New York Times

DINING OUT; Chinese Favorites, Redefined
By JOANNE STARKEY

PENINSULA in Bay Shore turns any meal into a celebration. This newcomer is not a commonplace Long Island Chinese restaurant but the equivalent of a special-occasion Italian or French spot.

Foo dogs flanking the door immediately impress. Just inside, diners cross a wooden bridge over a pond filled with koi. A few other stone-edged fish ponds dot the large dining room, and there's a saltwater aquarium with brilliantly colored fish. Other eye-catchers are a large wooden Asian carriage and two massive granite horses.

As if this weren't enough to look at, a recessed oval ceiling with twinkling lights evokes the night sky.

Diners sit in comfortable, upholstered armchairs on rollers for easy maneuverability.

The food is as special as the surroundings. Take General Tso's chicken. The menu boasts, ''We are told ours is the best.'' Upon reading this, the self-proclaimed General Tso's expert at our table, an inveterate diner who has ordered this dish at every Chinese restaurant he has ever visited, gave a smug ''we'll see'' smile.

One taste had him agreeing that Peninsula's version was tops. The sauce, both spicy and sweet at the same time, coated moist chunks of chicken in a not-too-thick crust that was crisp, not limp or soggy.

Peninsula's food is mainly Chinese although there is also a sushi bar. We concentrated on the Chinese fare.

The restaurant, which takes its name from the elegant Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong (although there is no connection between the two), has a number of Hong Kong specialties. One was the ''little wonton'' soup. The dumplings were much lighter than usual, and at the middle of each was a baby shrimp.

Other Hong Kong-style openers that delighted were the thin but extremely tender and tasty pork chops and chicken soon, four delicious lettuce-wrapped packets of chicken and Asian vegetables in hoisin sauce, enough for four diners to share.

Flavor-packed hot-and-sour and chicken-rice soups arrived in attractive lidded pots, and we liked the meaty spareribs and crunchy shrimp toast. The pan-fried dumplings, though, were too thick, and the barbecued beef sticks were cold.

One of the top entrees was beef with broccoli. This was the best version of the old warhorse that I've tasted in years. The meat was succulent and fork-tender, and the broccoli crisp and verdant.

Speaking of vegetables, the tangy, spicy string beans and the spicy eggplant in garlic sauce were hits.

So were the large Sichuan shrimp in a barbecue sauce full of onions, and the appropriately spicy pork in garlic sauce. We liked the soothing chow fun, wide noodles laced with chunks of juicy chicken, but the chow mei fun, the angel-hair noodles we had ordered roast pork, were dry and bland.

Two dishes got mixed notices. I loved both of them and would order them again, but they were not what the menu advertised. A whole crispy sea bass came in a Sichuan barbecue sauce, not the ginger sauce listed on the menu (and requested). The beggar's chicken city style was another surprise. It was not the promised boneless chunks of chicken and pork with bamboo shoots but a whole baby chicken that had been marinated and steamed till it fell from the bone.

The meal ended with a fruit plate, fortune cookies, plum wine and lots of good memories, all free.