Asian Paradise
There is a new restaurant in Anthem and they are serving up some tasty and creative Asian dishes. Located across from the Anthem Outlet stores, in a nondescript strip mall, you will find this culinary gem. They are offering up dishes for take out, but also feature a small but well laid out dining room as well. They have a tremendous selection, including a lunch special menu. We visited at two separate occasions, in order to sample both the lunch and dinner menu.
On the visit for dinner we started with the Pu Pu platter ($11.95). This is designed for two people to share. It includes two mini egg rolls, two cream cheese wonton, two fried shrimp, two pot stickers, two chicken satay pieces, and a few pieces of boneless spare ribs. The egg rolls had a light flakey and crisp outer layer and had a nice fresh vegetable flavor inside. The wontons were generous inside with filling and the fried shrimp were a perfect golden brown. On the table is a squeeze bottle of sweet and sour sauce so you can apply as much or as little as you prefer. The only item that felt out of place was the spare ribs. They were cut into little chunks and were slightly tough to the bite. I felt the rest of the sample platter all had nice parts, except that one in my opinion. In the center was a small hot flame, if you wanted to warm anything up, or had a little char. To me it is more for effect than functionality. We also ordered a plate of Wonton Chips ($1.00) to snack on with the sweet and sour sauce.
The first entrée was the Honey Chicken ($10.95). It is all white meat chicken that has been lightly deep-fried and then cooked with green bell peppers, onions and carrots. It is also tossed together in a sweet honey sauce and served with white rice. The flavors all tied together and the sauce was not too sweet. There was plenty in the serving and could easily be shared family style. This is a great dish for people that enjoy robust flavors, but with a sweet sauce.
The next entrée was the House Special Mu Shu ($10.95). This is a mixture of various vegetables that have been cooked together with Chicken, Pork, and Shrimp. It is served with thin Chinese pancakes and Hoisin sauce on the side. It is a fun dish and will remind people of making fajitas. The concept is to take a pancake, scoop some of the Mu Shu mixture and some sauce and then either eat it like a taco or wrap it up like an egg roll or burrito. I prefer to wrap it up before eating. For me this ensures most of the ingredients stay inside the pancake, or I at least attempt to have that happen.
We then returned another day to sample some of the Lunch specials that are available everyday between 11am to 3pm. There are 23 different specials to choose from at lunch as well as the main menu too. The first lunch special we ordered was the Chicken with Cashew nuts ($7.25). The meal comes with a scoop of steamed or fried rice and for this meal we decided on steamed White rice. It also includes two cream cheese wontons, along with the meal. You can option to have steamed Brown rice for an additional $1. The chicken is not deep-fried in this dish, but it is sautéed with zucchini, red bell pepper, onion, and celery. It is then finished off with a light brown sauce and cashews. A lot of flavor and a lot of food are presented to you and it is a tremendous value since the meal also includes your choice of egg drop or hot and sour soup too.
The next lunch item was the Pork Lo Mein ($7.25). We went with fried rice on this order. This is another piled high plate of food. The long thin noodles are stir fried with cabbage and BBQ pork pieces. Unlike the pork from the appetizer, this pork was full of flavor and very tender to the bite. It was a large plate of food, so much so that I would have rather shared a lunch meal, as it was very difficult to try and finish.
Make sure to be hungry when you go to the restaurant, as there is no lack of serving size here. The restaurant is very quaint and has a television showing old classic movies perched high in the corner. The two servers are very friendly and efficient. They move about the dining room and countertop with a controlled speed and grace. If you are craving Chinese food and have a very empty stomach, this place may just be your own Paradise.
Location – 4205 W Anthem Way #109, Phoenix, AZ 85086