local dining

Friday, December 22, 2000

Great Chinese food, greater atmosphere served up at Ecko’s

By Helena Rodriguez
Reporter-News Staff Writer

Take a step into the Orient at Ecko’s Restaurant.

The minute you enter this restaurant at 2701 South 1st, the inviting native Taiwanese décor with its relaxing hues of oranges, pinks and reds sets the mood for an extravagant meal.

Distinctive Oriental temple lamps and Chinese art surrounds each booth, welcoming you to a table and chair. The trip to the Orient is just beginning.

Behind the kitchen door, Ecko Barbian is preparing dishes, many of which she learned to make as a child growing up in Taiwan. She takes pride in her sesame chicken, but knows her egg rolls are usually the first thing customers request.

“All Oriental restaurants are different because everybody cooks different,” Barbian is quick to point out. “Our egg rolls is our specialty. People fly here from Houston and Dallas to get them.”

Lunch and dinner specials ranging from $2.99 pepper steak and rice meals to $4.25 dinners also draw customers into the doors. The most expensive item on the menu is the $11.99 seafood platter consisting of sautéed lobster tail in tomato sauce.

I opted for the Combo No. 3 dinner: lemon chicken, shrimp chow mien and rice. You get a very generous helping. The lemon chicken had a tangy sweetness as expected. The shrimp chow mein was a somewhat different dish and went down lightly. I also had the fried shrimp appetizers, which had a strangely sweet flavor and were heavily breaded. They were served with a white ranch sauce I didn’t care much for. I liked it better without the sauce.

My dinner guest enjoyed the sweet and sour chicken, which is one of Ecko’s most popular dishes. She also got a generous portion, even for a child’s plate.

Barbian came to the United States from Taiwan in 1970 and opened her restaurant on South 1st 25 years ago.

Egg rolls, fried shrimp and hot wings are Ecko’s two most popular appetizers.

If you’ve got a craving for good Chinese food and want to go to a quiet place with comfortable atmosphere, I’d say Ecko’s is a good choice.

“We have people come and take pictures here because they say it is a pretty restaurant,” Barbian said. She likes to think it’s her great-tasting Chinese food that keeps them coming back, though.

“I don’t know anything about art. All I know is how to cook,” she said.

Contact entertainment writer Helena Rodriguez at 676-6761, or by e-mail at rodriguezh@abinews.com. Check out our Web site at www.reporternews.com. For a list of Abilene restaurants visit http://www.bigcountrydining.com.