Saturday, May 6, 2023

Quick Bites: Asian Cafe in Fort Smith.

Fort Smith's diverse ethnic food culture gives lots of epicurean gifts to eaters, at really reasonable prices. Asian Cafe on Rogers offers a lovely span of Thai, Vietnamese and Chinese dishes in its tiny space, delivered in large portions and beautiful dishes.


Asian Cafe's thick menu contains a selection of different preparations of soup, noodles, fried rices and traditional dishes, most with your choice of chicken, beef, pork, seafood or tofu. Many selections can be made gluten free, vegan or vegetarian on request. 

Chicken Fried Rice (Kat Robinson)

What is different here is the menu's listed hotness rates. When you place an order, you are asked what number you'd like for dish heat. One is mild, while six is very spicy. A three, in my opinion, is pleasantly hot without being uncomfortable.


The Red Curry is a soup similar to a Tom Kha, a delectable coconut and curry paste broth in which your choice of meat or tofu is simmered with a selection of vegetables. We chose chicken and were delightfully surprised with the blend of curry and coconut flavor, the big chunks of sweet green bell pepper, carrot, and potato - the latter of which was both different and delightful. Sticky white rice makes a great accompaniment.

Hunter Robinson with Beef Sukiyaki at Asian Cafe.
The teen went for pho in the form of beef Sukiyaki Soup, expecting a rational sized portion and ending up with a bowl with a massive amount of beautiful, glassy noodles, spinach, beef chunks, egg and napa. 

Chicken Pad Udon (Kat Robinson)

The dude chose chicken Pad Udon and received an extensively large square plate of thick fried noodles in a brown sauce with sesame oil, loaded with marinated chicken, bok choy and broccoli, bamboo shoots, carrots, onion and cabbage. The protein to carb ratio of the dish was more even than expected, with plenty of meat with the noodles for the price. It was one of nine noodle options. They are priced at $9.99 for the oversized portion, two dollars more for seafood.

Blanket Shrimp (Kat Robinson)

We also tried Blanket Shrimp, mostly for its unusual name. These five bundles are actually shrimp wrapped in wontons rather than dipped in batter, deep fried and served with a sweet and sour sauce.

Though the restaurant was packed, service was at a reasonable speed. Because dishes are prepared one at a time, they arrive at the table separately instead of all at once.

This is a new location for the restaurant, which was located closer to town center until November. The new space is lushly decorated with elephant motifs and artwork. It's lined from front to back with booths and has just a single family table in the center. It's also popular for takeout.

Asian Cafe
7110 Rogers Ave Ste 112
Fort Smith, AR 72903
(479) 434-2914

1 comment:

Be kind.