Eric's Asian Cafe — Restaurant in Idaho Springs

I had been wanting to try Eric's Asian Cafe for a while now. Idaho Springs Safeway is the closest chain supermarket to where I live in Gilpin County, so I pass by Eric's a couple of times a month. I finally made the effort to go there for lunch yesterday. The food was DELICIOUS! I had one of their lunch specials which included sesame tofu w/ white rice and egg rolls. The egg rolls arrived first and were piping hot and super delicious, qty of 2 comes with the lunch special. Then came the sesame tofu - see the perfectly sized lunch portion picture. It had a bit more vinegar and the tofu cubes a bit softer than I'm used to from other restaurants for this dish, but it was still very tasty - I liked the extra tang and the softer texture did not bother me at all! The tofu came on a bed of freshly steamed veggies - they still had a slight crispness to them, so definitely not over steamed. I can't even explain just how fresh the vegetables were - I was pleasantly surprised! There was more of the wonderful sauce "under" the vegetables, so the only thing that came coated in the sauce was the tofu - great presentation and allowed me to mix the veggies in as much or as little sauce as I wanted. White rice is white rice, but it complimented the plate well! Since I only had water to drink, my bill total was under $10!!!

The table was very clean, the only issue with the atmosphere was that there must have been chimney smoke back up in the fireplace located in the corner at some point. Lots of black soot on the ceiling and on the brick fireplace surround. It did not smell like smoke in there, so it must have happened a while ago. Some fresh paint for the ceiling and bucket of suds for the brick surround would fix it right up! It didn't bother me, but I would be remiss not to mention it.

Great food, friendly host/waiter and all for a great lunch price! You can't go wrong!! Open daily, 11am - 9pm! Thank you for a great meal - I'll...

Their lunch specials are really good deals for a well-portioned entree and your choice of soup, salad, or egg roll. Most of the offerings on the lunch menu were Chinese or Thai inspired.

We started out with an order of gyoza. They were perfectly crispy, and the soy dipping sauce added the perfect touch of sweetness.

My parents were splitting a plate and wanted both a salad and an egg roll. Our absolutely outstanding waiter (not Eric - but we never caught his name) recommended that we get a separate order of egg rolls instead of a separate salad, as it would be cheaper. I was happy with that because that meant I got an egg roll, too. :) They were extra crunchy and stuffed with yummy fresh cabbage. The sweet and sour sauce was standard but tasty.

My boyfriend and I had soups. He had the hot and sour and enjoyed its thick consistency. I had the egg drop. It came with tofu in it, which I'd never had before in egg drop soup. It was a nice chewy addition.

For entrees, we had Thai basil chicken, cashew chicken, and sesame chicken. The Thai basil was savory and not too spicy, and paired well with the fried rice it was served with. Lots of yummy bok choy in the dish. The sesame chicken was perfectly fried and sweet. The cashew chicken was particularly wonderful - we loved the brown sauce and Eric's was not at all stingy with the cashews.

I truly can't say enough about our waiter. He was incredibly pleasant, amiable, and prompt with his service - no drink was ever empty, he cleaned our plates right as we were done with them, and he even brought us each a little mini candy bar along with our fortune cookies. I wish I had his name so I could mention how great he was.

We are only in Colorado for a vacation, so unfortunately we won't make it back any time soon...but since I can't, I must ask that you visit and support this wonderful...

Enjoy your food, but double check your bill before paying.

We visited this place recently, and while the food was decent, our experience was marred by a number of issues. The restaurant itself was a bit dingy, and the service started off awkwardly with the front-of-house guy being a bit standoffish, but we didn’t let that bother us at first.

However, things went downhill when the busser spilled my drink all over me and the table. While accidents happen, it wasn’t a huge deal. The real problem came at the end when we received the bill, which seemed excessively high. The ticket was handwritten and clearly incomplete, so I decided to grab a menu and quickly do the math myself.

When I went to the bar to ask about some missing items on the bill, the same front-of-house guy put a sign in front of me stating that prices had gone up by 10%, which I understood since the menus seemed outdated. But even factoring in the 10% increase, the math still didn’t add up.

I politely asked for a more detailed breakdown to ensure I wasn’t missing something, and he responded abruptly with, “I don’t have time for this, what do you want to pay?” I was surprised by this attitude, I simply wanted a fair bill. I asked him to deduct the cost of the spilled drink, so he took off $4.00—but clearly, this wasn’t the correct adjustment.

At the end of the day, it felt like they needed the money more than they cared about a good customer experience. Again, the food was decent, but I would strongly temper your expectations and absolutely double check your bill...