Asiana Hyde Park - Cincinnati

Fantastic food and customer service! My son and I were there visiting the Children's Hospital and decided to try out a local sushi spot. Sometimes you are sent places for a reason. We sat at the sushi bar (very small) and he was so excited to watch. After ordering our rolls the chef decided to create his own for us based on all the others we ordered! My goodness was it delicious. Love this place, highly recommend!

The three of us lived in Hyde Park or Pleasant Ridge for decades, driving often by Asiana and never stopping. Last night, that changed, and we will all be stopping again, frequently! The sushi is fresh and world class and the housemade rice noodles are as good as Greg, the owner with his wife, promised. Even though they were busy, they were happy to prepare this vegetarian's Massamun curry without fish sauce. Everything we ordered was delectable and we loved that Greg took time to stop at our table, tell their story and offer recommendations from their sizable, well-priced Thai and sushi menu. The dining room is small, but the tables turned pretty quickly and they clearly do a big carry out business. One thing to note: it's BYOB, although our server cheerfully provided glasses and an opener. Wine Merchant is at the end of the block with a great selection, including a dry riesling that paired well with our meal.

First, I ordered the Thai Spring Rolls, which arrived quickly. They were two crispy, tasty bites, and I was off to a good start. Next, I tried the Shrimp Tempura Roll and Eel Nigiri. I found the sushi rolls and pieces to be considerably smaller than what I’ve had at other places. While it was decent, I wouldn't say it was the best sushi I've ever had. My expectations were quite high after reading some reviews, where it seemed like this sushi would be exceptional. Instead, I would rate it as slightly below average, primarily due to the small portions and average flavor. As I'm not from Cincinnati, it's possible this is the best sushi spot in the city, but I'd be surprised if that were the case. For my main dish, I ordered the chicken Panang curry at level 7 heat. Unfortunately, this dish took a long time to arrive. I couldn’t understand why, especially since there were only me and one other couple in the restaurant, so it wasn’t due to a busy kitchen. I sat there hoping the wait would prove worthwhile. When the dish finally arrived, it was beautifully presented. One bite of the smooth, rich curry confirmed that it was going to be good. Panang curry is something I’ve learned to make quite well, so I had high expectations, and I found it to be spot on! I highly recommend this dish. One observation I want to mention is that two employees sat at the sushi bar and chatted throughout my entire dining experience. They acted as if they were a romantic couple, which was quite distracting. It felt a little off-putting to see my server engaging in that while also preparing my food. I would suggest keeping the atmosphere professional and leaving personal matters outside of customers' view. Overall, my experience was positive. While I wouldn't return specifically for the sushi, I would definitely come back for the other Thai dishes. I did lower my rating due to the owner’s response to my review. Instead of addressing my concerns, he offered an excuse and seemed unconcerned about the issues I raised. Because of this lack of appropriate response, I don’t think I would return to this restaurant.

As soon as we walked in, we were welcomed into a cozy, charming space. I started with the shrimp tempura sushi as an appetizer, and it was amazing! The spring rolls and coconut were delightful as well (I didn't even get a chance to take pictures since we were so hungry). It took a little while for the food to arrive, but let me tell you, everything was fantastic! The flavors were spot on and had just the right level of spice. My pad see ew noodles were a bit too soft and became soggy after a few bites, but it didn't take away from the overall experience. I would definitely recommend this place to all Thai food lovers!

For dinner, we went to grab some sushi where the small dining area still allowed us to be sat right away. The waitress was wonderful and the food didn't take long at all for us to receive after ordering. We ordered the coconut shrimp for an appetizer which was very good with the sweet sauce that it was served with. The only thing I would have changed was getting sushi instead of one of their other entrees. We got some special rolls, but we were hoping for less tails of shrimp and crab legs and more flavor/spice.