“Asian Sensation” (Blog Post #2)

With a name like “Asian Sensation” one would think as he or she enters the vicinity that the restaurant surely must serve the most amazing, delicious, mouth-watering Chinese food known to man. With a name like “Asian Sensation” one needs to prepare for quite the let down. Asian Sensation opened fairly recently in 2006 in a respectable Roswell area, located right off of Roswell Road.

The good, the bad, and the ugly. Offering a decent scenic atmosphere, friendly service, and scrumptious egg rolls; the good stops right about there. I paid several visits p the restaurant before finalizing my thoughts about it. On my first visit, I went with three friends. With its Asian décor, like the giant, golden Buddha fountain, crimson red walls, and bamboo paintings, the restaurant appears to transport its customers to an entirely different part of the world.

My friends and I arrived and were seated right away because we had called ahead to make reservations. AS we entered the premises, we were greeted by the hostess with a seemingly genuine smile and a quick joke as we were led to our seats. All of us were in high spirits. As soon as we were seated, the waiter quickly placed thinly sliced carrot sticks with sesame seeds on top in front of us as well as an assortment of sauces. As nice a gesture as this was, it would have been helpful if the waiter had at least bothered to take a moment to explain what the sauces were. There were three different sauces, each one looking relatively the same as the one next to it except with slightly different shades of brown coloring. After several trial and errors, we discovered that one was a viciously hot sauce, one soy sauce, and the third held a suit tangy taste to it. The sweet and tangy one seemed to accompany the sesame seed carrot sticks the best so we all just stuck with that.

Glancing through the menu, I quickly came to realize that everything seemed exotic and foreign on the menu. From its “sweet and sour prawns” to its “bamboo shots,” I barely knew what anything was besides the chicken dishes. Searching for our waiter, we asked for brief descriptions of the menu items. Although the waiter, willingly and pleasantly, shared the food item descriptions, we could hardly understand him through his thick accent. This being said, we decided to play it safe and just order the Chinese chicken dishes that we were familiar with. Or so we thought.

My dinner partners and I each chose a somewhat distinguishable dish. For appetizers, we each ordered an egg roll just as we would at any other Chinese restaurant. Moments after ordering, the egg rolls arrive on massive platters and each one is placed in front of us. I looked at my companions’ faces to see if their expressions matched my own shocked face. None of us had ever seen such a round and plump egg roll. Weighing in right at about six ounces, the image of the egg roll platters was reflected in the glassiness of each of our eyes, like a child who had just discovered the one pound lollipop bigger than his head. Needless to say, we were simply shocked at the large dimension. Excitement began to swell up from inside as I grabbed my fork and lunged it into the egg roll (if you could even really call it that). Hitting the crispy soft outer shell, steam streamed out and the egg roll opened up to reveal its inner contents. It contained tiny pieces of ground beef, shredded carrots and cabbage, thinly cut onions and celery, all dripping with peanut oil. It was amazing. The shell from the inside, complete opposite of the outer part, was hard and cool and it held its content well.

After devouring our egg rolls, we could not wait to see what surprises dinner would bring. The convenient thing about Asian Sensation that attracts hungry customers is that the wait for food is almost nonexistent. As soon as our plates were cleared of the egg roll remains (as if there were any remains left), our dinner dishes made their way to the table. Seeing our dishes, our excitement reached its climax. Just like the egg rolls, the chicken dishes also came in extreme proportions. Instead of placing the meals in front of its respectable owner, the waiter placed tiny heating boxes in the middle of the table and placed each dish on one heating box lit with a candle underneath. This intuitive idea is meant to keep the food warm as you eat it.

Now we had our own custom Chinese buffet filled with sesame chicken, kung pao chicken, sweet and sour chicken, orange chicken, noodles, and white rice. Everyone’s plates passed up and down the table while we all attempt to get a little bit of everything on our own plates. Finally, as we settled down, I took the first bite of obsessively large sesame chicken, and disappointment washed all over. Then I needed a drink to wash away the disappointment and the chicken. It possessed such a dry quality to it that the flavor resembled exactly that of stale bread. Drinking half of my diet coke in one gulp, I stared down at my plate, contemplating should I try something else or just quit while I’m ahead.

With a wary hand I raised my fork and sampled the sweet and sour chicken. Not matching up to the disenchantment of the sesame chicken, the sweet and sour still did not surmount my expectations. The most that can be said about its taste is that it was mediocre with its warm, saccharine, and tangy taste. The orange chicken tasted similar to the sweet and sour course so not much more can be said about it.

From its name, one would expect the kung pao chicken to really put his or her taste buds in to high gear. Expectations need to be drastically lowered for that one too. That first bite needs to offer a certain kick, a spicy sensation…a PAO right in the mouth! That sensation is nowhere to be found in the chicken or even the tiny peppers next to the chicken. The noodles and white rice, however, were fairly delectable. After all, it is hard to not master the recipe for plain noodles and rice.

Once we finally finished as much as we could wash down from the food, my friends and I were ready to leave. I search for our waiter and request the check, placing urgency in my voice so he knew we needed to leave. As if in one last attempt to impress us, the waiter carries out a complimentary desert of fried bananas and vanilla ice cream. It provided the much needed change of taste after the dry and tasteless dinner course of the evening. The fried bananas were of an interesting flavor because of its outer fried skin. The vanilla ice cream complimented the fried bananas well as the cool iciness of the ice cream balanced the hotness of the bananas.

The waiter brought our check with little pieces of wrapped, hard candy; a nice gesture on behalf of the restaurant. The money spent proves well worth the large portions. Between the four of us, we each only paid $18 dollars for an abundance of food. Although the main dishes weren’t wow material, it’s adequate enough for a group of friends looking to have an enjoyable time.


ASIAN SENSATION:★★