Asian Paradise has opened at 1131 Steamboat Pkwy., Suite 820, in South Reno's Damonte Ranch area.
The restaurant has an interesting Asian fusion menu, including Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Thai dishes. You can dine-in, get take-out or they will deliver, within three miles, on orders of $25 and up.
I don't remember what was in this storefront prior to Asian Paradise. (It's between the Subway sandwich shop and the Vino 100 store, near R.C. Willey Furniture and Home Depot.)
I do remember seeing the remodeling beginning in the summer and looking forward to another restaurant choice nearby. My husband and I stopped by on the weekend. We arrived in the late afternoon — not really lunch time and still early for dinner — so the place was pretty quiet. But from what we could observe, while waiting for our take-out order, service in the dining room was gracious and attentive.
The bar and dining room at Asian Paradise are modern and relaxing with subdued earth tones. The poinsettias on the bar were just the right touch to brighten things up.
Background music was quiet and unobtrusive, too. It could take a while for folks to realize that this place is open, but somehow I doubt it'll ever be a noisy place. Which, of course, is fine — there are plenty of loud restaurants around, if you're into shouting to your companions.
For our first try at Asian Paradise, we ordered Pot Stickers (six for $7.50), Kung Pao Chicken ($9.95), Chow Mein with Chicken ($8.50) and Jasmine Rice ($1 per person). The portions, packed in styrofoam containers, were generous. I plated this myself, at home.
The Pot Stickers were steamed and pleasantly spiced. The take-out menu didn't include descriptions of the dishes, but it seemed that the filling was ground pork with some onions and maybe a little broccoli.
The Kung Pao Chicken was prepared somewhat like General Tso's, lightly breaded with a red chili sauce, chunks of green onion and peanuts.
Asian Paradise's Chow Mein features the thinnest noodles I've ever seen for such a dish. Although, as I've noted before, in a previous blog, in Chicago, we would have called this Lo Mein. The Western U.S. has a different take on Chinese food. In any case, it was very good, with tender chunks of meat and thinly sliced carrots and onions.
Another little comment about Chinese food in the Western U.S. — in Chicago, you'd never be charged separately for steamed white rice; it's always just included. A dollar per person for the rice isn't a deal-breaker but it's just weird.
I'm sure we'll order from Asian Paradise again. All of our food was very fresh and tasty. There are certain things I'd like to see on the menu, like Chow Fun or Moo Goo Gai Pan, but other restaurants in the vicinity serve those dishes.
By the way, I will add that our usual go-to Chinese restaurant in the South Reno area, CaiE's Oriental Cafe on South Meadows Parkway, seems to have slipped a notch. On our last visit, the portions had shrunk and an order of General Tso's Chicken was overcooked and dry.
P.F. Chang's on Kietzke Lane — not a local joint, but part of a chain — has great food but isn't as conveniently located and is pricey.
Two Guys From Hong Kong, near Whole Foods on South Virginia Street, was absolutely awful.
Getting back to Asian Paradise, the restaurant doesn't have a Web site, but hours are Monday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. and the phone number is (775) 870-1788.
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