Asian Cafe — Restaurant in Charlottesville

When it comes to anything Asian or Chinese cuisine, I am hesitant. Most people have their favorite places for specific dishes. I was very much surprised by the food considering my family and I don't live far but yet have tried this local restaurant. We normal go into Short Pump etc. This restaurant did not disappoint me. The food was amazing!!! Fresh, juicy, tender, cooked on point, and great proportions! My 9 month old who is just coming into foods was surprisingly eager to try it. The fried rice was cooked to precise, not crunchy nor too soft. My son ate half my rice which he had never had before and he absolutely hates foods that are crunchy, hard, or too soft/mushy. The stir fry like vegetables were not over cooked with that steam like crunchy taste. My son actually ate the carrots and wanted more. I tried the hibachi chicken/steak and the sauce wasn't overboard and it had a great taste. The soup was hot and delicious. The waitress even brought out yum yum sauce without me even asking for it! The waitress was very attentive. Yes, there was only one waitress serving not only dine in but take out as well. That did not stop her from doing and giving her all, and attending to any needs or requests. My husband ordered the hibachi steak/shrimp and he was done eating before I was. His only comment was that he would ask for less sauce next time, as that is a preference per person and every place is different on how they prepare, cook, and serve customers. Personally, I love the sauce because it kept my chicken/steak from getting dry while I was feeding my son at the same time. The atmosphere was light and friendly. No one minded that my son was baby talking back and forth across the dining area with another baby maybe a year old or so, besides it wasn't busy for anyone to care. I highly recommend this restaurant to save travel time to town, money, and a wait time. Who cares about the show part when the food and price is unbeatable. They also serve beer as that's what my husband ordered. If they serve other alcohol I really don't know as I wasn't paying attention. This is definitely our new place to eat for our Thursday...

We have been frequenting this place more lately. It is very consistent. The food is always cooked well and I love being able to order rib-eye steak hibachi cooked to medium rare and its actually medium rare.

That bieng said, I order pretty much the same thing every time. There is only one sauce for everything whether its fish or shrimp or chicken or beef, so thats kind of monotone. I'm sure the sushi is good but I rarely order it because I just cant get past that perfectly cooked beef.

They dont have much in the way of add-on sauces or any way to add heat other than the wasabi with sushi, so I've started bringing my own sriracha mix to jazz my plate up a bit, as well as cocktail sauce for the oysters. They cook the fried oyster app perfectly, but have nothing to dip or squirt on them other than that silly "yum-yum" sauce. I asked about something else and was told they had a mustard sauce...and was brought a packet of the take out Chinese stuff. Not a lot of imagination with stuff like that here but the food is still good.

Last visit the kitchen hood didn't seem to be working well and there were fry oil vapors all through the seating area. It took forever to get our order because they were so inundated with carry out orders. We must have seen at least a dozen carry out orders before our food came, that was a new problem we hadn't experienced here. Took us an hour and a half to get out of there. This small family-owned place was clearly overwhelmed fairly early on a Tuesday night and having a hard time keeping up with...

Eating here was actually an emotional experience for me. I saw the sign that said “Hibachi” and got excited, walked in to find no Hibachi tables and thought “Great, another subpar hole-in-the-wall” and then had some of the best Japanese food I’ve ever tasted.

As an appetizer, we ordered the gyoza (fried chicken dumplings). These were AMAZING. I could have eaten three or four orders of these by myself.

Next, our miso soup was brought out. It had a really great flavor, and the three year old in our group had two bowls all on her own.

Four our main course, I shared a steak and chicken hibachi grill dish with my girls; it was definitely enough food for the three of us. The steak and chicken were cooked perfectly and well seasoned and the fried rice and vegetables never made it to the to-go box. My mother ordered the “General’s chicken” and it was great! Definitely better than what you get from the food court or Panda Express. My dad had a chicken hibachi dinner and a plate of sushi (I don’t remember the name); he said he would rate the sushi a 4/5.

This is just down the street from our property and we will definitely be...