Opening its doors in 1989, Asía is among the oldest Asian restaurants in the city. Specializing in the Chinese cuisine with a western twist, the restaurant offers both take away and a roomy dining area adorned with Chinese-style decorations. The restaurant is open from lunch to the dinner hours.
A big draw is the Asía lunch buffet, served every day from 12 to 14, where for 1.200 ISK you can help yourself to some soup and six pre-prepared dishes accompanied by rice and salad. Those who like to order single dishes should ask for the lunch menu, which features a wide range of familiar dishes including: fried egg-noodles with shrimps and chicken, spring-rolls, lamb in curry, sweet and sour chicken and panfried vegetables in oyster sauce. Add this with the fact that most of the dishes cost 990 ISK and you get a fair restaurant worth visiting during lunch breaks.
Our waiter brought us the lunch menu and when asked recommended the chicken noodle-soup, adding that it was the most popular dish on the menu. I took his advice and, after finishing the soup, I could easily understand why.
I was served a giant bowl full of noodles, vegetables and chicken as well as chilli paste and fresh ginger on the side. At first the soup was a little bland, but after adding a full spoon of chilli and a little bit of ginger to spice it up a bit, the soup turned into a full-bodied energy boost. Some might say I overpowered it a bit, but for me it was just what I needed and woke me just up as if I had finished a couple of strong espressos. I later learned that this particular miracle soup at Asía is a famous hangover remedy among the downtown party animals who need to get rid of the pain quickly, and that really didn’t surprise me a bit.
My dining partner ordered the deep fried chicken in chilli sauce and was served a stuffed plate with rice and salad. Not as spicy as my soup, he was satisfied with the nicely cooked and rich portion although the deep fried chicken was a little too soggy to make me order it the next time around. A special praise has to be given to the service, who were friendly and attentive at all times.
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