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| - Note #1: They are a BYOB establishment.
Note #2: They offer free delivery with a $12 minimum order, but I have no idea what their boundaries are. I'm guessing they're limited to the Castle Shannon area, but I'm sure it can't hurt to call. They do take-out too, so you can always shoot over and get it if they won't bring it to you.
My parents owed me a belated birthday dinner, and I hadn't a clue as to where I wanted to go. That was until they got a flyer in the mail for a new Asian eatery in Castle Shannon, right down the road from Pho Kim 88.
It's yet another entry into the Asian Cuisine Strip Mall War. Does it stand tall?
For the most part, yes. As it says on their flyer, Asian Garden offers a mixture of Chinese and Japanese including sushi, sashimi, and hibachi. Geez, I couldn't decide where to go eat on my birthday, and once I decide on an Asian restaurant, I can't figure out whether to go Chinese or Japanese!
"Why not go both? It's my birthday after all," I said to myself.
I started out with some Tako, which is octopus and a wad of rice lashed together with a strip of nori. My sister almost fainted. I thought it was ok. You get two pieces, and I finished both without using the attendant wasabi and ginger. The octopus itself was a little gelatinous, had texture for days, and only a mild flavor. I didn't hate it but am not sure if I loved it either.
Now I almost got their Chirashi which is "assorted raw fish on vinegar rice in a bowl" as their menu states,but a "Chef's Special" called Seven Stars Around The Moon caught my eye. The menu describes it as "Jumbo Shrimp, Lobster Meat, Crabmeat, Beef, Chicken, Pork, Scallops, and Mixed Vegetables in Brown Sauce." White rice comes with it in a separate bowl as does that famous red sweet & sour sauce.
It was filling for sure, so much so, that I took about 40% of it home. Each shrimp was tempura battered and fried and puffy and was the best seafood funnel cake/fritter thingamajig I've come across in months. And when you dip each morsel into the red sauce, goddamn, seafood becomes dessert, candy. Who wants tuna ice cream when you can have this? The shrimp was the star with everything else becoming a huge, tasteful mishmash of proteins and veggies united by that Brown Sauce. All of the other sea critters surrendered unto the Borg.
The Fried Dumplings the four of us shared as an appetizer were an instantly familiar crowd pleaser, the "Detroit Rock City" of our Chinese meals. If it doesn't happen, people go home disappointed, y'know?
Honeyed, crispy, soft, full in flavor and mouthfeel, the dumplings were like pastries of pork. Yet again, a case is made for meat as a dessert by the Chinese, and Asian Garden isn't the only Asian restaurant doing them up like this. In quality, they were very much like Dormont's Amazing Wok, and we ate them up eagerly, each of us getting two. Dad tried to steal a third.
Speaking of Dad and Mom, they both liked their Hibachi dinners which had a little bit of steak, scallops, and shrimp in them. Dad wasn't nutters over the Miso soup, which I finished for him and liked. He wasn't crazy about his Green Salad with the ginger dressing. I had to finish that for him as well (For what it's worth, Dad's not used to Japanese food, but he used to be iffy about Indian cuisine, and now he loves it, so...). Anyway, AG's ginger dressing isn't the creamy kind I'm used to. It was pretty tangy, a little bitter, and wasn't very sweet at all. In terms of consistency, it was somewhat akin to a cocktail sauce, and that's the best comparison I can make.
Sis, who's almost as fussy as Dad (I had to beg her to try the Miso soup), liked her Chicken Lo Mein, and Mom, being easy to please, liked everything.
Asian Garden's lone dessert offering is ice cream in various flavors that you can have as is or "fried." Considering the Chocolate Sin birthday cake from Potomac Bakery waiting for me at home and my recent date with Overindulgence at Burgatory last weekend, I figured it was time to walk away.
Guess what else was waiting for me at home? More gift cards! Cracker Barrel (I can live with that) and...ulp...TGI Friday's (aiiiieeeee!!!)
Now officially wise to my secret life on Yelp, Dad created a "freestyle" that goes "Darren can't help it, he's gotta Yelp it!" He also wants me to review EVERY chain in Pittsburgh. Save me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7JWb6n_DvA
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