The nicest thing about Chez Michel is the variety of dishes that they whip up. If you don't know exactly what sort of food you're hungry for, you can go to Michel's and be assured that you'll find something that will please the palate. Meals run from $1.50 to more than $3, and if you can bear occasional blandness and are fed up with the greasy spoons, the restaurant may merit a visit.

Su Shiang

Prospect and Broadway Streets

A prime successor to light bulbs as Harvard's culinary fad has emerged: Szechuan-Hunan-style Chinese food. The Su-Shiang Restaurant is well on its way to transforming this import from Southwestern China from a fad to a gourmet tradition of its own.

If Su-Shiang can be translated into English, an educated guess would be that it means "spicy." The food there is quite unlike what you've ever eaten at conventional Chinese restaurants that serve their dishes Cantonese-style. Don't be surprised if you're forced to ask the waiter to fill your glass with water four of five times, for Su-Shiang's spicy dishes (designated by a star on the menu) give your taste buds and esophagus a real workout.

It's not that the chef at the Su-Shiang gets a sadistic thrill out of seeing his customers repeatedly reach for their water glasses, but rather that authentic Szechuan-Hunan-style food does not have that bland taste that characterizes so many Chinese-American dishes. For the less-than-ambitious, Su-Shiang's menu also offers a multitude of seafood, poultry, beef, and pork dishes without the distinctive Szechuan flavor.

To get a good sampling of Szechuan food without shelling out a lot of money (prices are not inexpensive but reasonable), bring a few friends along with you. The four of five of you will leave fully satiated if not stuffed. Among the best items on the menu are the hot and sour soup, which prepares the taste buds for what follows; special Szechuan Shrimp, which is probably the most tasty shrimp you'll ever experience; and Mushi Pork, a non-spicy dish that will brign you back down to earth.

So if you're willing to venture a few blocks outside of the Square, your efforts will certainly be rewarded. The Su-Shiang is located at 158 Prospect St., between Central and Inman Squares. Just opened in June, Su-Shiang's friendly service (the waiters will gladly explain what each dish is and how it is prepared), relaxed atmosphere and tasty food already surpasses that of any Chinese restaurant within walking distance of the Square.

One last precaution: Be sure to save enough money for an after-dinner ice cream cone. You'll need it.

Zum Zum

9 Brattle St.

The sausages hanging from the ceiling at Zum Zum are plastic, but if that doesn't bother you, you can enjoy good real German sausages there. In fact, almost all its German food, from the sauerkraut to the bratwurst to the cakes, is quite good, and is better, some feel, than that of its rival across the street, the Wursthaus.

It is also cheaper than the Wursthaus, with sandwiches running an average of $1.50. This is probably a consequence of its being a fast food place: the service is super-fast and there are no tables. Indeed, Zum Zum has become more and more of an ordinary fast food place ever since Restaurant Associates apparently gave up on their earlier policy of hiring only waitresses with German accents and gave in to the pressures of Harvard Square by installing an ice cream counter.

Although Zum Zum may strike you as a pretentious sandwich counter, it is a good place to find German food that is real and unpretentious and moderately-priced.

Lucky Gardens