WV Gourmet

If if weren’t for bachelorette parties, girls’ nights out, and first dates, this place would be out of business.  Any time you go in this restaurant, there will be at least four of each of the aforementioned groups eating, waiting for a table, or on their way out.  The food here is good, but the sushi is really only alright - largely due to the criminal overuse of cream cheese in virtually every maki they serve.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read the description of one of the sushi rolls at Ichiban and thought it sounded really good, then shuddered when I saw the words cream and cheese.  It has probably happened 73 million times (okay, maybe they don’t quite have 73 million items on the menu, but they do have an inordinate number of items that utilize cream cheese).  The cooked food, on the other hand, is all quite top notch.  I’m particularly fond of the Mongolian filet and the spicy thai shrimp. 

The Mongolian filet, is basically like the Mongolian beef on the menus of so many Chineese restaurants, except it is made with filet and the sauce is flavorful and spicy, not gloppy and bland like the stuff you can get at Chinese restaurants for eight bucks. 

The Thai shrimp is pretty much the hottest thing I will eat and actually enjoy.  They taste really good, but they burn going in and coming out.  You pretty much have to be prepared for a miserable morning the next day after ordering this dish, because fire will literally shoot out your ass.

Also noteworthy is the Wild Ginger Pork.

Hibachi flames at Taste of Asia, Huntington

Huntington’s Hibachi restaurant on 4th Ave. is no longer the only hibachi joint in town.

It isn’t even the best hibachi joint in town, either.

It gives me no particular pleasure to say that. I’ve had a lot of good times at the 4th Ave. Hibachi. When I emigrated to the US, my wife-to-be greeted me at Charleston airport with a box full of Hibachi steak and fried rice: my first meal as an American resident.

Times change, though, and new arrival Taste of Asia on 3rd Ave, opposite the new Holiday Inn, is serving up the best Asian cuisine in town, across the board.

We checked it out last week, strolling in off the street and sitting straight down at a grill — no reservation needed. Our chef, an experienced and personable chap from the Taste of Asia restaurant in Teays Valley, put on a sterling show: all the flips, flourishes, and flames you could want, delivered with a smile and a great attitude.

But his attitude wasn’t what impressed me most about the meal. We ordered their everything-plus-the-kitchen-sink option, boasting fillet steak, chicken, shrimp, scallops and lobster. Knocking out all of that on a hibachi grill without overcooking anything is no mean feat, but our chef was a real pro: nothing was undercooked, chewy, or dry. The thought of cooking scallops on a red-hot grill brings me out in a cold sweat, let alone doing it without being able to taste one or slice one in half to check for doneness. But this chap slung them out like it was nothing, cooked to perfection. They were good quality, too: nice and fresh-tasting, and a healthy size. (Previously frozen, I doubt not, but it’s a long damn way to the sea.)

Tasty rice and vegetables, too, although we missed the beansprouts the 4th Ave. place adds. We added on a few California rolls, just for a quick impression of the sushi chef, and those were first class also, although I’ll save more detailed criticism until I’ve been back for a dedicated sushi pig-out.

I was unhappy with the service I had over on the Chinese side when I ate a lunch there a week or two back: I think I was just unlucky, because they got it just right this time. Too often the 4th Ave. place ditches you after you order, and you’re lucky if you can get your beer refilled more than once. Not so here — our waitress was well on top of the whole table.

The bad points? My pre-dinner martini was too watery: it tasted like it had been left sitting on the ice.

Yeah, that’s all I’ve got. Taste of Asia has great ingredients, they have the theatricals down pat, and chefs with real talent. Well worth the stiff $100 tab we ran up between two of us, after a few drinks and the tip. All that, and they didn’t make you feel like they were doing you a favor by finding you a table, unlike another hibachi restaurant I could mention. Full marks.