I joined my buddy, Rob, for lunch at Asia this week. It's the Chinese/Asian restaurant on Susquehanna Street between Allentown and Fountain Hill. Susan Gottshall, intrepid reviewer for The Morning Call, listed Asia as one of her top experiences in 2008. Rob and I were generally satisfied. The menu was fairly extensive -- typical Chinese dishes along with several that had more creative flair.
We tried two selections from the "Asia Signature Bowls" lunch menu. Rob had Thai peanut chicken. The chicken pieces were as tender as I've ever had. The peanut sauce was mild -- only a mild nut taste. The veggies were plump and succulent. Meanwhile, I ordered the pine nuts shrimp and scallops. The seafood was cooked perfectly -- toothsome, not dry. The sauce (ranked one chili pepper) had only a mild kick. It was a red garlic-ginger glaze.
We both ordered our dishes atop brown rice. (Gotta avoid the afternoon glycemic coma you get with white rice.) However, we both found the sauces drowned the rice. Next time, I will recommend requesting the rice on the side to control the distribution of the sauce. Way too much -- it overpowered the nuttiness of the brown rice and probably added several hundred more calories to each dish.
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6 comments:
Asia is great! I judge Chinese restaurants by their hot & sour soup. Their's was tops.
Good call Nancy. Forgot to mention that we started with hot and sour soup. It was among the best I've had -- tangy, a bit spicy and nicely balanced.
i looove asia. hearing the story behind "arlene's eggplant" prompted me to get it and i kind of crave it all the time now.
I went last week and had their shrimp dumplings. Handmade and excellent. We saw an older woman making the pork dumplings at a nearby table. It was mid afternoon and rather slow.
Their spicy-sweet kimchi, while not totally authentic, had a major kick and went really well with the crispy noodles served at the beginning of the meal. I highly recommend them both. Same for the pad thai (order it extra hot - the medium hot was bland) and the beef curry bowl. And the brown rice here is great! It's almost like a risotto grain, round and toothsome.
Thanks, Genevieve, for the insight. I saw you tweet about Asia, so thanks for posting here, too. I'm down for the kimchi next time. It's tough to find here. I'll get it at Kim's on 309. I used to get decent kimchi at the Allentown Farmer's Market until Frank closed Fan's Sushi. We miss him so.
There's an excellent Chinese buffet at the Westgate Mall -- $7 for lunch with many fresh items.
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