In honor of the Bow issue, The Insiders agreed to send me on an all-expense paid lunchtime trip to the exotic town of Bow. I had a hard time selecting a place to eat, since, well, many of Bow's lunchtime spots are actually in the big city of Concord.

After some research, I decided to go to Chen Yang Li Restaurant, 520 South St. Not only had I heard good things about the place, but the restaurant's website had several delectable-looking pictures of food on it. Just as I always judge a book by its cover, I often judge a restaurant by the content of its website. I immediately rang my dining companion.

"I'm going to Bow to get Chinese food. Care to join me?" I asked sweetly. One of my New Year's resolutions this year was to be kinder to those less fortunate and to gain a better understanding of those less put together. I fulfill my resolution every time I let my dining companion tag along with me.

"Chinese food? Why are you going all the way to Bow for Chinese food? Concord has several different places we could go - we could go to the mall, there's a few spots downtown, there's . . ."

"Because that's where I want to go and sometimes you have to travel for good food!" I snapped. I mean, really, I have a busy schedule to attend to and don't have time to listen to her trail on and on and on.

We eventually made our way over to Chen Yang Li, not without somehow ending up in Hopkinton first. See? This is what happens when I rely on other people. I mean, I only let her drive so I could give her a sense of responsibility.

Once in the parking lot, I was greeted by the smell of Chinese food and knew everything was going to be just fine. Right away, I was impressed by the size of the place. Chinese restaurants are often no bigger than, say, the size of my living room, making them a great place for takeout, but not so great to dine in. However, before even making my way through the doors, I knew this would be a place to not just eat, but to dine.

Inside the restaurant was even more promising than the outside. Immediately, patrons are greeted by two different kinds of bars, essential to any good Asian restaurant . . . one for drinking and the other for sushi.

Our host brought us to a table beyond the sushi bar, and I couldn't help but feel my mouth start watering the moment I walked by a glass case containing several raw fish filets. This strategic placement immediately made me yearn for an order of spicy tekka maki, but I was snapped back to reality as soon as we were seated and I could no longer gaze upon raw fish.

I was happy to see that the restaurant was neither busy nor completely dead, making it an ideal place for lunch. In theory, this meant our food should come out quickly and there wouldn't be too much of that awkward silence between my companion and me. I was also happy to see that the restaurant had cloth tablecloths and napkins, even though it was just lunchtime. Such things please The Food Snob.

Our waitress came over immediately, asking us for our food and beverage order. Since the restaurant's menu is rather expansive, I still needed a little more time to peruse my options. I continued reading the menu and was asked two more times if I was ready to order before I was actually ready to order. I suppose they must just have known I was the infamous Food Snob and wanted to be certain I was getting prompt service. Next time I'm going out in sunglasses and a headscarf.

I eventually decided upon luncheon option No. 45 (I told you the menu is expansive). For those who have not memorized the Chen Yang Li menu, No. 45 is a combination plate with ginger shrimp and scallops with string beans, crab rangoons and chicken fingers for $9.50. The luncheon plates range from $6.95 to $9.95, and all come with your choice of soup (wonton, chicken corn or hot and sour) and rice (white, brown or vegetable fried). I opted for hot and sour soup and brown rice. (next page »)