Jesse Wong's Asean Bistro Photos

Kowloon

Bacon Roll

Mango Sorbet

Peking Duck

Squid on a Griddle

Jesse Wong's Asean Bistro Review

Jesse Wong’s Asean Bistro

Columbia Palace 9

8775 Centre Park Drive

Columbia, MD 21045

410-772-5300

Jesse Wong’s Asean Bistro is one of two restaurants, the other of which is called Jesse Wong’s Kitchen and is located in Hunt Valley, MD.  The Columbia location was a little hard to find, tucked away in a shopping center as is typical for restaurants in Columbia.  The restaurant walls were painted a deep, forest-green. Wood accents adorned the space.  Overall, there was nothing spectacular about the décor. 

The food at the Bistro has an Asian fusion theme.  There are various Chinese styles of cooking as well as Malaysian and Vietnamese dishes.  The food here is very hit or miss.  Our impression was that the appetizers are pretty good, but the main dishes are poor.  Considering this is a fusion restaurant, the main dishes are very boring, not at all creative.  For instance, we ordered Peking duck (the most expensive item on the menu). Unfortunately, all they did was cut the duck up and place the various pieces on a plate.  It was miserably uncreative.  Much of the food was not cooked with great skill. 

The service was so/so.  Our waiter was available; however he was very sharp and abrupt.  He got on our nerves when it came time to pay the bill.  We dined with a Groupon.  When he brought the bill to us he made sure to point out the total before the discount so that he could get a full tip.  That’s like going around the week before Christmas reminding people to get you a gift…Its just tacky! Since these 2 Soul Sisters ALWAYS leave a 20% or more tip (even when folks act crazy we try to be fair), that really left a bad taste in our mouth, only adding to the disappointment lingering from the mediocre food. 

Because the atmosphere is nothing to write home about and the food is hit or miss, you may not want to visit this restaurant.  If you want to give it a try we recommend take-out.  This will allow you to at least have some self-generated atmosphere in the comfort of your own home.  If you order take-out just get the Squid on a Griddle.  Overall we give Jesse Wong’s Asean Bistro ♪♪. 

SQUID ON THE GRIDDLE

The squid in this dish was marinated with fresh garlic and charred to perfection, making it chewy without being rubbery. There was a smokiness and oceaniness all at the same time. It had the perfect amount of spice which hit you intermittently. Thyme and extra virgin olive oil gave the dish an herby, earthiness. The oceany flavor was wonderful. Thyme is not usually used in Asian cooking in our experience, so we were quite impressed with its addition to this dish.

BACON ROLL
 

Shrimp paste was wrapped in bacon and deep fried. This gave it a wonderful crispiness. It had a very rich, full flavor. The heaviness and fattiness of the dish, due to the bacon, was wonderful. Shrimp paste is a wonderful substance. This is the second time Angela has had it and she thinks it is really good stuff. The soy ginger sauce added nothing to the dish and could have been omitted.

KOWLOON SHRIMP

This shrimp dish involved jumbo shrimp with ground pork, garlic and onions made with fresh chili sauce. It had a heavy, oaky flavor. Melissa tasted a flavor profile she could not immediately place, but which she knew she had tasted before. We came to the conclusion that this was mushrooms. There were chili peppers included with the dish that added absolutely no heat; which was a bit disappointing.

PEKING DUCK

This was probably not the best Peking Duck. It might even be the worse. The Duck was greasy, wasn’t served hot and was a bit dry at the same time. For those of you who do not know,  traditionally Peking Duck is a whole duck cut up into slices and served with its crispy skin, shredded veggies, a sweet dipping sauce and pancakes.  Jesse Wong's served it with cucumbers, green onion and pancakes that you wrap the duck and vegetables in. This was served with a very sweet, heavy brown sauce with a slightly grainy texture. It was in fact, WAY too sweet and WAY too grainy.

MANGO SORBET

We were given a choice of Strawberry, Mango and Coconut Sorbet. We chose the Mango. The Mango Sorbet was really good, obviously house made.  It was served in a hollowed out and the frozen half Mango.  It was very tasty and refreshing.