Good Chinese food requires hours of preparation, and as fewer smuggled-in aliens find their way to restaurant kitchens, lovers of Oriental cuisine can expect their eating expenses to skyrocket--and even achieve parity with the prices of a less-interesting European diet. Joyce Chen, who long ago began providing Chinese food to Cambridge students wary of a venture into Chinatown, is leading this drive to respectability and the higher prices that come with it.

In short, the food is consistently good and the prices are just as dependably painful. Genuine Chinese delights can be found under Westernized names--"Peking Ravioli" is a delicious appetizer difficult to find outside New York. For a sampling generally satisfying to the most American of palates, the buffets are good occasions to run wild (Tuesday and Thursday nights and Sunday afternoons). Unfortunately, they will set you back $4.75 a head.

The Midget

1712 Mass Ave

The Midget (up near Radcliffe) is best at preparing the kind of food usually available from delicatessens. Although this Jewish-style deli is not in the same league as Katz's Delicatessen on New York's lower east side (and it is not Kosher), in the Harvard Square area the Midget is probably the closest you'll come to a decent corned-beef-on-rye with a side order of kishka. The triple decker "College Sandwiches" are well worth their prices, and bagels with cream cheese and lox are available (a rarity in this town). The adjoining maxi bar and lounge is comfortable and its booze is served at reasonable prices. (Try the scotch-and-milk).

Natalie's

1672 Mass Ave

Pasta lovers will not find a plethora of Italian restaurants in the Square area, and the best spot--Natalie's--is near Radcliffe. Although the spaghetti is superior, the best item on the menu is a $3 antipasto salad which is almost a meal in itself. The Caesar dressing adds just the right tang.

The spaghetti dinners start at $1.85 for a good mushroom sauce. The pasta noodles are excellent. The wine list is ordinary, but the prices are reasonable. The restaurant has a loyal clientele, so first-time customers can expect a line at the height of the dinner rush.

Osaka

617 Concord Ave.

The best Japanese food in Cambridge can be had for a short trip to Fresh Pond. The prices are by no means low, but the food is good enough to make you forget how much you are shelling out.

The restaurant, patronized by the area's Japanese population, is divided into three parts roughly according to the kind of food served in each. The most exotic, and least crowded, section is the raw fish, or sushi, bar. Osaka's sushi is as good as any you are likely to find in the Northeast.

In the most popular section, Osaka offers teppan yaki, a preparation of bite-size pieces of tender beef broiled in front of you on an open stove. The third section, with standard restaurants and chairs, serves the traditional Western favorites--sukiyaki, teriyaki and tempura. All full meals are accompanied by a delicious Japanese soup called miso, sunemono, a crab meat salad, and all the green tea you can drink. Of the liquors, the sake and plum wine are particularly worth trying.

Patisserie Francaise