There are a lot of Chinese takeout options in Baton Rouge, but few sit-down Chinese restaurants that offer an authentic experience.
Asian Seafood House has that and then some. It’s the only spot in town I know of where you can order dim sum and one of the few restaurants offering hot pot—that simmering soup that lets you cook meats and veggies of your choice in hot broth.
The dim sum menu is only available at lunch, and I was craving it one early winter day. So I met a few friends at the Florida Boulevard restaurant to share a meal.
|
|
|
A dim sum spread consists of those delicate, small bites like potstickers and steamed buns, usually served in round steamers of bamboo or stainless steel. At some restaurants, dim sum travels around on carts, stopping at your table for you to pick what you want. Other restaurants have menus where you can mark off your choices, similar to a sushi menu.
Asian Seafood House falls into the latter category on weekdays, with a laminated menu and marker arriving at your table along with the rather large regular menu. I hear the cart comes out for the bustly Sunday lunch crowd.
We quickly got to marking down our choices, and each came out separately, though fairly quickly and close together.
First up were the Shrimp and Chive Potstickers, which came in a serving of five with a small bowl of soy sauce. The potstickers were expertly fried, crispy on one side and soft on the other, and held an ample amount of chopped chive and big, juicy pieces of shrimp.
Next up were the Steamed Roasted Pork Buns, known in other places as barbecued pork buns. These three huge, fluffy buns split crosswise across the top were stuffed with diced and barbecue-sauced pork. My friends raved that these were among their favorites, but I’ve always felt that the buns are too much bread and not enough meat for me. Still, the pork was savory-sweet and very tasty.
Another dim sum we ordered, Soup Dumplings, is among my favorites as much for its ingenious preparation as for its taste. These dumplings came as four perfectly round disks with crimped tops and were filled with ground pork and a subtle broth. I wanted more flavor, but the dumplings were still enjoyable and fun to eat.
Also featured on the dim sum menu were Green Onion Pancakes. The crispy, fried pancakes swirled with zesty green onions came cut into wedges and were practically addictive. The texture was almost like a flattened croissant—airy, buttery and such a perfect bite that we almost ordered more.
Instead, we decided to save room for some entrees. Asian Seafood House offers several of its dinner entrees as lunch specials with a side of soup and a spring roll. My table ordered Mongolian Beef and the Fried Pork Chop Peking Style.
The Mongolian Beef was a huge portion, well-sauced and tender and served with steamed rice. The strips of beef were tossed with generous slices of sauteed green and purple onions that added wonderful contrast.
The pork chop dish offered several smaller bone-in cuts, deep fried and doused in a bright red sweet and sour sauce that was less sticky-sweet than most. Also served with steamed rice, the meat was incredibly tasty.
Both entrees were a hit, with hefty portions that had us interested to return for dinner.
Besides the variety of culinary delights, the atmosphere at Asian Seafood House is as much a part of the experience, offering friendly and welcoming service, classic Chinese restaurant decor and a wall of tanks at the back featuring live crab, lobster, eels and plenty of fish that are plucked out and cooked to order.
With so much to see and, of course, eat, Asian Seafood House is a gem on the Baton Rouge culinary scene—a place I think is definitely worth repeated visits.
Soup dumplings 101
|
|
|
The name says it all: Inside these chewy wrappers, you’ll find a burst of hot, flavorful soup. But how could even the most skilled chef possibly wrap soup in those delicate wontons?
First, a savory broth is cooked, then congealed with gelatin until stiff enough to be cubed up. It’s stuffed into a dumpling wrapper along with ground meat. Once steamed, the broth returns to its hot liquid form, essentially trapping soup inside the dumpling.
Pro tip: Scoop the dumpling into a large Chinese soup spoon before biting in.