Category Archives: Chinese

$$ Modest ($20-$40), Chinese, Commentary, St. Matthews, Westport Village, and environs

Jade Palace’s dim sum makes great takeout

I’ve been a big fan of Jade Palace’s dim sum ever since the late 1980s, when this popular eatery in what is now Westport Village introduced Louisville to these tasty, bite-size Chinese snacks.

But the other day I had a pandemic-related revelation: In these days when many of us are wary about dining indoors at a crowded restaurant: Dim sum makes a great takeout alternative. In fact, Jade Palace is closed to dining in during the pandemic, but it does offer takeout, curbside pickup, and delivery. Continue reading Jade Palace’s dim sum makes great takeout →

$$ Modest ($20-$40), Chinese, Commentary, LEO's Eats, Northeast Metro

Jasmine Bistro impresses with Chinese regional flavors

I still vividly remember the excitement of my first tastes of Sichuan cuisine. We had to travel to New York City, San Francisco or Chicago to get such goodies back in the late ‘70s, but Sichuan, aka Szechwan, fare did get to Louisville finally, and for a decade or two, these spicy regional cuisines were among the city’s most popular dining options. Continue reading Jasmine Bistro impresses with Chinese regional flavors →

$$$ Upscale ( $40 - $60), Chinese, Commentary, Frankfort Ave., Clifton, Crescent Hill, LEO's Eats, Pacific Rim & Other Asian

Shine on, August Moon

“Nobody goes there any more. It’s too crowded.” Yogi Berra purportedly said that, making the aphorism famous even if he didn’t say it first. Now I want to take an unlikely shot at similar fame with this Yogi-style observation: “I go to August Moon so often that I haven’t been there lately.” Continue reading Shine on, August Moon →

$$ Modest ($20-$40), Chinese, LEO's Eats, QuickBytes, St. Matthews, Westport Village, and environs

We look back at 2015, and way back at Oriental House

We’re just a few days into the New Year, and most of you foodies are probably already tired of reading many versions of the same basic story about all the new restaurants that joined the metro’s culinary community last year. So let’s not do that.

I’d like to tip my fedora to Baby 2016, though, by pulling up for a wider view: Was there any consistent flavor in the boiling, simmering, seething stew of the city’s eats beat in 2015? Continue reading We look back at 2015, and way back at Oriental House →

$$ Modest ($20-$40), Chinese, LEO's Eats, Northeast Metro

New urbanism, same old Chinese in Norton Commons

There we were, Mary and I, sitting and chatting as we waited for our apps in the comfortably cozy confines of Tea Station Chinese Bistro. We sipped Tsing Tao beers and gazed out at the main drag of Norton Commons, the new subdivision with the old-time look, trying to figure out why this village somehow feels both appealing and a little creepy all at the same time.

Norton Commons was Louisville’s first large venture into the “New Urbanism” (or at least the first since St. James Court was developed in 1887). Hey, New Urbanism is cool! Something new, made to look old, compact and walkable, retro in style, quaint but, um, “safe.”

So what’s not to like?
Continue reading New urbanism, same old Chinese in Norton Commons →

$$ Modest ($20-$40), Chinese, Frankfort Ave., Clifton, Crescent Hill, LEO's Eats, New and noteworthy, QuickBytes

We eat 2,000 grains of rice at charming Bentuhua Teahouse

“I like rice,” the late, wacky stand-up comic Mitch Hedberg famously said. “Rice is great if you’re hungry and want 2,000 of something.”

This is funny because it’s a presumably true statement about a reality that we’ve probably never considered before, and yanks a laugh out of our bellies before we suddenly come up short with the obvious follow-up: “So what?”
Continue reading We eat 2,000 grains of rice at charming Bentuhua Teahouse →