Sauteed tomato and egg noodle soup is among the Chinese...

Sauteed tomato and egg noodle soup is among the Chinese specialties at Kitchen Melody in Great Neck. Credit: Newsday/Erica Marcus

As soon as you walk into Kitchen Melody, you sense an air of refinement. The tiny dining room is bright but muted — sky blue walls and white woodwork, celadon china, plush chairs upholstered in gray and plum, tabletops of glossy marble. The menu is charming, too: a mere two pages of Chinese dishes, most of them from Sichuan province.

The restaurant opened about a month ago in a spot that had previously housed a succession of sushi bars, among them, Yummy, Watami, Kasumi and Nara.  

Among the noodle soups are sauteed tomato and egg, minced pork with pickled cowpeas and sliced beef. Starters include diced rabbit with peanuts and chili sauce, spicy beef jerky and the enigmatic house sweet Jell-O. 

Among the main dishes that intrigued me were sauteed duck tongues with celery and onions, steamed beef with rice powder, diced pork with lotus root, sauteed frog with pickled chili and lettuce.

So far, there are no American-Chinese items on the menu, although the owner informed me that they might be expanding it to include chicken with broccoli and the like. 

Kitchen Melody is at 25-5 Cuttermill Rd., Great Neck, 631-874-5228, kitchenmelody.com.

 

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