I walked into Ws China Bistro in Irvine fully expecting to blow my diet. Chinese food isn’t always a healthful dining choice, especially when your favorite dishes are cashew and kung pao chicken. Those bite-sized morsels of chicken often come battered and deep-fried.

As it turned out, my expectation was way off. This is a place that offers healthful options: chicken that’s sautéed instead of fried, a choice of brown or white steamed rice, and a catch of the day preparation that’s light and to die for.

Plus, the restaurant setting is great – modern furnishings in rich, dramatic colors, with a great water feature that greets you as you enter the dining room. It’s the kind of place where you can sit down, relax and talk without a lot of clank, clatter and loud chatter. You completely forget that you’re in a strip mall with a CVS Pharmacy on one side and a Ralphs grocery store on the other (Ws is tucked inside the Harvard Place shopping center). It’s the perfect spot to share a meal with friends, family or a significant other.

The menu is just as enticing – and exotic. You’ll find unique specialties such as Asian Seafood Paella (it’s a nod to the Latin and Chinese roots of the three brothers who own the restaurant). Just like the traditional version, this dish features bites of shrimp, scallops, seasonal fish, calamari, mussels and clams with rice, but the saffron and jasmine seasonings provide that tasty Asian twist.

My dining partner and I started with the Dim Sum Platter for Two – two beef Singapore Skewers (the meat is marinated in 10 spices for a deliciously interesting sweet and savory flavor); potstickers; chicken raviolis; and Crab Stuffed Cigars (eggrolls stuffed with crab), all served with a trio of dipping sauces (Dijon-mango-lime, soy-vinaigrette and peanut). I could have eaten the whole platter myself. The beef was tender and juicy, the ravioli and potstickers were springy and light, and the Crab Stuffed Cigars were rich and meaty.

For entrées, my friend ordered a Ws signature: the House Chicken with Cashew Nuts, cubes of sautéed chicken and vegetables mixed with nuts and served in a light, brown sauce. I chose the Catch of the Day in Banana Leaf. The featured fish the day of my visit was escolar, a fluffy, full-bodied but mild white fish seasoned with Asian spices and served with a vegetable medley of zucchini, carrots, onions and sprouts. The presentation was lovely – all of it neatly perched atop a banana leaf.

By the time we finished, we were stuffed. No room for dessert (but I understand the crème brulée is fabulous). Best of all, I didn’t even gain an ounce.


Ws China Bistro
17585 Harvard Ave.
Suite A • Irvine
949.757.1588
Hours: Sunday, noon to 9 p.m.; Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and 4:30 to 10 p.m.; Saturday, noon to 10:30 p.m.
wschinabistro.com