Veggie Bar At Asean Bistro's Chinese Lunch; All-You-Can-Eat Side Dishes With Your Entree

Half of the veggie bar at Asean Bistro

Check out the cool extra that comes with lunch at Jesse Wong's Asean Bistro in Columbia -- two special vegetable dishes that you can eat with any entree.

Asean Bistro is a Howard County institution, serving good Americanized Chinese food just off Rte 108.  This was our local stop when we lived near Rte 108 and Snowden River.  They deliver, and we often got large orders that fed us for days.

Kung pao, noodles and tofu

They also do lunch.  We met the RDADoc and her preschool sidekick this week, and we had a nice lunch of dumplings, noodles, tofu and kung pao chicken.  The cool extra is that Asean Bistro has to chafing dishes at the front with rotating vegetable dishes that you can serve yourself.

Zucchini in sha cha sauce and cauliflower in garlic sauce were both really good.  Tender vegetables and flavorful, but light sauces.   It's great to get  extra flavors, and it's cool to try something unusual.  We snacked on the vegetables at first, then ate them with our entrees.  Even Lil' Chow who grazed on miso soup, rice, and little bits of everything else.

I'd definitely recommend Asean Bistro if you want Chinese food.  Grace Garden in Odenton has captured our hearts, and our meetings with friends there have cut down our Chinese in Howard County.  But Asean Bistro is one of the good spots.  I'd love to hear any recommendations on dishes that people really enjoy there.

What do people recommend now for other Chinese in Howard County -- restaurants and specific dishes?  I have tons of posts about Chinese food, but my 2010 overview post must be out-of-date by now.  We really enjoy Noodles Corner in Columbia and dim sum at Asian Court in Ellicott City.  Then there is the Korean Chinese food like the black bean noodles and pork at Tian Chinese Cuisine in Ellicott City.