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| - It's likely a place is going to be either really exciting or really bizarre when there is a Lucite stripper shoe with a melted heel on the sidewalk in front of it. Sadly, Asian Roll & Grill in Tega Cay, South Carolina, wouldn't be classified as really exciting or really bizarre, even though there was a Lucite stripper shoe with a melted heel on the sidewalk in front of it.
The feel of the place is a little incongruent. Tables don't fit quite right within the booths, but that is part of the oddly familiar appeal. The owner and the servers are eager to please without being overzealous, and the dining room is spotless. Over in the bar, the blue tile provides a sleeker background for sushi noshing than the main dining area. Patio dining looks like it would be popular for diners and would draw in other customers. However, even in pretty weather, the umbrellas remain closed and customers are behind windows tinted so dark it is hard to tell if the restaurant is open.
Some not so great things about Asian Roll & Grill: They don't have brown rice, they don't take the skin off of the grilled chicken, and the Vermicelli Bowls are a little heavy on the vermicelli. A certain server will tell you they can't make the Summer Rolls substituting tofu for shrimp. When it is explained to that server exactly how the substitution works, it miraculously happens. (Why wouldn't it be an option? The whole conversation was strange and not due to a language barrier.)
The Pho, though, is well, PHOnomenal (sic). Huge portions of the fresh and comforting soup are Asian Roll and Grill's dish forte. Fresh house made chicken stock mixed with noodles, bean sprouts, cilantro and choice of meat are crave-worthy. Although there isn't a specific children's menu, the Miso soup, Yakitori, large bowls of Edamame and Fried Rice are winners with discerning kids.
As a whole, Asian Roll & Grill is on the cusp of being a favorite small town eatery, especially compared to some of the other Japanese/Chinese/Vietnamese fusion restaurants in the area. With a few small improvements, it could corner the market.
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