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Here’s a tip for anyone trying to determine the general quality level of a Chinese restaurant at first glance: The more Chinese characters in the menu descriptions, the better chance you have of receiving tasty traditional fare. At some places (like Bradenton’s Lucky Star, which I called the area’s best Chinese restaurant a few weeks ago), you might have to wade through a list of Westernized take-out classics before you find that handwritten list of goodies at the end. Heck, you may even have to ask for a totally separate special menu.

The new Gold Dynasty Chinese restaurant on the North Trail (which we were so excited about, we’ve already covered, twice) perfectly fits my simplified quality-analysis system. The early part of the menu is devoted to the kinds of mass-appeal dishes that most folks will be looking for. But work your way towards the end and you’ll find a sudden addition of Chinese names next to the English titles. And that’s where you should focus if you want to maximize your Gold Dynasty experience.

Of course, with a devotion to the more traditional and interesting dishes at the end of the menu comes better quality in the Americanized standards. Lo mein at Gold Dynasty is some of the best in town, the strands of brown noodles tender and rich without the clinging oily residue common to neighborhood joints. Seafood, in ubiquitous dishes like cashew shrimp or scallops in garlic sauce, are tender and nicely cooked, with a balance of flavor that tends to accentuate the ingredients instead of deadening the palate. If you want a bag of take-out for movie night, you won’t find a better place in Sarasota than Gold Dynasty.

But why limit yourself? On the mainstream side of the menu, the only seafood choices are shrimp and scallops. On the traditional side, you’ll find soft-shell crab and squid, flounder and shell-on shrimp. Sauces veer away from the usual brown and clear gravies in favor of intense fermented beans, or spicy salt, garlic and jalapeño sautées. Soups are big stews of seafood and fish belly, or pickles and pork instead of wonton and egg drop. There are whole chickens braised in soy sauce and barbecued ducks with crisp, golden-brown skin.

It’s Chinese Chinese food.

Gold Dynasty’s deep-fried salted seafood is coated in a crackling batter and tossed with a bounty of fried garlic and slivers of spicy pepper, a combination that’s so tasty, and so congruent with American tastes, I’ve always wondered why the dish never made the jump to Westernized Chinese joints. You can find fried rice dotted with salted, preserved fish that punctuates every bite with a punch of powerful flavor. Better than spongy beef or chicken breast any day.

Instead of lo mein, order Gold Dynasty’s chow fun — the wide rice noodles glistening with luscious, salty fat from pan-fried beef — or a pile of slender Singapore noodles that’ll give you a taste of big-city Asian street food. Timid palates can pick at a bowl of congee, a simple and savory rice pudding topped by meat or seafood that’s often eaten for breakfast in China.

Black bean sauce, though, is clearly the star here. Served with everything from fried crab to beef ribs, this dark, clinging sauce bears the salty-sweet power of fermented black beans. It’s pungent, but in a good way.

Gold Dynasty also serves dim sum every day — advertised on big letters on its marquee — and that would have elicited yelps of glee from me had I not recently discovered Lucky Star. The list here is fairly standard, running the gamut from steamed buns to tripe, and the quality is consistently fine, if not exactly exciting. However, I do have a piece of advice that might make it a much more appealing option.

The restaurant is housed in a former Kentucky Fried Chicken, complete with drive-through window on the side. If Gold Dynasty wants to generate more business, and make a cutting-edge move that could put it on the map outside of Sarasota, why not start serving out that window? Drive-through dim sum. Brilliant. If I do say so myself.

In the meantime, though, Gold Dynasty still has enough going on to attract any Sarasotan craving a traditional Chinese fix, especially since the nearest competitor is a good half-hour drive or more from downtown.

Gold Dynasty

3 stars

4195 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, 822-0288

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