|
News
back to Homepage
Asia Café in the News…
Ken Schwall tries out some tasty Maylasian fare.
Asia Cafe – a Popular Dining Spot
McCray: Asia Cafe plans renovation, expansion March 31, 2011Asia Cafe Becomes First in Nation with Commode as Chair
by Martha Rose Woodward If you are looking for tasty food from an authentic Asian cuisine, type 6714 B Central Avenue Pike, 37912 into your GPS and head on out to the Asia Cafe off I-75-Exit 110 Callahan Drive. Owners Louise and Phillip Lim, along with family members and their highly skilled and well-trained staff, will greet you with a smile and dazzle you with a choice of six kinds of ethnic Asian foods—all under one roof. Choose from the “all Asian, healthy, exotic recipes” of Malaysian, Thai, Oriental, Indonesian, Sushi or Japanese Grill. Drinks include a full selection of liquor, beer and wine. Lim, a gregarious, lively, mannerly gentleman, is a native of Malaysia, who says he has lived in Knoxville since 1995 and has been in the restaurant business in one position or the other for over 28 years. He has lived in the USA for 30 years; his wife, whom he describes as beautiful and smart, has been an RN for 20 years and currently works at St. Mary’s Hospital. His son, Shawn, also works in the restaurant that was voted Knoxville’s #1 Best Ethnic and Chinese Restaurant of the Year. The Lim family is also the owner of Natural Alternatives, Inc., a company that sells supplements that “give you natural healthy alternatives that matter.” The web address is http://www.naturalalternativesinc.net. Another company owned by his family is a distributor of gasoline and oil and is a leader in advanced separation technology with over 30 years of experience combined. It can be found at www.infinityintlpower.com. According to the web site www.asiacafe.org, “Lim has received numerous merit and achievement awards and has recognition throughout his career. He is a businessman with extensive knowledge and experience in the food and beverage industry, as well as in the import and export industry. Through his many years of experience and entrepreneurial skills, he has been responsible for the success of numerous business ventures. Lim is a master in the food and beverage service industry. He worked for many years ground up from a dishwasher to management position in a famous family dining restaurant chain in the US. He then exercised his experience and started a small to-go and catering restaurant. Having built it from scratch, he expanded his ideas and successfully conceived a chain of catering and franchising restaurants here & abroad. In year 1995, he was named restaurant entrepreneur in the Melaka Tourism Industry Magazine in Malaysia, with worldwide distribution.” Lim says that his restaurant has been recession proof as people who know what it means to find good food truly prepared the Asian way have flocked to his store. Lim has expanded his business once and is looking at opening three more restaurants possibly in Hardin Valley, Maryville and Oak Ridge. Lim attributes the success of his business to his use of the “secret recipes he brought over from Malaysia as well as authentic cooking methods.” “Asian food is meant to be served hot,” he said. “When cooked correctly, the aromas spill out from the kitchen to the delight of our customers.” Asia Café also takes the extra steps to provide free Wi-Fi for customers who enjoy working while dining, and they have live entertainment every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. Elvis Tribute Artist, Ronnie Miller, is a regular performer along with a live band on Saturdays, Karaoke every Friday and Bike Night Sundays. The creative businessman is the in process of developing an energy drink he plans to market soon that he says will provide vitality in all aspects of a person’s life. With a grand flair for theatrics, Lim recently installed two commodes as seating in place of chairs in one dining room of his restaurant. Ever the showman, Lim says, “Come to Asia Cafe to see the first restaurant in America to have toilet seats as chairs.” Now for sale in the restaurant and at your grocery:
Asia Cafe Shrimp Sauce- Try some today! Grub Scout: Multi-national Asia Cafe represents variety of cuisine
KNOXVILLE — A couple of months back, I remarked on the trend of Asian-food restaurants serving the cuisine of multiple nationalities. So when I saw online that Asia Café—at the intersection of Central Avenue Pike and Callahan Road—offers Malaysian, Thai, Chinese, Indonesian and Japanese food, all under one roof, it was more than my curiosity gland could stand. The Grub Spouse and I stopped in for dinner recently and discovered a menu that indeed seemed to cover a lot of territory, although it’s not always clear which dishes belong to which country. For example, some of the Thai, Malaysian and Indonesian meals are noted as such, while others are not. Those craving Japanese food have a number of hibachi- and teriyaki-style dinners from which to choose (chicken, shrimp, steak, scallops, crabmeat, etc.), served in bento boxes, on plates and in combination platters. Most of the rest of the dinners are divided among several different categories, including curry dishes, vegetable entrees and noodle dishes. Among the Chinese favorites are General Tso’s chicken, kung pao chicken, Szechuan eggplant and lo mein noodles. Beyond those borders, you’ll find the other nations represented through recipes like pad prik, sotong curry and Thai mee Siam. The most notable section of the menu is the Special Exotic Delicatessen, where you can have a go at chicken feet prepared with Chinese mushrooms, green onions and carrots, or you might be in the mood for my personal favorite item—Asia Café Exotic Stewed Pig and Cow Internal and Body Parts—where intestine, bladder, tongue and ear are prepared just the way you like them. I admittedly am not that adventurous, so I settled for the Malaysian Bak Kut Teh—barbecue ribs with Chinese mushrooms, garlic and Chinese herbs, served with rice on the side. The Spouse played it safe with the moo goo gai pan from the Authentic Asian Cuisine section, prepared with chicken, carrots, onion, mushroom, zucchini and snow peas. We started off, however, with salt and pepper calamari from the appetizer list, which also features spring rolls, edamame, pot stickers, fried chitlins and crab rangoon. The calamari was delicious, deep-fried in a tasty breaded shell and served with grilled veggies and a soy-based dipping sauce. Our main dishes followed, which is when I learned something important about the Bak Kut Teh that’s not mentioned on the menu. It’s actually served in soup form, in a large broth-filled bowl, with yu cha kuay (small bits of fried breadstick) for dipping. Spooning through the bowl, I felt like I was in an Indiana Jones movie as I watched small, meaty riblets and large mushrooms bob to the surface. This dish was tasty, though challenging in the eating. I’m a chopsticks lame-o, so I frequently switched utensils as I found myself spooning the broth, using a fork to cut the mushrooms and eat the rice, and holding the small ribs with my hands as I tore the tender meat away with my teeth. And I did often have to extract small bits of bone from my mouth while chewing. But it was all certainly worth the effort flavorwise, as was The Spouse’s moo goo gai pan and its traditional blend of chicken and semi-crisp vegetables. The portions were large, so we both had plenty of leftovers to take home. Of course, we didn’t have the fortitude to sample dishes from all five nations, but that will just leave us something to look forward to next time around. Although I’m fairly certain the chicken feet and the cow tongue will be safe from my clutches. Bottom Line: You’ll definitely expand your horizons at this north Knoxville Asian-food eatery, which boasts cuisine from five different nations. From the Knoxville News SentinelWith offerings of Malaysian, Thai, Chinese and Japanese foods,
|
