This design is behind the take-out desk at the front.

PROVIDENCE — I must admit that I wasn’t especially excited about my assignment to review Little Chopsticks, the restaurant that has been a Smith Street landmark for more than a generation.

True, the place has drawn people from far beyond its local environs. And true, Jason Yau became the new owner last year after the popular spot had been closed for 18 months. (A restaurateur for two decades, he previously owned the A Taste of China restaurants in East Greenwich and North Kingstown, now in the hands of family members.)

Although the Little Chopsticks menu, which arrived in the mail at my house a month or so after Yau had taken over, was extensive, it was also familiar. There were plenty of the kinds of items you could find at a dozen other neighborhood Chinese restaurants in the area — roast pork with Chinese vegetables, chicken chow mein, shrimp lo mein, General Tso’s chicken, orange flavored beef, seafood combination in bird’s nest.

And from the outside, Little Chopsticks looks not unlike the three or four other Chinese restaurants that dot the State House end of Smith Street. It’s distinguished mainly from the others because it’s set back from the road, has a good-sized parking lot and a glassed-in greenhouse-style dining room at the front.

But we weren’t long into plowing through the 20-piece Pu Pu Platter ($14.95), when my rib-loving dining companion looked up from a Peking-style spare rib to declare, “I would come back here just for the ribs alone!”

In short order we discovered that we loved everything else about the Pu Pu Platter, as well. The tender teriyaki beef (on a stick) had the mild taste of curry rather than sweet teriyaki sauce. Yau uses a delicate approach with his teriyaki sauce which is actually more akin to barbecue sauce. He also adds a taste of curry so that the fragrances of both can be tasted.

The shrimp were jumbo and delicately fried in a light batter. There was a light batter, too, on the chicken fingers as well as on the chicken wings — normally my least favorite Pu Pu Platter item. Little Chopsticks’ chicken wings were not greasy or dark or gooey as is too often the case elsewhere. The meat inside was tender and moist.

The egg rolls were delicate and filled with Chinese vegetables. And if the Crab Rangoon seemed a little spare on its filling, what there was of the filling was deliciously creamy, with flecks of crabmeat.

Although the $14.95 price tag seemed a bit steep at first glance, at second glance we felt it was quite reasonable, considering that on the appetizer menu the wonderful teriyaki beef is $7.25 for six, while the Pu Pu Platter comes with four plus all the other goodies. Each item is served on a bed of bok choy in its own wooden compartment in a spinable tray.

In a later phone call, the Hong Kong-born Yau said he orders his beef and poultry and seafood fresh every day and this has fueled a Little Chopsticks revival.

The restaurant itself is cozy and unpretentious — big cordovan-colored booths, light wood wainscoting, laminated tabletops decorated with black and gold scenes from Old China. Although it was a cold midweek night when we arrived, the place was surprisingly busy, both with people dining inside and many orders being picked up from the take-out counter. One taste and we could see why.

“We never use meat from the night before,” Yau said. And, indeed, during our meal we had remarked about how fresh tasting everything we ordered was.

Much as we liked the Pu Pu Platter, with its little volcano of Sterno sizzling away in the middle, each dish we ordered after that seemed better than the last, attractively arranged and with a delicate hand on the ingredients in the kitchen.

We ordered slowly. Our cheerful waitress helpfully explained some of the menu items, refilled our tea mugs and water glasses (alcohol isn’t served, but you can bring your own) and between courses replaced the dirty silverware with fresh utensils.

Our first entrée choice was seafood pan-fried noodles ($13.95), temptingly presented on the platter with a rose carved out of a carrot. There were big chunks of lobster meat, including a claw (the menu mentioned crabmeat), large shrimps and tender scallops in a light, slightly salty sauce, plus mushrooms, peapods, scallions, celery slices, baby corn, carrots, broccoli and more. They rested atop a bed of wispy, lightly fried noodles that were a crunchy accompaniment to the seafood and vegetables. The dish was served with a small bowl of plain white rice, which seemed beside the point.

Next came the sesame chicken ($9.95), another house specialty worth raving about. It was a bit like candied chicken, what with marinated chicken chunks fried to a wonderful crunchiness on the outside while retaining their tender moistness on the inside. They were then sautéed with a sweet and tangy garlic-flavored red-brown sauce, with sesame seeds sprinkled on top. On the plate was another carrot carved into a flower along with crisp-tender bright green broccoli.

To accompany the sesame chicken, we chose a plate of the House Special Lo Mein ($7.95) — lots of chunks of tender chicken, shrimp and shredded pork with slices of onion, mushrooms, carrots, scallions and other vegetables, all served over soft noodles in a subtle, light brown sauce.

Even though the portions at Little Chopsticks are enormous and we swore that we couldn’t eat another bite, we did, until there was very little left on the plates.

Certainly there was no room for dessert. But with a limited selection that includes almond cookies, chocolate or vanilla pudding, chocolate or vanilla cake, chocolate or vanilla ice cream, we didn’t feel we were missing out on anything.

The crisp fortune cookies were quite enough at a restaurant we assured ourselves we’d be back to visit, even though it is a little farther than our old reliable neighborhood haunt. In fact, we did return for take-out 10 days later.BILL OF FARE

Dinner for two at Little Chopsticks might look something like this:

Pu Pu Platter…$14.95

Seafood pan-fried noodles…$13.95

Sesame chicken…$9.95

Total food…$38.85

Tax…$3.11

Tip…$8.00

Total…$49.96

Little Chopsticks, 495 Smith St., Providence. (401) 273-0049; (401) 273-0060. Casual. Handicapped accessible. Children’s seats. M, V. Parking lot. Serving 10:30 a.m. to 10:15 p.m. Sun.-Thurs.; to 11:15 p.m. Fri.-Sat. Appetizers $2.25 to $7.25 with a $14.95 Pu Pu Platter. Entrees $2.95 to $16.95. No alcohol served, but you can bring your own wine or beer.

mjanuson@projo.com