It's a tricky moment -- when the manager, host or owner of a restaurant makes that conspicuous sweep of appraisal through the dining room, casually popping in at each table to ask the customers how they're enjoying their meals.

First of all, the whole routine can come off as perfunctory and rote, part of the staged script of every good restaurateur, and if the host doesn't appear sincere, the tableside visits feel more intrusive than welcome. And then there's the risk of surveying the diners and getting an earful about every substandard mouthful.

But then there are some hosts -- like the man at Char Koon, an excellent Pan-Asian restaurant in South Glastonbury -- who probably know from nightly experience that their inquiries will be met with appreciative head-nodding, ecstatic eye-rolling and maybe even the occasional hand rubbed to the stomach to signify deep gustatory satisfaction.

Char Koon is popular and small, two factors that regularly conspire to create a significant wait for a table. There's brisk takeout business too, which can crowd the small area with the aquarium by the entrance. But the food, especially seafood, is cooked with an expert touch balancing the sweet, pungent and spicy flavors and presented on the plate with an eye for vibrant color and architecture.

Lisa and I started with a range of appetizers and soups -- tom yam soup, spinach and tofu soup and an order of the Szechuan wontons. The soups, both elegant, couldn't have been more different. The tom yam, a standard at Thai restaurants, had a thicker-than-usual broth the color of carrot juice, with pieces of tender chicken and shrimp, plump mushrooms, aromatic basil leaves and matchsticked carrots. Vegetarians should note that the tofu and spinach soup is built on a base of chicken broth, glistening with shiny beads of fat. If the tom yam was a thick mesh of tastes, the spinach and tofu soup used the simple flavors of the broth, the spinach and scallions as the groundwork. The smooth and slick texture of the silken tofu was almost like a delicate pasta.

We noticed our waiter keeping a watchful eye on our progress, making sure that the delivery of the dumpling dish was timed to coincide with the removal of our soup bowls -- points for service. At first, the thick, brown peanut sauce in which the dumplings were covered seemed like too much heavy gloop, but there was subtlety there. We thought we tasted a hint of beef stock and rice vinegar, and the nuttiness of the sauce gave way to a slow, low and long-lasting vapor-like heat that seemed more the product of white pepper than red chiles. The dumplings were stuffed with small soft balls of ground pork.

Lisa and I had been to Char Koon several times before, almost always impressed with the kitchen's sense of color and the ability to blend strong volatile flavors -- sweet, fruity, salty, piquant and peppery -- in understated ways. Our one note of caution to newcomers to the charms of Char Koon would be to shy away from the more wild and fruit-heavy dishes. We've been left a little shocked at some of the pairings. As a rule: If it has melon balls, waffle crisps and is coupled with meat or fish, don't get it. And one other possible cause for concern -- the dining room is arranged in such a way that some tables are very close to the men's room, which can spoil the dining experience.

Lisa ordered the Chow Kwei Teow , a stir-fried rice noodle dish with shrimp and sea scallops in a Malay sauce. If this had been called pad thai, no one would have blinked; it had the same summery sweetness, the bits of egg and strips of tofu, but there was none of the restaurant's characteristic flair here. Char Koon also serves Chinese favorites, an Indian curry or two, and a couple of dishes from Singapore.

Nonetheless, I ordered the special grilled sea bass fillet served over sauteed string beans in a lemongrass, shallot and serano chili sauce. The dish was delicious and picturesque, with the green of flat-leaf parsley and the beans charged by the orange and gold of the sauce and the fish.

If the manager had poked in at our table when I was eating this, there would have been exclamations of gratitude and appreciation. Here, he has nothing to worry about.



By BILL DALEY
The Hartford Courant
Web Published: 12/24/2001

Glastonbury has become a dining mecca but who'd ever think the tiny burg of South Glastonbury would be home to one of the most eclectic restaurants in Connecticut? Char Koon is one of the granddaddies of Asian fusion in the state, serving up dishes with Malay, Vietnamese, Chinese and Thai influences. For those who loved and still miss Farmington's Pandan Grill and Spice Market in Simsbury, this restaurant offers some succor. The other two restaurants sprang from this.

Hours:
Mon.-Thurs. 11:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m.
Fri. & Sat. 11:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m.
Sun. 12:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m.