The name Red Bowl Asian Bistro leaves many people wondering exactly what's on the plate at this outpost near Mountain Island Lake, about 15 miles northwest of Center City Charlotte.
Co-owner Ken Yung said the red bowl is a fitting symbol for a restaurant that presents flavors from China, Japan, Thailand and Vietnam.
Red is a symbol of happiness, good fortune or life in the Far East nations from which the menu takes its inspiration. The bowl is synonymous with mealtime across this broad swath of Asia.
"We wanted to step beyond (being) a Chinese restaurant," Yung said. "People get tired of one thing. That's why we put everything together. So they can have different choices."
Co-owner Ken Yung said the red bowl is a fitting symbol for a restaurant that presents flavors from China, Japan, Thailand and Vietnam.
Red is a symbol of happiness, good fortune or life in the Far East nations from which the menu takes its inspiration. The bowl is synonymous with mealtime across this broad swath of Asia.
"We wanted to step beyond (being) a Chinese restaurant," Yung said. "People get tired of one thing. That's why we put everything together. So they can have different choices."
Yung and co-owner and brother-in-law John Zhang developed the idea for the restaurant while living in New York. The first-generation immigrants from China worked with Asian chefs there to develop recipes that offered authentic regional Asian flavors.
The two decided to open a restaurant in Charlotte because of the region's growth. They left New York and opened their restaurant four years ago at Mountain Island Marketplace, at N.C. 16 and Mount Holly-Huntersville Road.
At that time, Thai curries, satays and ingredients such as mangos and lemongrass would have been unusual on the dinner table at many households in the restaurant's service area.
Good fortune found the Red Bowl anyway.
Customers say this contemporary operation, which includes a bar and lounge, a dining room that seats about 130, a sushi bar and banquet room -- all in a handsome but neighborly setting -- is a cherished addition to the community.
"It's the nicest restaurant around here where you can actually come out and have dinner," said Damon Plumides, who lives in the Pawtuckett area.
The menu includes more than 120 items that illustrate Yung's and Zhang's interpretation of the red bowl.
Spicy Thai red curry chicken is one of the restaurant's signature dishes, and it is also among the best-sellers. It helped the restaurant earn a place on Chinese Restaurant News' 2007 Top 100 list for Asian cuisine in the United States. The dish is a generous portion of meat and vegetables in a curry sauce made with coconut milk. Fresh Thai basil and an artistic presentation that includes carved vegetables give the dish even more personality.
Other signature dishes reside on the sushi menu. The crunchy salmon rolls are topped with thin slices of tuna, eel and shrimp. The Pacific fried roll, also a best-seller, is a concession to Western preferences, as it contains no raw fish. The deep-fried roll is filled with a combination of cream cheese, yellowtail and crabmeat.
Mingling with the award-winners and customer favorites are tempuras, Vietnamese shrimp summer rolls, Japanese hibachi dishes, soups and appetizers.
"They're all my favorites," said Lamont Baxter, a Hidden Creek resident and a customer of two years, as he sipped a cocktail and ate a late lunch of seafood double pan fried noodles. "I come here so often I just go down the list."
Many customers still choose traditional Chinese American favorites such as sesame chicken, mu shu pork and broccoli beef. Yung would prefer to expose them to new flavors. So he continues to scout for new recipes that might win them over and broaden their palates.
"I still send one of the guys to New York and search for what kind of dishes we can put on the menu," Yung said. "This time, I have an idea to put Mongolian food on the menu and more curry-style dishes. We try to do more variety. That's our goal."
The two decided to open a restaurant in Charlotte because of the region's growth. They left New York and opened their restaurant four years ago at Mountain Island Marketplace, at N.C. 16 and Mount Holly-Huntersville Road.
At that time, Thai curries, satays and ingredients such as mangos and lemongrass would have been unusual on the dinner table at many households in the restaurant's service area.
Good fortune found the Red Bowl anyway.
Customers say this contemporary operation, which includes a bar and lounge, a dining room that seats about 130, a sushi bar and banquet room -- all in a handsome but neighborly setting -- is a cherished addition to the community.
"It's the nicest restaurant around here where you can actually come out and have dinner," said Damon Plumides, who lives in the Pawtuckett area.
The menu includes more than 120 items that illustrate Yung's and Zhang's interpretation of the red bowl.
Spicy Thai red curry chicken is one of the restaurant's signature dishes, and it is also among the best-sellers. It helped the restaurant earn a place on Chinese Restaurant News' 2007 Top 100 list for Asian cuisine in the United States. The dish is a generous portion of meat and vegetables in a curry sauce made with coconut milk. Fresh Thai basil and an artistic presentation that includes carved vegetables give the dish even more personality.
Other signature dishes reside on the sushi menu. The crunchy salmon rolls are topped with thin slices of tuna, eel and shrimp. The Pacific fried roll, also a best-seller, is a concession to Western preferences, as it contains no raw fish. The deep-fried roll is filled with a combination of cream cheese, yellowtail and crabmeat.
Mingling with the award-winners and customer favorites are tempuras, Vietnamese shrimp summer rolls, Japanese hibachi dishes, soups and appetizers.
"They're all my favorites," said Lamont Baxter, a Hidden Creek resident and a customer of two years, as he sipped a cocktail and ate a late lunch of seafood double pan fried noodles. "I come here so often I just go down the list."
Many customers still choose traditional Chinese American favorites such as sesame chicken, mu shu pork and broccoli beef. Yung would prefer to expose them to new flavors. So he continues to scout for new recipes that might win them over and broaden their palates.
"I still send one of the guys to New York and search for what kind of dishes we can put on the menu," Yung said. "This time, I have an idea to put Mongolian food on the menu and more curry-style dishes. We try to do more variety. That's our goal."
