Asean Bistro Inc. — Restaurant in Columbia

As others have stated the people working at this restaurant really have an "I don't care attitude" and in my personal experience was out right RUDE. This was my first time trying this place so I took my time to review the menu. There was NO ONE else in the entire establishment and the lady taking my order rushed me to decide then tossed aside a pen and walked to the back when I told her I was still undecided and needed more time, as if I had offended her. This should have been my queue to walk out and find a place to spend money where it's actually appreciated but I was being lazy and went ahead and ordered.

The quality of the food was truly AWFUL and towards the expensive side. I ordered 1 chicken friend rice and 1 general tso's chicken and two spring rolls. When I got home I was immediately disappointed. The rice looked as if only portions of it was actually fried rice and the rest just looked like white rice. There wasn't much chicken inside and what was there was overcooked and pretty chewy. Needless to say it was extremely bland. When my girlfriend opened her general tso there was LITERALLY 6 pieces of chicken and a ton of sauce. The general tso's wasn't nearly as bad - taste wise - as the rice but the sauce was very thick and overly sweet. Also, there was ZERO, and I mean ZERO spice... spice level negative 1.

I didn't bother trying the spring roll.

This was a huge waste of ~$37 and I will never return. P.S. they also have a sign that prohibits the use of cell phones in their takeout order area of the restaurant which I found...

Holy cow, Jesse Wong is back at the stove and everything has improved! The food we had Friday night was AMAZING! I wish I could post pics, I had to take them because the dishes were so beautiful and delicious. There were 6 of us and we started with a huge appetizer platter with calamari, the best baby lamb chops you will ever eat, crispy eggplant, spring rolls and red sauced wontons. Spectacular. Not a crumb was left. We moved on to a specially ordered lobster in Chef's Spicy Butter Sauce --- you will never have a better lobster --- and Mongolian Filet Mignon (utterly tender, mixed with a sauce and greens), Malaysian Chow Fun (you have to try this, we got these fabulous wide noodles with a combination with beef, pork & shrimp), pork chops (wow, cut thin then fried, so moist) and beef with broccoli for our less adventurous friend. They have a much better wine list than most Asian restaurants along with the usual cocktails. We didn't have room for dessert. The total bill came to around $250 for 6 of us for an abundance of fab food (plus doggie bag for lunch) and 2 bottles of a good zin, several cocktails and a couple of beers. So with tip it was about $50 per person for a very elevated dining experience in a nice atmosphere with live music (a delightful jazz trio that plays on weekends). I don't think there's a better restaurant in Columbia. It had gotten a little stale but Jesse's return has brought us back, and the place was filled with other appreciative diners. Highly...

Glad we found this hidden gem! Several coworkers mentioned this was the best Chinese restaurant in the area, with one claiming to still drive to this further one despite closer alternatives to his home.

We ended up doing take out and ordering the Hunan Crispy Fish Roll and Malaysian Chow Fun Combination (beef, chicken, shrimp, and pork). We were told it would take 15 minutes but the order was ready in 10 minutes. The order was carefully packaged, with several cardboard layers to hold the sauce and other items in place to prevent spilling. It was very wise of them to pack the Hunan sauce separately. The restaurant had implemented a COVID policy of one person in the takeout register area at a time, for those who care.

Food-wise, both meals were excellent! The Malaysian chow fun had a nice smokey aroma from the wok and a nice mild spiciness kick. The Hunan crispy fish roll had two large fish fillets and came with fried green beans and 16oz of rice that justified the $16 price tag. We drove 15mins home but the fish was still crispy and hot when we ate. The sweet Hunan sauce was perfectly seasoned. The food was almost enough for 4 people (we just cooked an extra cup of Jasmine rice at home for the Hunan Crispy Fish Roll).

Given this is our first time and how good both dishes were, we'll definitely have to come back...