East Asia Restaurant   

Just off the Powderhouse rotary is East Asia, a small, average-looking Asian restaurant with above average fare. The menu is relatively standard, but it's the freshness of the ingredients that makes each dish exceptional. The whole restaurant comprises only six tables, but diners (many students and Davis Square locals) usually don't have much of a wait during the week, since its delivery and takeout business is brisk. If you do decide to stay and eat, the setting is spare -- a white room with mirrors along one of the walls -- but it serves to accentuate the bold flavors and surprising complexity of the plate in front of you. Chili eggplant is a grand slam of a dish, and dumplings are delicate triumphs, both the Chinese and Thai versions. The seafood dishes, like dancing squid, are prepared with notable aplomb. The service is also high-quality, always fast and friendly. Melanie Miller