Leung Show saw an opportunity. With plenty of Chinese restaurants scattered around southern New Jersey, he noticed one town that didn't have one: Linwood. So, Show decided to shut down his Pleasantville Chinese joint that he owned for approximately 18 years to move slightly south and hopefully appeal to a town that was hungry for affordable, delicious Asian food.
He was right. Since the Egg Harbor Township resident opened in the Cornerstone Commerce Center last October, the Empress Chinese Restaurant has become a popular place for businesspeople looking for a quick lunch, Mainland High School students seeing an after-school snack and families looking for an easy dinner.
"I thought it was a great place because there's lots of traffic here," Show says. "Linwood did not have its own Chinese restaurant. It made sense."
It also made sense to give Linwood residents what they asked for: healthier Chinese food.
While diners will find Chinese staples such as egg rolls, boneless spare ribs, sweet-and-sour chicken, Kung Po shrimp and Lo Mein, many of Show's dishes are healthier than your average Chinese restaurant, with no MSG, sugar, salt or oil. Even the General Tso's chicken is all-white meat.
In particular, his 12-item diet menu features all steamed items and come with a choice of brown rice and sauce on the side, including white, brown or garlic sauce.
"That's what people wanted, so we do it," Show said. "(It's) very popular."
Since moving to the United States 33 years ago, Show has been working in restaurants, offering his take on traditional and Americanized Chinese cuisine in areas that include Washington, D.C., and North Carolina.
"I like America because it gives me opportunities," Show says. "If you work hard here, you can make money and do what you want to do."
With Cantonese and Szechuan specialties and even an American section of the menu that includes fried cheese sticks, shrimp and chicken wings, Show's Linwood experiment is working out.
"This is not fast food," Show says. "Everything is made to order. We make out own sauces. And we are reasonable. Right now, people are looking to spend less money."
Empress Chinese Restaurant
WHERE: 1201 New Road, Linwood, inside the Cornerstone Commerce Center
WHEN: Open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Mondays to Thursdays; 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays; and noon to 10 p.m., Sundays.
HOW MUCH: Appetizers range from $1.10 to $9.85; soups, $1.50 to $5.25; diet menu, $5.95 to $11.50; fried rice, $3.50 to $7.95; lo mein, $3.85 to $9.25; Chow Fun/Mei Fun, $6.20 to $7.50; Chow Mein, $3.75 to $9.25; poultry, $4.75 to $8.15; pork, $4.75 to $7.95; Mop Shu, $6.20 to $7.50; sweet and sour, $7.25 to $9; beef, $5.15 to $8.50; seafood, $5.25 to $9.25; vegetables, $6.75; Egg Foo Young, $5.95 to $7.35; Szechuan and Cantonese specialties, $8.85 to $10.25; American dishes, $3.25 to $6.35; combinations, $6.25 to $7.25. Lunch specials range from $4.50 to $5.95.
SERVICES: MasterCard and Visa accepted. Disabled access through front door. No liquor license. Eat in. Takeout. Delivery. Catering. No smoking.
MORE INFO: Call 609-653-0228 or 609-653-2288.
BETWEEN YOU AND ME: Leung Show is all about making food his customers are happy with. So, if you like spicy Chinese food, tell him and he can spice it up. If not, he can take all of the spice out.