Local Restaurant News
I’ve heard that Asian Galaxy on Forest Hill Ave (in the old Planet Wings) is now open but haven’t made it up to it yet. Anyone been or even seen a menu?
Style Weekly has some morsels on the opening of Parkside. The discussion going on here is the best coverage I’ve seen of the new place. On the subject of Parkside, a little birdie told me that the latest culinary addition to our hood is getting a bit of a run around from ABC. That would explain why they are still boozeless. If you support Parkside’s effort to get an ABC you could always post in the comments.
I picked up an Asian Galaxy menu yesterday afternoon. It is comprehensive, with what you would expect to see for Thai, Chinese, and Japanese options (sushi). Lunch specials look like a good deal. I’m looking forward to trying this place out this weekend.
My husband and I just ate there. It was delicious! I’m no sushi expert, but I feel confident in my assessment of edibility. I got the Pink Lady Roll and my man got the Asian Galaxy Roll. Mine came garnished with a light show! Quite tasty!!! (The food, not the light show) We did also get the Tom Kha Gai soup which was okay, but a little unremarkable when I can get it at Ruang Tong with real kaffir lime leaf and galangal. The service was delightful and very attentive. The prices seemed pretty reasonable too! Only real bummer was that apparently this place is also working sans ABC approval.
Please visit this place… I would be so very happy with a decent sushi place in walking distance!!
I am going to try one of these two TONIGHT — either Parkside or Asian Galaxy…. it is so nice to have choices of new restaurants! Still haven’t gotten to Crust and Cream… anything special there?
Ok… we went to Asian Galaxy:
DON’T LET THE FAST FOOD EXTERIOR KEEP YOU FROM TRYING THIS PLACE, it is freaking awesome.
The Inside is very nice, even has a banquet room. DOZENS of entree options on the menu, covering all the classics for Thai, Chinese, and Sushi….
Nice vegetarian options, big portions, happy customers all around.
Good to hear about Asian Galaxy. Might have to try it for lunch tomorrow.
As to your question about Crust and Cream. Nothing special but serviceable inexpensive food. Friend of my says it has been steadily improving since opening.
I forgot to add that according to Twitter – Parkside has received their ABC license effective today.
Asian Galaxy for lunch. Very nice interior, very attractive. Service has opening week jitters, but is pleasant. Menu is very ambitious. Has lunch specials for both Chinese and Thai, reasonable prices. Food?
Not there yet. Chinese is better than Mandarin Palace. Thai is spiced for Americans, and Americans with weak palates. But a good addition to the neighborhood, and may grow into something good.
Does Asian Galaxy seem kid-friendly?
I’m happy Asian Galaxy is here and am eager to try their food!
But I really wish they would remove the extremely large signage off the wood slat wall that they built…that slat wall was beautiful in its’ simplicity & now it is covered up by redundant signage…and a brass mailbox! Boo, fail.
We went to Asian Galaxy tonight. The menu is huge and the space is really nice, and prices are good. The service and kitchen timing need some work, especially since they are also serving sushi. We received our soup after our entrees (entrees served with about 5 minutes between each other) and never got our sushi roll. We were with our toddler and expected the faster service typical of Asian restaurants. We had to have the soup and second entree packed in to go boxes due to the wait taking longer than our child’s limit of patience. Re kids, there were several when we were there, but the restaurant seemed to have a limited number of high chairs and no booster seats. Next time, we’d go earlier than 6PM or just get carry out. It looks like they were more popular than they expected. I expect they’ll work out the kinks in time.
Looks like a very nice place to go! But I’m still wondering about the sushi there.
The menu seems to be huge. What ever we will try some day.
My wife and I went tonight for the first time and loved it.
The inside of the place is surprising and not at all what we were expecting. Beautiful and inviting.
We sat the sushi bar and ordered a seaweed salad, two special rolls, a yellowtail roll, and an asparagus roll. My wife hates mayo in her spicy tuna rolls and the chefs gladly took her special request and prepared a great plate of food for us. The sushi was excellent (for Richmond!) and very nice to have an option on this side of the river. The sushi chefs prepared some tempura whitefish (gratis) and it was delicious.
The staff were very kind and hospitable. the sushi chefs were very eager for us to tell them about how we enjoyed our meal.
We will definitely go back – is it the best sushi I’ve ever had? No. Is it the best sushi I’ve ever had on the south bank of the James? Absolutely – 100%! We enjoyed keeping some dollars on this side of the river for a change.
Please visit Asian Galaxy and ensure these guys stay in the neighborhood.
We had takeout tonight from Asian Galaxy. We ordered w/o the benefit of a menu.
My dinner of Thai green curry w/tofu was really good. Had nice amount of tofu and veggies. Very similar in size and taste to when I order it at Thai Diner Too. I also had Thai vegetarian spring rolls. They were good but were fried (not what I expected – but it says this on the menu – which we grabbed when we picked up our food). I was anticipating fresh spring rolls.
My hubs had fried pork dumplings which got a thumbs up and cashew chicken which was not as well received. Said there were not enough cashews. Said he wouldn’t order that particular dish again (turns out they don’ have chicken w/cashew nuts on the menu but rather than tell him he couldn’t have it, they tried to make it work). He picked up the food and was impressed with the interior. We had an eggroll included free with our order.
So 3 out of 4 dishes chosen w/o a menu were really good. And the one that wasn’t good isn’t even a regular menu item but one they tried to do to please a customer. We’ll definitely be ordering off the HUGE menu again. I’m eager to try the sushi. And the desserts on the menu sound good (sweet sticky rice w/mangos or fried red bean ice cream anyone?)
Adding my short review. I agree with all the comments that they did a heck of a good renovating the place and it looks awesome.
I had beef musamam. It didn’t knock my socks but certainly wasn’t bad. It said it was spicy but didn’t have much kick at all. Not a big deal, next time I’ll just ask them to spice it up a bit. We had some steamed dumplings that were very good. We’ll be going back to check the myriad of other offerings.
We went to Asian Galaxy this weekend.
We enjoyed it very much. The miso soup was mild and pleasant but a little on the cool side. The California roll was a very generous portion – we needed a take home box. Beef Teriyaki also quite good. Pleasant and quick service. The decor is more than you would expect from the exterior, both comfortable and interesting.
The only two downsides for us – would rather not have the TVs and it would be good to have Asian instead of Country music. (or at least Asian Country music). Will we go back – Yes!
We had dinner there last night. The Verdict: Very happy to have Asian Galaxy as a new neighbor. We had maki for our appetizer, two thai dishes (Noodles, Yellow Curry) for entrees, and sweet sticky rice with mango for dessert. Everything was fresh and delicious! Service was very attentive and, like others, I love the decor.
I told the wife that, with all the great choices emerging (Asian Galaxy, Chicken Mania, Parkside, etc.), we may never need to cross the river for dinner!
My wife and I went here the other day, eventhough she didn’t really want to. The name and the outside is such a throw off of what this place really is. Great, great food and an awesome atmosphere. Can’t wait to go back. We feel like we really found a new place we can frequent. So much on the menu too!