Asian spot hits right sweet and spicy notes

Sesame Sea Asian Bistro is building on seven years of success by not compromising on ingredients and offering ample portions at fair prices, owner Ken Chen said.

The quick-casual restaurant, located in the Shops on Muirfield in Dublin, isn’t afraid to get spicy with its food.

The mapo tofu ($11.95), a favorite of Asian diners that is gaining popularity among American palates, offers cubes of soft fermented bean curd and ground pork stir-fried with a fiery Sichuan red-bean sauce.

Grand Marnier shrimp ($15.50) features lightly battered tiger shrimp, a sweet-and-creamy orange-liqueur sauce, fresh Fuji apples, strawberries and blackberries (or whatever fruit is available) served over mixed greens and topped with a honeywalnut sauce.

“It is sweet,” Chen said. “It is fruity, but it’s great. The sauce is a little different than everybody else’s.”

Chen, also owner of the highly rated Sushi. Com in the same retail center, said he wanted to create a restaurant that used fresh produce, quality seafood and meat and cooked meals to order. Sesame Sea’s menu runs the Asian gamut, with Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese and fusion dishes on the The “sizzling black sea” with shrimp and scallops, foreground, and mapo tofu at Sesame Sea Asian Bistro. What: Sesame Sea Asian Bistro Address: 7106 Muirfield Drive, Dublin Hours: 11 to 10 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 4 to 9:30 p.m. Sundays Contact: 614-336-3888

menu.

Three Generals ($14.50) is a take on General Tso’s but features fresh scallops, jumbo shrimp and battered dark-meat chicken. Broccoli and chile pepper are tossed in a familiar smoky, sweet and spicy sauce.

“Sizzling black sea” ($15.95) offers another scallops-and-shrimp combo with diced green and red peppers, onion, broccoli and mushrooms in a signature black-peppercorn sauce and served on a hot skillet for effect.

“It’s kind of like a

fajita,” Chen said.

Chinese broccoli with beef ($13.95) is a simple stir-fry dish in which vegetables and garlic are cooked in wine. The beef is cooked separately in salt, pepper and a little oyster sauce and added to the dish.

“It’s almost like in one dish you get two different flavors,” Chen said.

Another dish that features myriad textures and flavors is the flounder ($14.50) stirfried with bok choy, pea pods and carrots. Shiitakes add earthiness and a light amount of oyster sauce brings sweetness. The fish, meanwhile, remains mild, firm and moist.

Chen stressed that Sesame Sea is not a run-of-the-mill Asian experience.

“All the ingredients I use,” he said. “I can compete with any restaurant down here.”