Provinces In Edmonds: Kenny Lee's Old Faithful

----------------------------------------------------------------- Restaurant review / Edmonds

XX Provinces Asian Restaurant & Bar, 201 Fifth Ave. S. (in Old Milltown), Edmonds. Lunch ($3.95-$7.95) Monday-Saturday, dinner ($4.95-$12.95) every day. Early-bird dinner ($6.95) 3-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday. Smoking section. Major credit cards. Full bar. Wheelchair access. Reservations. 425-744-0288. -----------------------------------------------------------------

Yeah, yeah. The hipsters are down there in Belltown, checking out chef Kenneth Lee's new Shallots Asian Bistro. But I'm staying put, right here where I can always be found when I'm dining out for me, not for you: Kenny Lee's other pan-Asian restaurant, Provinces. Edmonds ain't Belltown. At Provinces, tables are set with forks, not chopsticks. And you won't find any swinging young things with expensive haircuts; you'll find ladies-who-lunch swapping grandkid shots while picking at their kung pao, retirees filling up on $6.95 early-bird dinner specials, and working guys inquiring about the "sweet and sour soup" - then ordering wonton.

Upstairs in a creaky old downtown Edmonds antique mall, hunkered-down in leathery banquettes or seated at window tables looking out over an AM/PM mini-mart, teetotalers ignore the Northwest-centric wine list and peruse the menu: a Pan-Asian feast of moo-shu this and hot-pot that, tum yum tofu or beef teppanyaki. Then they order Chinese. In the dark confines of the cocktail lounge, drinkers bend an elbow, stare at the TV and light up a Lucky. Dining room or lounge, you can sip a martini for two bucks during happy hour (3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.), or trade a fiver for a sake buzz and an appetizer (try the garlicky butterfly prawns).

I love this place - particularly at lunch when the capacious dining room is attended with quick precision by a single waiter who doesn't know my name, but knows without asking that I prefer the hot and sour soup to the egg flower, that I'd rather eat with chopsticks, and that I hate green peppers. I've dined at Provinces a half-million times - or at least 50 - and I've yet to encounter a meal that didn't ring my chimes. While Kenny Lee makes his mark in Seattle's Gourmet Ghetto, I am pleased to note that his able minions continue, as ever, to hit the mark in his absence.

SALAD ROLLS: Jenny Craig's answer to the deep-fried spring roll, this virtuous Vietnamese cousin to The Oily One translates as rice-paper pancakes rolled with skinny noodles and chilled prawns. It gets its spunk from cilantro but needs a lavish dunking in sweet, peanut-speckled dipping sauce.

SEAFOOD UDON NOODLE SOUP: Prawns and scallops meet ropes of chewy udon in steaming chicken broth. Chopsticks act as divining rod for shiitake and straw mushrooms, bok choy, bamboo shoots, broccoli and snow peas. Strands of pickled cabbage add a briny crunch that's not for everyone.

HUNAN BEEF (DAILY LUNCH SPECIAL): You'll never have to ask "Where's the beef?" if you order this one: fresh-vegetables and lots of delectable, velvety, quick-seared meat whose vaguely sweet sauce is so good you'll be mopping up every grain of fried rice with it. The side of "pickled salad" sports garlicky cabbage and daikon - fresh as all get out. If you don't try the hot and sour soup, you're cheatin' yourself.

ITEMIZED LUNCH BILL:

SALAD ROLLS: $3.95 SEAFOOD UDON NOODLE SOUP: $7.95 HUNAN BEEF (DAILY LUNCH SPECIAL): $4.95

TAX: $1.96 TOTAL: $18.81