ASAHI

Where: Asahi Japanese Restaurant, 1470 N State Street, Orem (don't blink, or else you'll miss it!)

Who Went: Chelsey, Owen, Lyvia, Charles

Number of Visits: 2

What We Ordered: Honeymoon Roll, Vegas Roll, Calamari, Scallop Nigiri, Spicy Tuna Roll, other various rolls

What It Cost: $45.30 for four people

What We Thought:

Sushi. On a budget. In Utah County.

Normally, these words would make me go running in the opposite direction...

But last year on Valentines Day night, somehow the stars magically aligned, and even though we didn't have a reservation anywhere (on Valentines Day! In Utah!) we miraculously stumbled on what surely is one of Utah County's hidden restaurant gems.

You'll have to forgive me again for the lackluster photos -- they really do not do this food justice, but the unlucky combination of dim lighting + dead battery on my good camera resulted in these subpar camera phone photos. But I can't hold off any longer on Asahi!

First off, this place is very reasonably priced. They have a cool, relaxed atmosphere, and a terrible location (very hard to see from busy State Street in Orem), which makes it so you don't really need a reservation, even on one of the busiest nights to eat out in the year. Their staff is incredibly friendly and fast, and its just a very inviting place to relax and enjoy some high quality sushi.

Now, I grew up hating fish during my entire childhood, so the world of seafood is still in its fledgling stages for me -- meaning I hate it when any type of fish tastes fishy or in any way not fresh. I'm very sensitive to it and am totally picky. I don't know how they do it or where they get their fish from, but Asahi's sushi and nigiri are incredible! I even liked the raw scallops (not pictured). This is pretty amazing. Their sushi chefs are fun to watch, and prepare beautiful dishes that are also fun to eat! The calamari above was good -- I've had better before, but if you're with someone who is new to calamari, it might be a good first taste, since they tasted basically like really good onion rings with a super tasty sauce. The calamari was sliced a little thin for me, but like I said, maybe good for someone who's hesitant to try it.

I'm not going to go into each roll, except to say they were all incredible delicious, and I wasn't disappointed with any of them! I know it is kind of lame of me, but I love a good Vegas roll (hardly sushi, I know, but its fried and delicious, so whatever), and they definitely make a scrumptious one. My favorite roll is kind of unique -- the Honeymoon roll. It has smoked salmon and jalapeño and a little sliver of mango in there. It is SO good! I've never had fruit in sushi before, and it is awesome!

My cruddy phone camera cannot capture the awesomeness of the little roe on top of this roll -- if you don't think too much about what it is, they are super fun to eat :) Like little popping surprises in your mouth while you are enjoying the delicious flavors of the sushi roll. Highly recommended.

What You Should Do: I never thought I would recommend a sushi place in Utah (where does the fish come from?!!??!), but Asahi in Orem is definitely a great location to check out. They make quality products at very reasonable prices. To curb that sushi craving, there is no better place! ALSO, Monday through Thursday after 7 (I think) is happy hour, where you can get rolls at half price. Its pretty amazing. Normally I feel like sushi is always a huge splurge, but at Asahi, I can get sushi I actually like for prices that I definitely like!

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SAIGON CAFE

Where: Saigon Cafe, 440 W 300 S, Provo

Who Went: Chelsey & Owen

Number of Visits: 1

What We Ordered: Egg Rolls, Szechuan Chicken and Mongolian Beef

What It Cost: $22 (including tip)

What We Thought: 

Being from the Pacific Northwest, I have a special spot in my heart for every type of Asian cuisine. And it's so hard to find here in Utah for some reason! Especially teriyaki. Does anyone know of any good teriyaki places in the state of Utah?? I crave it all the time! Anyway, when I saw that Saigon Cafe was one of the highest rated Chinese restaurants in Utah County, I immediately added it to my wishlist. Then Owen surprised me on a date taking me here - what a great guy :)

I heart egg rolls. These ones were about as good as you could expect -- not outstanding but definitely satisfying. The dipping sauce was tangy and delicious, and they were served hot and crispy. So far, a good start. 

I ordered the Szechuan chicken, which had a couple chili peppers next its name, which made me pretty excited. Who knew they were literal chili peppers?! Nonetheless, it was super delicious, just the right amount of spicy, and a good balance of meat and vegetables. And I'm not sure if you noticed the plate above, but it was huge! Definitely plenty of food for dinner and at least one lunch later on...

They also brought us a little plate of fried wontons with some dipping sauce, which was kind of cute, but I didn't really get it. Are you supposed to eat them just like plain? Is it like the tortilla chips at a Mexican restaurant? I don't know. We ate them because we were hungry and they were tasty, but I'm not sure if we were doing it correctly...

Owen got the Mongolian beef, which was super fun with these little crispy white things on top. The meat was super tender and delicious, perfectly cooked, and there was a lot of it! We loved the flavor of the sauce, and the dish as a whole. Yum!

What You Should Do: I don't know...I think Saigon Cafe may be moving up the ranks as my new favorite Chinese restaurant in Utah Valley! I'll have to visit it again to confirm, but it was pretty tasty. It was also a great deal! An appetizer plus two gigantic entrees for around $20 -- not bad. I would definitely recommend Saigon Cafe to anyone looking for excellent Chinese food near BYU.

