FUSION food, which is meant to blend tastes from different cultures, is a tricky culinary concept. It’s easy to create a confused jumble or to reduce everything to the least sophisticated common denominator.
The Asian pizza at Euro Asian in Port Chester is a prime example of fusion gone wrong. The decent Asian pancake was covered in a mess of competing tastes, from a seemingly masticated tuna to tofu aioli. I may have even detected a smear of guacamole in there. Gloppy was the word that came to mind. Unfortunately, it came to mind quite a bit as we dined at the nearly year-old downtown restaurant.
Almost every entree was drowned in thick sauces as if the key to Asian food was overdosing it with corn starch and sugar. We had to scrape off some of the sauce that was overwhelming an otherwise interesting special of pan-seared jumbo prawns poached in Malaysian coconut cream.
If the flavors weren’t hopelessly jumbled, they often competed for attention. In the beef negimaki, broiled thinly sliced filet mignon wrapped around scallions, it was hard to taste the meat for the onions, and the whole thing was drenched in an ultra-sticky teriyaki. Even the Euro Asian salad, with its straightforward greens, beets, blue cheese and walnuts, was overpowered by a heavy handed creamy balsamic dressing.
When the kitchen pulled back a bit, things improved. The light ginger scallion sauce for the steamed Chilean sea bass came in a pretty, small teapot so we could control the amount that was poured on the fish. Accompanying sweet pea pods and bok choy were tucked under the sea bass, like a surprise. Similarly, the Asian hot and sour soup arrived with the spicy lemongrass broth separate from the other ingredients: shrimp, okra and pineapple. The two were combined at the table in a dramatic gesture that also kept the tastes from blending into mushiness.
Ordering simply is the best approach. Basic dumplings like steamed shumai and fried gyoza were fine choices. The Thai pineapple shrimp fried rice, a side dish, was nicely done and not at all greasy. And most of the items from the sushi bar were well executed, though not flawless: a spicy tuna sashimi was elaborately presented but had little flavor and arrived without any dipping sauce. After about 15 minutes of trying to get some from a waiter, we gave up.
Timing is often a problem at Euro Asian. Appetizers don’t always arrive together. There can be very long waits between courses or for the check. On a second visit, there were signs all over the restaurant telling diners to inform waiters if they needed to get to the multiplex next door by a certain time. That may have helped filmgoers, but, for those of us without a deadline to meet, the service was slow and unchoreographed again.
If you’re going to be waiting around, at least try to do it in the main dining room, where the sushi bar is housed and the generic Asian restaurant décor is somewhat toned down. A second dining and lounge area includes a bar with annoying strobe lights and several plasma TV screens that play sports or recycle images of the food. The effect is as discombobulated as some of the food choices.
The bar serves some decent drinks, including an interesting sake sangria that is uncharacteristically subtle. But don’t bother with dessert. In this case, fusion means combining the worst chain-style fare — from a dry chocolate lava cake to refrigerator-tinged cheesecake — with a child’s idea of sweet: everything, I mean everything, was covered in sprinkles.
Euro Asian
30 Westchester Avenue
Port Chester
(914) 937-3680
www.euroasianrestaurant.com
SATISFACTORY
THE SPACE A combination of bar, lounge and dining area with plasma screen TVs and some strobe lights toward the back and a more subdued front dining area with a sushi bar at one end. Both spaces have soaring ceilings painted in bright yellow, blue and green. Wheelchair accessible.
THE CROWD Many diners are coming from or soon going to shows at the multiplex next door; a mix of couples and families.
THE BAR Offers a wide range of sake choices, including mandarin orange and Asian pear. Try the sake sangria, which is less sweet than traditional Spanish versions, with small, precisely cut fruit.
THE BILL Lunch entrees, $9 to $15; dinner entrees, $18 to $33. Major credit cards accepted.
WHAT WE LIKE Shumai, gyoza, Asian hot and sour soup; Chilean sea bass with ginger scallion sauce, Thai pineapple shrimp fried rice (side), spider roll, yellowtail tuna and scallion roll.
IF YOU GO Lunch: daily from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dinner: Monday to Thursday and Sunday, 5 to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 5 to 11 p.m. Reservations recommended.
Reviewed Nov. 4, 2007
