Amasia Bistro, Falls Church - Subducted.

[Pete]

Twice within the last 3 weeks I have eaten at Amasia Bistro in Falls Church. Located in the space once occupied by Zyng Asian Grill, Amasia's menu is definitely a fusion of Asian and American cuisine with an emphasis on fresh ingredients. Most entrees in the $15-$20 range. The head chef is Leticia Gonzalez, who previously worked at 2941. The restaurant has only been open for a few months, but shows a lot of promise. Appetizers on our first visit included an excellent Tuna Poke as well as spring rolls. My entree consisted of the curry crabcakes served with wasabi aioli. The crabcakes contained no trace of filler and were only slightly marred by the undercooked roasted potatoes accompanying the entree. I finished off my meal with a tasty slice of mango cheesecake.

My second visit was with a private party, and produced good results as well. Shared appetizers included excellent chicken skewers, calamari, and steamed dumplings. The grilled beef tenderloin made for a hearty entree and was served with wasabi mashed potatoes.

At this point, the wine list is short and uninspired, which will hopefully change. The best wine that we had was the McManis Pinot Grigio, which goes very well with most of the menu.

Amasia is a great example of the "neighborhood" restaurant - a place that you can walk in without reservations, get terrific food, and won't break the bank.

[FunnyJohn]

Since my daughter is getting tired of our normal Thursday night place at Eden Center, decided to try Amasia last night. Very good! We started with the combined apps platter (tempura shrimp, potstickers and spring rolls.) The shrimp were the standout on this plate -- not normal tempura but I believe dipped in coconut as well as the standard batter -- lightly fried but crunchy and the coconut imparts a nice sweetness to the shrimp. Springrolls and potstickers were good, too and they came with the normal soy-based dipping sauce, but also a kind of sweet salsa-like sauce. My daughter had the spicy chicken which lived up to its billing -- had a degree of kick, but nicely prepared. The wife had soft-shell crabs (didn't try them myself) which she said were good. I had the scallops which were delicious -- served over a passion fruit sauce whose tartness gave a nice push to the grilled scallops, served also with Thai red rice -- never had it before -- kind of like wild rice. My daughter and I had respectively a chocolate/nut torte and a cheesecake which were both delish. The wine list is small but covers the essentials. Chef wasn't in, but if she had been I would have offered kudos.

Folks -- this place was nearly empty last evening, so I hope those of you so inclined and in the Falls Church neighborhood will keep it in mind when thinking about dining out.

[crackers]

Since my daughter is getting tired of our normal Thursday night place at Eden Center, decided to try Amasia last night. Very good!

Also very closed. From the Falls Church News-Press:

December 8 - 14, 2005 VOL. XV Editorial - "Left to Fend For Themselves"

We lament the sudden closing last week of a promising new restaurant, one of the very first retail enterprises to go into the City of Falls Church's first new large-scale development project in over 20 years. Amasia, located on the ground floor of The Broadway in the 500 block of W. Broad St., shut down last Friday. Its owners did what they could to fight for the survival of their business. When it did not start off well, they did not hesitate to shift gears, change the name and bring in a new, high quality chef. Still, despite all their best efforts, it didn't work.