Thursday, February 26, 2009

South OP in brief: Two Asian spots

Thursday, February 26, 2009
Not long ago I had occasion to spend a few days in southern Overland Park, a locale that I am largely unfamiliar with in terms of lunching options. Fortunately I was able to eat at two very serviceable Asian restaurants, both of them small, informal, locally owned and pretty tasty.

One-Bite Japanese Grill is located on 135th in a little strip shopping center near Antioch. For those who reside in the area, it's behind the Babies R' Us. Aaaah, suburbia. This little spot turns out to be a very suavely decorated casual Japanese restaurant. As the name indicates, they feature a number of smaller plates, particularly Okonomi-Yaki--an omelet-type concoction cooked with the meat of your choice and topped with cabbage and mayonnaise. One-Bite's "Grill Lunch" however, is essentially a box, similar to those you see at other Asian spots around town. I had the Tonkatsu, a simple preparation of lightly breaded pork, served with rice, salad and dumplings The real standout here were the dumplings--delicate, piping hot and delicious.

If it weren't for the odd location I would visit more often. It looks perfect for lunch with essentially an updated classic diner layout: a row of booths along one side with a lunch counter overlooking the gleaming stainless steel kitchen on the other side. The rest of the place is colorful despite minimal artwork. I wish I had brought my camera.

There is a characteristically excellent Pitch review if you want more info.

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I also stopped by Fusion Chinese at 135th and Switzer one afternoon. This is a popular spot for Chinese take out in the area. Upon enetering I was surprised at how small the space was, but dine-in customers are not an afterthought as they are at many take-out oriented places. The place appears to be family owned and the servers are super friendly and attentive. Despite its size, it is a good place to bring kids.

As the name suggests, there is more going on here than at your typical Chinese takeout joint. They dedicate a fair amount of verbiage on the menu to their health conscious preparation techniques, including steaming, grilling, wok-frying and other methods that do not rely on much oil. They also offer brown rice with every entree which is a HUGE bonus for me, unless I am craving traditional sticky white rice. Regardless, both kinds are available. In general Fusion touts itself as a "healthy alternative to traditional Chinese food" and delivers on that promise with very good food.

Both Fusion and One-Bite are deserving of their own full fledged reviews, but I wasn't planning on posting about them when I visited. I'd love to hear others' experiences with these restaurants in preparation for a more substantive visit in the future.

4 comments:

Joe said...

Went to One Bite today. It was damn good. The price is high, but I need new lunch spots.

Thanks

PS - The Indian market a couple doors down is worth a look. Nice selection, pretty good prices, fresh vegetables (today anyway).

The DLC said...

Glad you liked it, JH. It's a nice looking little place isn't it? And yes, I forgot to mention the Indian market in the same shopping center. I have the feeling a number of One-Bite's customers come from there. I'll have to check it out.

Fred Sanford said...

this does not obtain to lunch, but my general rule toward chinese places is as follows: the stronger the drink, the better the food. in fact, i've been a few chinese places where i couldn't get the drink down it was so strong - invariably the food id outstanding...

perhaps that could be s special subset of your reviews?

; ' )

Erik said...

I ate at Fusion Chinese a few times, and it's good food. But I have only done the takeout. Try the Bulgogi(sp?), which is a Korean meat dish.

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