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| - Asian Cafe Express, or ACE, hasn't changed much over the last few years. Located in a nondescript shopping center in Mesa, the interior doesn't get much better than the outside. But you don't come here to be wowed by the interior design, even if you do think the plastic lobsters on the wall are pretty cool, it's all about the food.
Open the menu and within a few pages you'll see typical Chinamerica offerings, such as sweet and sour, lo-mein and fried rice. But keep turning the pages and you'll find some serious real deal Chinese food.
The best value is the Family Meal ($21.29), consisting of three large items, rice and noodles. This is a feast that can easily feed four or more.
Even more impressive is what the kitchen can do with fresh seafood. Across the street from ACE is Mekong Supermarket, an Asian grocer that has a massive fresh seafood counter. Diners can purchase fresh seafood from Mekong, then take it to ACE, where the chef cooks the catch for around $8 per item.
Our party of seven arrived at ACE with bags full of goodies we were greeted and seated, then a brief consultation began. We had purchased live seafood from Mekong's water tanks, including crab ($8.99 a pound), clams ($7.99 a pound) and two lobsters ($9.99 a pound). We also chose a large wide mouth bass ($8.99 a pound) that was cleaned by the Mekong fish monger.
Starting with the bass, the chef simply steamed the fish, then topped with a sauce of ginger and fresh spring onions. The fish was sublime -- fresh, meaty and tender without a hint of fishiness.
The clams were also steamed to perfection with a light sauce of black beans and spring onion. Each tender mollusk was a joy to eat with slight saltiness from the black beans.
Our crab was treated with a dredge of garlic, salt and pepper, then deep-fried. The chef was spot on, making a contrast between the luscious crab meat and the wonderful seasoning. While the crab was still in its shell, it was hacked up into more accessible pieces.
Finishing the feast, we "oohed" and "aahed" as our lobsters were brought to the table. Both lobsters were chopped into pieces, then stir-fried with green onion and ginger and served on top of a bed of crispy pan-fried noodles. They tasted as good as they looked. The lobster meat was so sweet and delicious I wanted to lick the plate clean. A bonus of flavor was hidden as the juices from the lobster were absorbed by the bed of noodles.
This was such a pleasant experience that I'd let the chef at ACE take the wheel for an evening of delectable surprises anytime.
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