Asiana brings Asian-fusion cooking to Newtown
NEWTOWN - For restaurateur Danny Lam, it’s all about the sauce. For proof, visit Asiana, Lam’s month-old restaurant specializing in Asian Fusion cuisine on South Eagle Road in Newtown.
Tucked just a few doors down from the Newtown Farmer’s Market, Asiana is Lam’s IRurWh YHnWurH LnWR $VLDn FuLVLnH, EuW hLV firVW in the area. His other three eateries are in the Pocono region. Visitors to Asiana will choose from typical main course fare like chicken, pork, lobster, shrimp … you get the idea. The difference is in the preparation.
“We have authentic sauces,” Lam said Saturday, moments after cutting the ribbon on his nHwHVW rHVWDurDnW DnG DERuW fiYH wHHNV DIWHr D soft opening. “We’re really an Asian-French mixture, with saffron sauce, champagne sauce, white wine sauce. Our more authentic Asian sauces include ginger, garlic and basil.”
Indeed, a quick glance at the menu provides what one might expect from a visit to an Asian restaurant: Chicken (or shrimp) satay, seafood dumplings, pad Thai and fried rice. That same glance will also offer some not-so-traditionally Asian fare: saffron lobster, tilapia stuffed with crabmeat and basil shrimp.
“We’re an Asian restaurant with a French flDLr,” LDP VDLG. HH wHnW Rn WR RIIHr DV Dn Hxample his take on curry.
“Most curry is very strong,” Lam said. “We blend it and make it unique. It becomes French fusion. It’s more like a touch of curry, not your typical Asian curry.”
Little about Lam is typical. While researching sites for his restaurant, Lam said he did not put “success of restaurant” at the top of his checklist.
“I was looking for a location to raise my family,” said Lam, who lives in Ewing, NJ but plans on moving his family – he is married with two children – to Newtown. “When we found Newtown, we fell in love with it.”
That made opening Asiana an easy decision. Once the location was settled, he went about turning what for 18 years had been the Thai restaurant Siam Cuisine into his own. The result was a room with a warm, candlelit DPELHnFH WhDW HxuGHV finH GLnLnJ. 1R SODVWLF cutlery or paper napkins here.
“I live by one rule: I ask myself, ‘Would I like it?’” Lam said. “If I would like it, my customers would like it. Restaurants are a tough business, but they’re also simple. High quality food, nice ambience, good service and clean.” By Lam’s standards, Asiana keeps it simple.
His menu has a generous selection but doesn’t overwhelm patrons with too many choices, and also shows that Lam was able to focus when building it. Visitors can keep their bill manageable by taking advantage of Asiana’s BYOB policy. Appetizers run in the $7 to $9 range, with entries from $18 to $32. The menu also features several vegetarian choices.
Asiana is dinner only, which gave Lam and several of Newtown’s leaders time to pull out the oversized scissors Saturday afternoon. Pennsylvania State Representative Steve Santarsiero (D-31), Newtown Township supervisors Ryan Gallagher and Phillip Calabro, Newtown Corporation volunteer Paul Salvatore and Newtown Business Association President Mick Pertucci all smiled as they watched as Lam cut the ribbon on one of Newtown’s newest businesses.
“I’m excited to see it,” Pertucci said “It’s an upscale Asian Fusion restaurant and a great use of existing space. It’s authentic, beautiful and top-notch … a win-win for everybody. It offers more diversity to an already eclectic list of restaurant choices in Newtown.”
Despite the soft opening and depending on word-of-mouth marketing thus far, Lam said Asiana has been reservation-only crowded on weekend nights. For reservations, call 215860-2238. Asiana is located at 2124 South Eagle Road in Newtown.