ASYA – Centris Walk, Quezon City

Posted by Ian Galliguez in Eat and Drink | 16 comments

Fusion food has always been tricky. I’ve always felt that any restaurant that says they have a “variety” of Asian dishes would almost always fail in every one of them. It’s like the old saying: “Jack of all trades but master of none”.

Asya promises nothing but a good meal in a great place. That level of open-ness and admittance is very promising, in actuality. What initially attracted us to the restaurant was the quirky colors it had and the novel idea for its chairs. It’s cute! and you’ll never feel lonely if you have to dine alone. You can choose from a plethora of 2-dimensional lunch or dinner guests (A Japanese Geisha, a Tibetan monk, an Arab, a pretty Indian lady, a cute Chinese girl or a nice Pinay. Although the novelty wore off after a bit and it kinda creeped me out when I looked up from the menu and was caught unawares with the extra dining guest we had on our table.

Another novel and yet effective idea Asya had was with their tables. In other restaurants, we would have problems with tables and tables space. Sometimes the plates are too big and we find ourselves trying to make do with the space we have in navigating through our meal. Asya actually has secret table extenders in every table they have. Our server, Anton, showed us the secret: If you push a little square button on the side of the table, it lets go of a clasp that holds the half moon table extender. A little slide and a click and voila! Your square table now is a round table with more table surface to use! A stroke of genius.

We also love the colors and the lighting fixtures. It was cheerful without being tacky, warm without being too homey and relaxing but not too lounge like. The staff were also very warm and friendly. They were also very sensitive and attentive to your needs. I’d have to say, they were trained very well. Anton was just super.

Most of their food are good to share, with dishes good for 2 people (3 if you’re not too hungry). We ordered the chicken pandan and the Tom Yum soup with Jasmine rice. I also ordered the lemongrass tea. I love lemongrass tea! I’ve loved it since my mother introduced me to it during our first trip to Bangkok! A lot of other food establishments claimed that they had the best lemongrass iced tea but they’ve been nothing but heartbreaking disappointments. Asya’s lemongrass iced tea was great! They had fresh lemongrass in the glass with simple sugar syrup on the side. The food arrived steaming and it didn’t take too long. The food turned out to be great. The taste was how it was supposed to be – Thai food tasted exactly like Thai food (and not like sinigang passing off as Tom Yum).

Asya also has a function room available for your meetings or small get togethers. Their function room can seat 20 – 30 people. You can find Asya at Centris Walk, Eton Centris, EDSA corner Quezon Avenue in Quezon City. Call them up at 9948467/ 7384938 – 39. Text them at 09175547155 or email them at [email protected] Visit their website at www.asya.com.ph