Profile

In 2001, Lam’s Garden opened shop on a barren Park Slope block across from a gas station. It offered the usual Chinese-American dishes, boasting both speedy takeout and tableside service. A skyrocketing lease forced it into a smaller, nondescript room directly next door to its now-shuttered original home. While there are no more waiters, woks still jump with sizzling Chinese takeout standbys. Most stir-fried concoctions show the perils of cheap takeout, like greasy lo mein noodles, stale Peking duck, and watery tofu with black-bean sauce. But other dishes surprise, especially a toothsome chicken-and-broccoli dish, with springy green heads of broccoli and bits of white chicken lightly coated with a savory brown sauce. Crowds of schoolkids, often loitering in front of the small space in front of the takeout counter, dig the freshly fried cheese wonton, a fritter-esque junk food made up of cream cheese and sweet onions wrapped in generous, triangular wonton wrappers. — Laurel Fantauzzo

Chicken with broccoli, $5