Asian Garden - Americanized Pan-Asian in Braemar Village Plaza in Bristow and Merchants View Square in Haymarket

[Kibbee Nayee]

Lady KN and I were attending the Virginia State High School Rugby Championship game in Nokesville (in which KN junior was on the winning team), after which hunger overcame us and we we found Asian Garden in a little strip mall in nearby Bristow. It apparently has a sister restaurant in Haymarket, so consigning it to the Multiple Locations category will cause no grief, because it is not really noteworthy.

Pan-Asian concepts frighten me from the outset, because no one cuisine on the menu will be nailed to perfection. Such is the case here, where highly Americanized Chinese menu items like Egg Foo Young clash with pick-your-protein Thai dishes that run up against a reasonably extensive Japanese menu.

Lady KN and I went mostly Japanese this evening....she had a salad and I had miso soup, both accompanied by a bowl of Edamame for nibbles, and then followed by Sashimi Deluxe. My miso soup was warm, not hot, and the miso-based glop on her salad was unappealing, but we both enjoyed the freshness and ample quantity of the Sashimi Deluxe. I counted about 16 pieces of tuna, salmon, yellowtail -- mostly choice fish, without tossing in any "filler" like octopus or mackerel.

About a third full on a Saturday with a brisk carry-out business going on in the front lobby, this place may be the only option for Asian food in the general Nokesville-Bristow area. Not worth a detour by any means, but if you're in the area and you have a hankering for Chow Mein, this is your place.

[Biotech]

There's actually quite a few options in the area for Asian. Off the top of my head, there are probably 3 pho joints, 6 Chinease-American, 4 sushi/Japanese specific places, and two thai restaurants in the Bristow/Gainesville area.