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The Gossiping Gourmet: A taste of seafood, BBQ in Irvine

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We are happy to announce that we can now include Irvine in our dining reviews. For our first outing, we went to visit an old friend, the venerable (for Orange County) SW Seafood and BBQ.

We return here again and again because we think they have the best Peking duck around, and the seafood is not to be sneezed at either.

A large bronze Buddha welcomes you into this modestly decorated, pleasant dining room. Live crabs, lobster, shrimp and fish swim around in the big tanks that line the far wall. As you enter, glazed whole ducks and soy sauce chicken greet you from the warmer behind the counter, leaving you salivating even before you sit down.

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Albert, our very helpful waiter, who has been working this beat for as long as we can remember, guided us through the very extensive menu, which ranges from the familiar dishes we all know to the more exotic selections listed under the category “Chinese dishes.”

They include ingredients that would be an acquired taste for most Americans. However, if you have an adventurous palate, you might try deep-fried intestine, pork blood pigskin or stewed beef offal.

We are quite happy with the regular menu and like to order one or two dishes at a time so that we don’t get everything all at once. One of our favorite appetizers is the classic minced squab in lettuce leaves. More often than not chicken is substituted for squab but not here.

Finely chopped squab, ginger, water chestnuts and green onions are sauteed with pine nuts, garlic, rice wine, soy and oyster sauce to produce a delectable, subtle mixture, served on top of a thin bed of crispy rice noodles. The noodles were an unusual but felicitous addition to the great textural variety in this most satisfying of dishes.

Chinese soups range from mild to spicy. We chose the mellow seafood with bean curd that you can order thickened or brothy. We selected the latter. It was chock full of shrimp, white fish and kamoboko (fishcake) along with some bay scallops and straw mushrooms. The broth had a hint of sweetness and a subtle white pepper kick.

The pièce de résistance, of course, was the Peking duck, served here with steamed buns rather than pancakes (you can request pancakes instead if you prefer). The secret of Peking duck is to get rid of the fat so that the skin comes out as crispy as parchment paper and the roasted meat remains succulent.

The duck is chopped through the bones into pieces and covered with squares of mahogany colored skin. Your job is to compose a little sandwich with meat, skin, shredded scallion and the sweet bean sauce. However, if you can’t resist stealing a piece of the skin to pop in your mouth, you will certainly be forgiven.

SW’s duck meat is very moist and full of the flavors of soy, honey and five-spice powder. The skin virtually crackles.

Elle’s son Alex, who accompanied us, has lived in Thailand for 15 years but still speaks Southern Californian surfer lingo on occasion. He pronounced the hot braised green beans “epic.”

The al dente beans were stir-fried with tiny, crunchy, dried shrimp and shreds of salty, pickled vegetable. They can be ordered spicy or mild according to your taste.

The menu is extensive with categories such as hot pots, sizzling platters, abalones and sea cucumber as well as a large variety of squid dishes and dim sum, just to mention a few of them.

For dessert you can choose mango or coconut pudding. However, a complimentary sweet hot dessert soup is always served. This time it was red bean, not our favorite.

On other occasions, we had the almond soup, which we love. It takes a few spoonfuls to get used to the idea of a soup for dessert but it soon becomes addictive. No fortune cookies here — a sign of authenticity?

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Editor’s note: Last week’s edition of The Gossiping Gourmet incorrectly noted that Paul Bauer still was working as the chef at Claes Ovation restaurant in Laguna Beach. Bauer left the restaurant in November. He now works at the Pacific Palms Resort in the City of Industry.

If You Go

What: SW Seafood and BBQ; (949) 262-0128

Where: 5406 Walnut Ave. Irvine

When: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily

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