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Sit-down Restaurants

REVIEW – Dao Modern Asian Cuisine (Mason, OH): California Roll, Dragon Roll, Tempura Udon Noodle Soup

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June 26, 2015 | Post a Comment
California roll & dragon roll from Dao Restaurant, Mason, OH
Tempura Udon from Dao Restaurant, Mason, OH

My mom and went out to eat at Dao Modern Asian Cuisine in Mason, OH. It was a Friday night, and while there were a few sets of customers, it didn't seem very busy. My mom and I shared a California roll and dragon roll as appetizers, and I had tempura udon soup as my meal.

The California roll was just fine, but it was a little bit warm, perhaps because it was next to the dragon roll. The dragon roll had tempura shrimp on the inside, and the shrimp was pretty good, and nice & crunchy. The shrimp went well with the sweet eel sauce. However, I did find there were bits of shrimp shell still on the shrimp :(

Shrimp shell in the dragon roll

I also noticed that some of the dishes they used for our food were broken. The corner of the shrimp and vegetable tempura plate was broken as well as bowl for the tempura sauce.

Broken bowl of tempura sauce

The udon noodle soup had a nice, tasty broth. It had a very slight hint of sweetness, and it wasn't overly salted. I liked the slightly sweet taste, and as the amount of soup decreased, the sweeter the soup became. The udon noodles in the soup were also good and had a good noodle texture.

The tempura that came with the soup included shrimp tempura and different vegetable tempura like zucchini, sweet potato, and broccoli. The zucchini tempura didn't have much taste. I didn't really care much for the broccoli tempura or the shrimp tempura, either. The shrimp in the shrimp tempura was kind of dry. I liked the taste of the slightly sweet tempura sauce, however, it was a little watery and when I used it with the tempura, the taste didn't last long so it didn't help much. However, I really enjoyed the sweet potato tempura; the taste of the sweet potato went really well with the fried batter.

Overall Rating:
OK
Food: California Roll, Dragon Roll, Tempura Udon Soup
Source: Dao Modern Asian Cuisine Restaurant, Mason, OH
Rating (California Roll): OK
Rating (Dragon Roll): OK (would be good without the shrimp shell bits)
Rating (Udon Noodle Soup): Good
Rating (Shrimp, Zucchini, Broccoli Tempura, Tempura Sauce): OK
Rating (Sweet Potato Tempura): Delicious
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REVIEW – Asiana Korean Restaurant (West Chester, OH): Dumplings, Kalbi, & Salmon Teriyaki

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June 26, 2015 | Post a Comment
Dumplings from Asiana Restaurant, West Chester, OH
Sides from Asiana Restaurant, West Chester, OH
Beef Kalbi from Asiana Restaurant, West Chester, OH
Grilled salmon teriyaki from Asiana Restaurant, West Chester, OH

My mom took me out to eat at Asiana Resaurant in West Chester, OH. I ordered my favorite Korean foods: Beef Kalbi/Galbi and dumplings / mandu. My mom ordered a lunch box combo that came with grilled salmon teriyaki.

The dumplings / mandu were pan-fried vegetable dumplings, and they were nice and crunchy. I couldn't really tell what vegetables were in it, but it was delicious.

The kalbi came out nice and sizzling. However, the taste of the kalbi was more salty than sweet; it wasn't as sweet as I would have liked. A lot of the beef was either fat or bone so there wasn't much meat to get out of it.

My mom's grilled salmon teriyaki was cooked very well and wasn't too dry. The teriyaki sauce also wasn't very sweet, but it went fine with the salmon.

The meal came with the usual Korean side dishes and rice. There were six side dishes, I was very happy to see fish cake among them. I looove the slightly sweet taste of fish cake so, not surprisingly, that was my favorite side dish. I also enjoyed the kimchi since it wasn't a sour kimchi, and it was nice and slightly sweet. The remaining side dishes had mostly a salty taste and were a little too salty for me.

Overall Rating:
OK
Food: Dumplings, Kalbi, Salmon Teriyaki Lunch Box Combo
Source: Asiana Korean Restaurant, West Chester, OH
Rating (Dumplings): Delicious
Rating (Kalbi): OK
Rating (Salmon Teriyaki): Good
Rating (Fish Cake & Kimchi Sides): Delicious
Rating (Other Side Dishes): OK
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REVIEW – Soho Japanese Bistro (West Chester, OH): Chicken Teriyaki & Shrimp Tempura Bento Box

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June 23, 2015 | Post a Comment
House salad from Soho Japanese Bistro
Chicken Teriyaki & Shrimp Tempura Bento Box from Soho Japanese Bistro

My mom took me out to eat at Soho Japanese Bistro for lunch. We came at 12:30 pm on a Tuesday, and it was very empty; there were only two other parties at the restaurant. Although it was a sunny day, it was pretty dark inside of the restaurant.

Inside of Soho Japanese Bistro

Inside of Soho Japanese Bistro

I ordered a bento box combination lunch meal, which comes with the following:

  • Miso soup
  • Small House salad
  • A Choice of Two: Chicken Teriyaki, Salmon Teriyaki, Strip Steak Teriyaki, Pork Katsu, Chicken Katsu, Shrimp Tempura, Vegetables Tempura, Gyu ni [sic] (I chose chicken teriyaki & shrimp tempura)
  • Steamed Rice or Fried Rice (I chose steamed rice)
  • Spicy Tuna or California roll (I chose California roll)

    • The food was served to us pretty quickly. I guess it was good it didn't take a long time, considering there weren't many customers there.

    The miso soup and house salad was given to us before the meal. The miso soup contained tofu and seaweed and had a good savory flavor, although it was a little on the salty side. The house salad had lettuce with onions, carrots, and tomatoes, along with a few wilted leaves. It was a decent size for being just a side salad. The salad dressing tasted like Thousand Island or something similar, and it wasn't overdressed.

    From my bento box, the chicken teriyaki was a little dry even though it had teriyaki sauce. The sauce was a little sweet, but maybe also a little salty. It tasted mostly bland to me. It also came with noodles that had a texture more like spaghetti than Asian noodles.

    The California roll was a decent size, the avocado was fresh, and it tasted pretty good. I also had a taste of my mom's salmon nigiri sushi, which seemed nice and fresh, and it was a pretty decent size.

    The steamed white rice was a sticky rice, and some of the rice was a little hard. It had a weird taste... maybe buttery or oily, but I didn't like it.

    I ate my shrimp tempura last, which I guess was a good thing, because they asked if I wanted any tempura sauce toward the end our meal. I definitely needed the sauce because, while the shrimp tempura was nice and crispy, it didn't have much taste. The sauce wasn't delicious, but it helped give more flavor to the shrimp.

    Overall Rating:
    OK
    Food: Bento box lunch combination with chicken teriyaki, shrimp tempura, steamed white rice, and California roll
    Price: $13.00 for bento box lunch combo
    Source: Soho Japanese Bistro, West Chester, OH
    Rating (Miso soup): OK
    Rating (House salad): OK
    Rating (Chicken teriyaki): OK
    Rating (California Roll): Good
    Rating (Salmon nigiri sushi): Good
    Rating (Steamed white rice): Blegh
    Rating (Shrimp tempura): OK
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