Chen Yang Li is back and still delicious

Fans of upscale Asian cuisine can applaud the return of this impeccably run Chinese/Japanese restaurant to the Nashua area after what seemed to many like a lifetime.

With its attentive staff, crisp, white table linens and origami-folded napkins, it’s the place to go when the occasion calls for more than just a pu pu platter and Mai Tai.

Chen Yang Li is sophisticated, yet affordable, and very user friendly. We had a delightful dinner there and can’t wait to go back. And it wasn’t just nice because the food was good. It was the whole restaurant gestalt, from a friendly host who greeted and seated us to smiling, helpful servers and the feng-shui elegance of the decor. And the food rocked, too.

We started with drinks and appetizers, a cold Budweiser ($3.50) for Mr. T for T, a yummy Shirley Temple ($1.95) for Junior and a pot of hot, fragrant jasmine tea for the designated driver, Mrs. T for T.

For apps, we shared an order of Shrimp Tempura ($14.95) and Spider Roll ($8.95), our favorite maki, and all sampled a bowl of Miso Soup ($2.25)

The Spider Roll – our favorite from the sushi portion of the menu – is made with fried, soft-shell crabs rolled with rice, flying fish roe and avocado, with a seaweed wrap. This is a perfect treat for those who don’t like raw fish but don’t want to miss out on these kind of delicacies.

The tempura was prepared with panko crumbs, which made for a very crispy coating on the shrimp, but we usually prefer a more breaded batter for our tempura.

And the miso was some of the best – earthy, with fresh, firm tofu.

For entrees, we dove into the Basil Delight ($13.95) and Nabeyaki Udon ($11.95), both of which were nonpareil and exquisitely presented, including an amazing red rose fashioned from a daikon on one of the dishes.

If we had to live on a desert island and eat only one thing, it would be Chen Yang Li’s Basil Chicken made with thin cutlets of fresh, white breast chicken and ocean fresh prawns, lightly stir-fried with onions, scallions and a feast of lightly cooked fresh, green basil leaves, and served with white rice.

If that desert island were instead a freezing archipelago, we’d go for the Nabeyaki ($11.95), an amazing soup, with thick Japanese noodles, chicken breast and fresh vegetables swimming in a fragrant, seasoned broth with shrimp tempura and boiled egg.

Our taste buds were doing a happy dance, and as an encore, we all shared the refreshing Lemon Ripeno (4.95), a whole scooped out lemon stuffed with a light lemon sorbet, for desert. The perfect ending to a perfect meal.

If you haven’t made arrangements yet for your holiday party or New Year’s meal, you might want to visit, or revisit, the new incarnation of Chen Yang Li.