The generic name and mundane strip mall location in the far northern region of Broadview feel particularly appropriate for Asian Kitchen, a restaurant that excels at the much-maligned niche cuisine of American Chinese food: egg foo young, neon orange duck sauce, and plates of glossy, sticky sesame chicken.

A sparse collection of indoor plants do their best to liven up the big brown booths and yellow walls, which otherwise match the accusations lobbied at American Chinese food as a genre: lacking in flair and nuance. But this is the kind of place that lets the food do the talking—and it has a good story to tell.

The owner spent 10 years working at Seattle locations of Din Tai Fung, including helping open the first local branch in Bellevue. (Yes, the xiao long bao here are good, too, though they bring them in from an outside vendor). Asian Kitchen retains the polish and high standards of its owner's former employer, applying them to Americanized classics you’d never find at the Taiwanese chain.

All too often, sesame chicken is made with frozen pre-breaded chicken sauced in cloying syrup and looking as though it claimed to know a sesame seed, but she lives in Canada. Here, it’s made from scratch, in-house, and fried to order, coming to the table crisp and complex, showered in the namesake ingredient. It’s Panda Express food, with Din Tai Fung quality.