Some people must experience an endorphin rush at Sweet Home Glad. How else can I explain my experiences with the restaurant’s friendly customers?

The first time I walked in, a woman paying for her meal at the counter told me and a friend that she wished we had glanced at what she was eating — the garlic chicken over cake noodles ($10.75) — and ordered the same thing.

Then she said she wished she could have shown us her food but she had eaten it all.

Huh????

I nodded, but after the woman left, I told my friend I didn’t understand what she was talking about. She interpreted that the woman was disappointed by what we had ordered, sensed we were newbies and loves the restaurant so much that she didn’t want us to leave with a bad impression, hinting at what to order the next time.

Ah, it all came clear.

Then there was the construction worker who, inspired by pay-it-forward videos online, decided to pay for everyone in the restaurant, about 11 people.

When he saw how little I had ordered, about $15 worth of food, he encouraged me to eat more. Alas, I was heading to a dance class and knew I wouldn’t be able to move with more food in my belly.

It wasn’t the first time this gentleman had picked up the bill for the whole restaurant, where affordable pricing keeps such a feel-good deed a doable endeavor.

A mom also told me she likes to bring her son to Sweet Home because of the tasting menu of $3.50 items, small portions of anything from chicken katsu to cold ginger chicken. If there were a Chinese equivalent to an izakaya, this would be it because of the multiple small-plate options. The restaurant serves no alcohol though, so you’re welcome to BYOB, with no corkage fee.

The hole-in-the-wall restaurant was started by chef Chung Lau, who’s spent his life in restaurants. Until their retirement about a decade ago, his parents ran Aikane Cafe in Kakaako, a place known for its affordable Chinese plates. Lau continues the tradition at Sweet Home Glad, built around the idea of family meals, where everyone is able to pick and choose their heart’s desire.

The menu allows you to have an itty- bitty taste of the things that tempt you, but know are bad for you, like Chinese- style crackling-skinned pork belly. A whole plateful ($5.25 mini-plate with one scoop of rice and edamame; $7.75 regular plate with two scoops of rice and edamame) may not be what the doctor ordered, but one or two pieces from the tasting menu ($3.50) might be fine.

If you and your friends can never agree on what to order, go ahead and order up 10 of the small dishes, that will add up to only $35, before tax and tip.

The downside is that most of those dishes will be deep-fried, and some are better than others.

On the plus side are salt-and-pepper shrimp (three pieces) and fried smelt. On the down side is an order of fried oysters, each the size of a madeleine, but just about as hard as a Mountain View Bakery Stone Cookie. I found myself extracting the small piece of oyster within and discarding the hard shell.

If available, and you want to splurge, get the deep-fried soft-shell crab ($10.95 for two pieces), both crispy and meaty, and easily the best I’ve had at any local restaurant.

Steamed fish (swai) fillet is $7.75, and if you want to splurge, you can get currently get a whole fish (uhu) steamed with green onion, ginger and soy sauce for $28 (seasonal availability).

I miss the days of $4 noodle soups, but when the price of ramen is now $20-plus, I can’t complain about the $7.75 price of char siu mein or $8.75 for wor (vegetable) shrimp wonton mein.

In addition to rice plates of lemon chicken, mochiko chicken, Spam katsu and more ($5.25/$7.75), noodle and fried rice dishes ($7.75 to $9.75) round out the menu.

Party pans are also available for your next family get-together.

The menu can be a hit-or-miss affair, but for the price, a few duds inflict only minor injury.

Nadine Kam’s restaurant reviews are conducted anonymously and paid for by the Star-Advertiser. Reach her at nkam@staradvertiser.com.