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SE LLAMA PERU

Where: Se Llama Peru, 368 W Center Street, Provo

Who Went: Chelsey & Kierea 

Number of Visits: 1

What We Ordered: Lomo Saltado with Steak & Chicken, Barbecue Chicken 

What It Cost: ~$16

What We Thought: 

Okay I have to be honest, I stumbled upon this restaurant because the restaurant I originally wanted to go to wasn't open. And I've never been to Peru or had Peruvian food. So this is coming from that perspective. 

So, if you've never had Peruvian food, I bet you didn't know that nearly everything is served with French fries? Yeah, we were surprised too! Basically every option on the menu appeared to be some combination of meat served over French fries. I went with steak + chicken so I could try out both meats. The meat was pretty flavorful, nice and juicy and I liked the tomatoes. The fries were just a little weird to me, and I kept being confused about how to eat it all together. The onions were also very, very strong. There was no kissing later that evening for the husband. It also comes with rice on the side, in case you didn't get your carb fix with the fries.

Funny enough, the friend who was accompanying me on this lunch adventure was on a no-carb diet. Um yeah. Don't go here if you are trying to avoid carbs.

She ended up getting the barbecue chicken, which looked very much like super-blackened and charred chicken, and they were nice enough to substitute the fries with a pretty sad looking salad (no dressing). My friend wanted something to go with the chicken since it was quite dry, and after exhausting all the typical options, we were served something called "sauce." We asked what kind of sauce, and she said, "I don't know, it's just sauce." Hm. Well the sauce was fine I guess, though a little uncomfortable since we didn't really know what it was...

What You Should Do: I want people to go here and tell me if it's authentic Peruvian food. Like I said, I am not an expert on this, so I can only say that if you aren't familiar with Peruvian food, I probably wouldn't recommend it. It was really heavy, the fries tasted frozen, and the service was sub-par in a restaurant with very unflattering lighting and uncomfortable seating. But hey, if it's the real deal, I want to know! Guess this is a good excuse to convince Owen that we need a trip to Peru....?

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Banana Leaf

Where: Banana Leaf, 409 N University Avenue, Provo

Who Went: Owen & Chelsey

Number of Visits: 1

What We Ordered: Avocado Juice, Sri Lankan Lamprice, and Sri Lankan Chicken Kothu

What It Cost: $37.00

What We Thought: 

I've been hesitant to write my post on Banana Leaf for a while because I know a lot of people are really passionate about their food. I was very excited to try this restaurant after I had heard about their unique menu and atmosphere, and though it was certainly very different than anything else in Utah County, I didn't really love it. The service was exceptionally slow (it took us over two hours to have our meal, and we didn't order any appetizers or desserts), it was fairly expensive for what we got, and some elements of each dish just tasted sort of off to us.

We started out with the avocado juice which obviously sounded very interesting. It was more of an avocado smoothie than juice, which I thought was fine, and it had a very mild flavor and smooth, creamy texture (**Looking back at their menu online, I see that they have now changed the name to "Avocado Shake," which is appropriate). The whipped cream on top was nothing special, and it was served with a chocolate sauce. This would have been a great addition, except for the fact that it tasted exactly like Hershey's chocolate syrup (which I'm pretty sure doesn't contain very much real chocolate at all). We decided to forgo the syrup and just drink the smoothie plain, but it really would have been nice with some chocolate undertones. Since it was also very thick, it didn't really do much to quench your thirst after you ate something spicy, like you might find with a mango lassi and Indian food. But I don't know anywhere else in Utah where you can get an avocado beverage, so at least it had that going for them.

The one thing I absolutely insisted on was ordering something that came in a Banana Leaf. Their menu was surprisingly limited (usually I find that ethnic restaurants have very large menus), so I decided to go with the lamprice (one of two options served inside a banana leaf) which sounded more unique and original.

It certainly was unique and mixed flavors I'd never had before. There was seasoned rice with curried chicken and baked potatoes, topped with a mango chutney and spicy chili sauce. The thing that really threw this one off for me was the fried eggs inside - there was a hard boiled egg that had been deep-fried and cut in half inside of the banana leaf concoction. Visually, it was unappealing, and when I tried to eat the egg with the rest of the dish, it had a very strange flavor. At least I enjoyed playing with my banana leaf while waiting for the check!

Owen got the chicken kothu, which also came with different sambols (chili sauces) and chutneys. Of the sauces, we only really liked the flavor of one, which was a little disappointing. The actual meal portion was rice and chicken mixed with melted cheese, vegetables, egg, shredded roti (the unleavened flatbread), and masala curry spices. Once again, this dish provided us with an exotic flavor. The melted cheese mixture gave a singular briny taste, and the chicken, though seasoned nicely, was a little dry. We weren't planning on finishing it, but our server took so very long to return with our check that we ended up slowly picking at it over the course of a half hour.

What You Should Do: If it sounds interesting to you, and you really like trying new, unexpected food, then it may be worth a visit to Banana Leaf - but only if you aren't in a hurry to get anywhere else that night. I understand that it is a family-run business, and the hostess was very friendly and kind to us, but it's just not the place to go if you are on a tight agenda. I do not think that we'll be returning to Banana Leaf because we felt like it was a bit overpriced, and nothing on the menu is anything that we ever would crave or really want to try again. However, this restaurant is a great place to go if you are on a vegan or gluten-free diet, as many of their menu options can be customized to fit these dietary needs.

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