Tianchu Restaurant is a cozy spot in the University of Michigan central campus dining area, where bright orange walls provide a cheery ambience. The surroundings and attentive, pleasant servers are a high point.

The eatery, which opened in March, specializes in Korean cuisine, along with a handful of Chinese dishes. The menu is divided into appetizers, rice, noodles, meat and soup entrees.

Appetizers were among the better dishes we tried. The spring roll was plump and full of fresh vegetables. The seafood pancake was seasoned well and included large pieces of shrimp and squid. The egg pancake resembled more of a fluffy omelet, but it was fine if you like egg dishes, and the fried dumpling had a full-bodied flavor. I also enjoyed the traditional Korean side dishes that come with the meal, including the kimchi, and Korean radishes colored in a dazzling yellow.

Our entrees were more uneven. I'll start with the positive. The sesame chicken was outstanding, with generous portions of chicken bathed in a syrupy sauce that had a delicate, addicting sweetness. This sauce coated extremely moist chicken.

I also would give the thumbs up to the fried noodles with beef. Though the tiny slivers of nicely stir-fried beef were hard to find, the sauce was delicious and a great complement to the tender noodles. Based on my experience with the fried noodles and the seafood noodle soup, noodles are well prepared here.

The seafood soup came in an enormous bowl and was a hearty dish, with giant pieces of fresh shrimp, squid and clams amidst a flavorful broth.

Yet broths in the other soups we sampled didn't have the same positive results. The miso soup was flavorless, and could have benefited from at least a hint of ginger. The egg drop soup suffered from a fatty broth.

Absence of flavoring was a problem in many of our dishes. The mapo tofu lacked substance, while the bibimbap was bland and unremarkable. The shrimp and minced fish cakes suffered a similar, ordinary fate. Jap chae contained fatty beef that was tough to chew and swallow.

Servers are delightful here, constantly refilling water glasses and, at lunch, delivering our meals within 15 minutes of our ordering. But as much as this helps to make the eating experience pleasant, it's simply not enough. Tianchu would benefit from more consistency in its food offerings to better complement the congenial service.

Julie Halpert reviews restaurants for AnnArbor.com.