Category Archives: Pacific Rim

$ Budget (under $30), Commentary, Hurstbourne, Middletown, Jeffersontown, Pacific Rim, underSlideshowEntries

We celebrate Diwali and diversity at Bombay Grill

One of the biggest and best changes I’ve seen in our town over a Baby Boomer’s lifetime in Louisville has been the surprising ethnic and cultural diversity that has blossomed here over a generation. As outgoing Mayor Jerry Abramson likes to point out, more than half of our city’s population growth nowadays takes the form of new residents arriving from other countries. Youngsters in Jefferson County public schools speak more than 80 different languages at home, and Buddhists, Muslims and Hindus, among others, gather peacefully in their own places of worship.

It’s quite a change for a city that as recently as the ’60s boasted two Chinese restaurants and a “Mexican” eatery that specialized in greasy chili.
Continue reading We celebrate Diwali and diversity at Bombay Grill →

$ Budget (under $30), Commentary, Pacific Rim, St. Matthews, Westport Village, and environs

Umai Zushi impresses with bountiful sushi spread

sashimi on late
Five nigiri-zushi and two maki-zushi rolls at Umai Zushi

Voice-Tribune review by LouisvilleHotBytes

I love Asian food, and I’m a big fan of many of the East End’s excellent Chinese restaurants, including such quality eateries as Oriental House, Jade Palace, Jasmine, Liang’s and the new Peking City Bistro.

I’m less whelmed with storefront chopsticks houses and all-you-can-eat Chinese buffets, though. Not that they won’t fill me up when I’m cravin’ Asian, but to be quite frank, they’re all pretty much the same.

Until now, that is.

The arrival of Umai Zushi Buffet near the outer stretches of Westport Road introduces a new variable to the Asian buffet equation: In addition to the usual Chinese suspects, it offers a bounty of king crab legs and, from the cuisine of Japan, more than 40 sushi and sashimi goodies.

It’s pretty good sushi, too, I’m pleased to report.
Continue reading Umai Zushi impresses with bountiful sushi spread →

$ Budget (under $30), Commentary, Hikes Point, Pacific Rim, World Food

Indian home cooking at Little India Café

risotto cakes

I’d like to tell you about a cozy new place where dining is much like being invited into an Indian family’s home for dinner.

Pop bustles about while Junior sets the table and keeps up a stream of friendly chatter. Mom’s in the kitchen with a clatter of pans and spoons, and wonderful smells come wafting out. Plates bearing aromatic, home-cooked Indian goodies soon start appearing on the table, and the whole family smiles, awaiting your thumbs-up.

That’s pretty much the scene at Little India Café.
Continue reading Indian home cooking at Little India Café →

$$$ Upscale ( $50 - $80), Baxter, Bardstown, Highlands, Commentary, Pacific Rim

Wasabiya serves creative sushi, but not without a few flaws

sushi roll

All right, who ordered all this raw fish? At the rate things are going, the city’s Bardstown-Baxter strip is going to have to change its nickname from restaurant row to something like … well, how does “The Boulevard of Bistros and Sushi Bars” sound?
Continue reading Wasabiya serves creative sushi, but not without a few flaws →

$ Budget (under $30), Commentary, Hurstbourne, Middletown, Jeffersontown, Pacific Rim

Thai Orchids bloom in Stony Brook

Voice-Tribune review by Robin Garr
LouisvilleHotBytes

Thailand’s tropical shores, forests and mountains are home to beautiful orchids, making this beautiful tropical flower all but the unofficial symbol of this ancient Southeast Asian kingdom.

Hailing Thailand’s symbolic flower in its name, Louisville’s Thai Orchid arrived last year when Sala Thai departed Jeffersontown’s Stony Brook for a downtown location (now sadly defunct).
Continue reading Thai Orchids bloom in Stony Brook →

$ Budget (under $30), Commentary, Pacific Rim, South End

Café Thuy Van: Vietnamese off the beaten path

More than 30 years after the first wave of Vietnamese immigrants came to Louisville, these refugees and their children and grandchildren have moved into the mainstream of community life.

Much like our Latino, Bosnian, Senegalese and other immigrant neighbors, these refugees of war brought Louisville a gift that delights both our hearts and our tummies. Our Vietnamese community has made a significant contribution to the cityscape in the form of inviting Vietnamese restaurants and groceries. Continue reading Café Thuy Van: Vietnamese off the beaten path →

$ Budget (under $30), Commentary, Downtown, NuLu and Butchertown, New and noteworthy, Pacific Rim, QuickBytes, Southern Indiana

TanThai sets new standard in Thai food

Ginger chicken with green beans

Foodies, food lovers and food geeks who’ve been around town for a while will recall the happy shock that comes with the discovery of an ethnic spot that stands out from the pack: A new arrival with food preparation and style that hint at something special going on in the kitchen.

So it was with Vietnam Kitchen, almost a generation ago now, around the same time as the Mayan Gypsy truck went land-based with its first bricks-and-mortar location. More recently, we’ve seen it with Saffron’s for Iranian and Red Pepper for hardcore authentic Chinese.

In each case, the food, the mood and the service — but especially the food — signal that this place is, well, different.

Now welcome another ethnic standout, TanThai Cuisine of Thailand. Continue reading TanThai sets new standard in Thai food →

$ Budget (under $30), Baxter, Bardstown, Highlands, Commentary, Guest columnist, News announcements, Pacific Rim

Café Mimosa returns

By Kevin Gibson
LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes

The familiar logo on the former Lentini’s reads “Café Mimosa,” but the sandwich board out front says it all: “We open now!”

A fire destroyed Café Mimosa’s former location — along with its partner Egg Roll Machine — in January. Owner Phat Le vowed to reopen; the former Lentini’s made sense since, well, he already owned it.

The new Mimosa, replacing recent tenant Jarfi’s, seems more upscale than the old, but food and prices are much the same.
Continue reading Café Mimosa returns →

$ Budget (under $30), Commentary, Hurstbourne, Middletown, Jeffersontown, New and noteworthy, Pacific Rim

Thai comes to Fern Creek

Pad Thai at True Thai

With all due respect, the Fern Creek neighborhood has long been the kind of place where “ethnic” means barbecue or diner fare.

But the arrival last year of Sake Blue, one of the region’s top Japanese restaurants, changed that metric forever. Now add Thai to the mix with the opening of True Thai in the Glenmary Plaza shopping center just beyond the Snyder.
Continue reading Thai comes to Fern Creek →