Jane C.
Yelp
It completely befuddles me when someone slams a place like this for not serving up authentic Chinese food. If that's what you want, you're not likely to find it here...or anywhere on Montague Street for that matter. You come here for one thing and one thing only - Americanized Chinese food.
Lunch specials here are the way to go. You get an entree, your choice of soup or iced tea (think Lipton mix and water), and crispy wonton strips for $6.95, which rivals most meal prices in the area and given the amount of food you get for it, this is a great deal. Dining in also allows you free hot tea, though service can range wildly from warm to dismissive, and it all depends on timing. If you choose to stay during the lunch hour, expect brusque service - choose your order within seconds, eat it within fifteen, and no lingering after your plates have been taken away. Come during the quieter hours of the afternoon and you'll find that things slow down for the better.
Since my lunch hour at work falls squarely during the chaotic period at Lichee Nut, I usually get takeout. I place my order from my desk at work, walk five to eight minutes to the restaurant, and my food is usually waiting for me by the time they get there. If I were a more suspicious person, I'd wonder if these people are secretly order-stalking me or hiring clairvoyant chefs to man the kitchen. Most of the time, I'm just happy that my hangries have found a quick cure.
Note: any time I come to pick up the order, the lone woman at the desk is handling dining checks, answering the phone, AND disseminating takeouts. It is easy to ream them out for the snappy phone calls (and I've been on the other end of those once or twice), but the last time I was waiting there for about a minute for my food, the phone rang once. every. five. seconds. If I had to do that for a few hours, I imagine I'd soon violate some social norms of politeness. To avoid phone fights like the ones a few yelpers have mentioned, speak clearly, know what you're ordering, and choose your order options in advance (white/fried rice, soup/tea, etc.). Yelp provides the menu online. Use it.
I generally order the broccoli with garlic sauce, and if you receive any 'with rice' entree in a takeout container from this place, it's going to seem like there is a disproportionate ratio of rice to entree, but fret not. After placing several orders here, I realized they plop the rice on last, so there's usually more food buried below it; you just have to dig for it. I find my food is usually a little oiler than I'd prefer (which might explain why I always feel like I need to take a nap underneath my desk after eating lunch from the Nut). I've also ordered the fried veggie dumplings which are all right. They're served with a soy sauce blend that gave the plump morsels some much-needed flavor.
