Take a look around Campustown — chances are, you won’t have trouble finding a Chinese food restaurant. However, not all restaurants are created equal. Taste, location, service and, of course, delivery, all play a part in a restaurant’s appeal. Can Chinese Homestyle Cooking stand up to the best, or does it falter with the rest? The Daily’s culinary critics find out.

Atmosphere:

AL: Dining at Chinese Homestyle Cooking is like going to the circus with amnesia — you might have fun, but you probably won’t remember it. There are a nice assortment of Chinese decorations littering the diner-like atmosphere of the restaurant, but it’s nothing worth loving or hating too much.

ER: Tucked next to the Kwik Shop on Lincoln Way and recognizable by its large red and yellow awning lies a small Chinese restaurant. Although it’s a little bit hidden, it hosts some of the best food in Ames. The inside dining room contains a few small tables and booths which gives the feel of a small diner. The walls are littered with Chinese paintings, giving the place an authentic dining experience.

However, random photos of musical instruments hanging on the walls was an atmosphere killer. This isn’t just a CHC thing — it seems to be an Ames thing as well. I guess I just don’t understand it, but someone needs to tell them it’s OK to leave some empty space on the walls so the artwork can breathe. Besides this one small detail, the place was very clean and a pleasure to dine in.

Service:

AL: Although ordering at the counter is an interesting approach for a sit-down restaurant — one that has been adopted by other restaurants in Ames — it’s really not as annoying as it sounds. Look at a menu, pick a drink, order a meal — it’s a simple, streamlined process that eliminates the aggravating wait that takes place at other lunch venues. Plus, five minutes from order time to food delivery is so fast, I freaked. Sorry, Jimmy John’s.

ER: Five minutes and our food was billowing steam in our faces. Besides a small wait at the counter, our meals arrived quite promptly, giving the mighty El Azteca a challenge. Our order wasn’t screwed up, and our food came out with lightning speed, giving CHC high marks in my book.

Quantity/Value

AL: CHC doesn’t skimp on the shrimp, especially considering my meal was a lunch special. The accompanying rice and vegetables also filled me up pretty well. Had I eaten the included peppers, I would have been stuffed. But considering they would probably make me sick enough to never dine there again, I decided to keep my meal down by staying slightly hungry. And, at a price just over five bucks, I have enough cash left to go back very soon.

ER: I couldn’t finish my meal, and for $7.25, I’m not complaining. The chicken in the Kung Pao chicken was plentiful, which was a plus, given that some restaurants in Ames have been know to cheat you on the main ingredient in the dish. Besides the wealth of chicken, the meal was full of tofu, peanuts and water chestnuts. The side of rice topped the meal off for the perfect amount of food for lunch.

Deciding that excess isn’t always bad, I added the hot and sour soup to my meal. I’m not sure why I did this, because I was already full from the Kung Pao chicken, but I was glad I did. The soup added a perfect finisher to my meal. The soup was served in a bowl that couldn’t have been a better size. It wasn’t so big that people would think I was compensating for something I didn’t have, but it wasn’t also small enough for me to get a complex. To make a long story short, $7.25 is a bit on the expensive side, but I promise every bit of that $7.25 is worth it.

Quality/Taste

AL: Like Eric, I really enjoyed my main dish. The shrimp were plump, tasty and accented with just enough spice from the peppers to make them a snappy little lunch dish. Although I’ve been told by purists that I need to eat the shells of the shrimp, I just can’t bring myself to eat the crunchy outsides of my cute crustacean friends. I’m sure there is quite a bit of salty goodness in the shell, but it’s a joy I’m willing to miss.

Unlike Eric, however, I didn’t have the pleasure of eating a bowl of hot and sour soup that, judging by the look on his face, was as enjoyable as his best sexual encounter. Seriously — it was like he suddenly discovered the holy grail of broth and veggies. Although I did sample and enjoy the soup, nothing on my plate stood out as a mind-blowing dish. It was certainly good, but with Oriental restaurants like The Scallion competing for my taste buds’ attention, I just can’t call this the best meal in town.

ER: It’s better than anything else you can find in Ames, it’s better than anything your mom or dad can make at home, and it’s better than anything you can ever dream of making. Chinese Homestyle Cooking’s hot and sour soup is by far the best thing I’ve ever had. Ever. The soup is a jewel in a city of drab cubic zirconias. A perfectly blended array of tofu, chicken, pepper and eggs will hit your taste buds and blow you away. I didn’t know flavor of this intensity existed. If it wasn’t for the fact that I already consumed most of my Kung Pao chicken, I would have ordered another bowl.

The chicken was also great — not too fatty, and plentiful. Besides the wealth of poultry, there was also a large amount of peanuts, which was appreciated. The Kung Pao’s flavor was hard to beat. To top the meal off, the main dish was spicy and at times brought a few tears to my eyes. I guess that does happen when you pick out the hot red peppers and eat them. Overall, the taste of my meal was top-notch. Surpassing any other “authentic” Chinese restaurants in Ames, CHC definitely has the upper hand and is a shoo-in for my favorite place to grab a great meal.

Final Say:

AL: 4 of 5 forks

ER: 5 of 5 forks