Chefs with varying backgrounds prepare numerous Asian cuisines, so it’s like three or four restaurants in one
Mia Stainsby
Sun
What’s the point of going to a movie without the ritual of meeting friends, racing through a meal, then rushing to the theatre?
Near the Paramount Vancouver downtown, the swish Earl’s is a hotspot but the lineups into it look more nightclub or sports bar than movie crowd.
Around the corner, Lombardo’s recently opened its second location on Smythe with pizzas and pasta on offer but I wasn’t enthralled when I tried it. Next door, though, a dark horse restaurant opened a few weeks ago. Azia Restaurant and Lounge (pronounced Asia) offers Chinese/Japanese/Malaysian/Thai food, which didn’t bode well. It sounded like a dragnet to capture everyone in its path — perhaps the modern-day equivalent of Chinese-Canadian food.
But not so. The food definitely isn’t a lost-in-translation muddle overseen by an over-taxed chef. There are several chefs with backgrounds in the various cuisines. They’ve beautified the dishes, presenting the food more elegantly than traditional counterparts. It’s like three or four restaurants in one. The food reminded me of Red Door, the pan-Asian restaurant on South Granville, only Azia is sexier with its dramatic, modern design work.
Most of the food I tried over two visits was satisfying or better, although there were a couple of misses. For me, the restaurant passed some kind of credibility test to see two sets of a three-generation Chinese family amongst the 30- and 40-something collection of downtown diners. At the small bar, guys have their heads adjusted to sports TV.
The menu is long and varied but it doesn’t careen through the cuisines. It’s more a wish list of everything the owners (Ed Lum, who also owns Shanghai Bistro on Alberni Street, and pal Mike Sam) want to eat themselves. Starters are $3.25 to $10 and mains are an average $10 to $15. Shanghai Bistro customers will see notice some crossover dishes.
We had sashimi and sushi and hailed the sushi chef, who runs the small sushi bar in the restaurant. The seared tuna sashimi salad, on greens with ginger pear dressing was lovely. Some of the dishes come in half-order sizes, such as the Hainanese boneless chicken. I say, order the full size. It’s silky-tender with gentle flavours. The Mandarin-smoked tea duck with steamed buns sounded good but both proved to be overcooked and dry.
While we polished off the steamed clams in lemongrass and coconut cream, it needed attention. We bit into grit, one of the shells remained closed (should have been removed), and most of the clams had fallen out of the shells. The wok-roasted salt and pepper prawns featured meaty prawns lightly battered and deep fried and simply flavoured with salt and peppers. Very good.
Tangerine and chili beef was weak, featuring fibreless beef but I enjoyed the Malaysian laksa and a comfort dish — the wok-fried Hokkien mee — a combo of egg noodles and rice vermicelli with bits of eggs, meat and seafood.
The wine list is an improvement over many I’ve seen at Asian restaurants, with good matches for spicy and herbal dishes.
While there were some misses, there’s lots more to try and I’m sure there’s plenty more to keep people coming back. I know it’s where I’m heading for pre-movie meals.
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AZIA
Overall: Rating 3 1/2
Food: Rating 3 1/2
Ambience: Rating 4
Service Rating 3 1/2
Price: $$
990 Smithe St., 604-682-8622. www.aziarestaurants.com. Open daily for lunch and dim sum, 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., and dinner. Closed 3 to 5 p.m.
Restaurant visits are conducted anonymously and interviews are done by phone. Restaurants are rated out of five stars.
© The Vancouver Sun 2007