The Justice

Media Credit: Max Matza Those who frequent the Beijing Star restaurant can order off the Americanized menu or the pink Chinese menu.

Midterm season is upon us. Papers, tests and long stretches of late nights without sleep can weaken the best of immune systems. You can drink all the orange juice you want, but you just can't protect your roommates from catching "that bug that's been going around."

By now you've picked up their hacking coughs and sniffling noses. The idea of eating the usual Asian chicken wrap makes your already-sore throat constrict with aversion. You've eaten nothing for days except for pre-packaged soup. You definitely can't eat the same horrid junk that you've survived on throughout the semester: take-out, dining hall mystery meat, pizza and more take-out. It's time to get out of bed and eat some real food.

Although admittedly rather far from your Cup of Noodles-stocked dorm room, Beijing Star at 835 Main St. in Waltham offers some of the only authentic Chinese food in the area. Located directly across the street from Hannaford and next to Arcadia Restaurant, Beijing Star is a hub for Chinese locals looking for home-cooked goodness.

The restaurant offers two menus: the Americanized menu and the Chinese menu. The Americanized list boasts the usual litany of noodles and rice dishes ($10 and under). You'll find cheap lunch specials for $7.50that offer such Americanized classics as orange chicken and chicken with cashews. The sesame chicken ($11.95 at dinner) is a huge portion of breaded chicken coated in a well-balanced sweet and savory sauce that is infinitely better than what any Chinese take-out place would deliver to campus at 2 a.m. If you are craving Americanized Chinese food, Beijing Star's version is certainly a cut above the rest of the options in the area. Be aware that you will have to order white rice separately ($1.50).

True connoisseurs at this quiet restaurant, however, will always order off the pink Chinese menu. The proprietors definitely speak Beijing-style Mandarin first and English second. The siblings who own the restaurant are, in fact, from Beijing, and their menu represents their distinctly northern Chinese heritage. They offer authentic Chinese homestyle cooking that would satisfy any picky Asian grandmother.

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