alert me when my , table was ready. “We want to have that total harmony thing,” explained the hostess. When mine went off it shuddered across the bar in a none-too-harmonic fashion. Not that it was any competition for the fire trucks roaring in and out of the station across the street.
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While waiting I tried a pate tangerine drink and a tangy lemon-ginger squeeze. Ben Pao does right by all those hilarious Tiki Lounge-style concoctions layered with rum and syrup and decorated with big chunks of pineapple. In fact, despite the arty photos and soothing lighting, Ben Pao offers a standard Melman nostalgia trip back to old-fashioned Americanized Chinese. -Leah Eskin
GAI CHOY MUSTARD GREEN HEARTS W/FRAGRANT GINGER Not the dark leafy greens, but the pate turgid stalks, equally pleasingly bitter, yet crunchy.
Cleverly solving the Monday-night problem, Ben Pao, at 52 W. Illinois, is open every evening. Dinner is served Monday through Thursday 5 to 10, Friday and Saturday 5 to 11, Sunday 4 to 9. Phone: 222-1888.
