Alaska News

Review: Brickhouse Asian Grill serves up elegant fusion cuisine

My love affair with Asian food began at an IHOP. Rather, it began in a Chinese restaurant in New Jersey that occupied a former IHOP -- complete with its signature (now vintage) A-frame and blue roof.

I have a soft spot for independent eateries doing business in the iconic chain restaurants of yesterday. Symbolically, I like to think it's a triumph of small, local business over the corporate culinary machine. So when I learned about the newly opened Brickhouse Asian Grill -- located in a Spenard building that was clearly once a Pizza Hut -- I was already rooting for it.

My family arrived a few minutes before the doors opened (5 p.m.) on a recent weeknight and a respectable number of tables were filled right away. I had the distinct sense that, despite the restaurant's short life, "regulars" were well represented. We were greeted and seated by a server who appeared to be a one-man show. I didn't see another staff member during our meal.

The "fusion" menu tips its hat to a wide geographical swath of Asian cuisine. Chinese and Chinese-American favorites share space with Thai-influenced stir-fries, curries and a variety of Korean tacos.

The dining room has a, let's say, vintage feel. The red booths, carpeting and brick interior still maintain a 1980s Pizza Hut feel. But the room feels clean, the booths are cozy and points are given for classic Tony Bennett playing over the sound system.

Our server, while engaging and friendly, was also very serious about his job. He was impressively knowledgeable about the menu and helped us shape our order, offering advice and tactful opinions. When we were debating between two different shrimp dishes on the menu, he steered us toward the walnut prawns. "I could eat them every day," he said.

To begin, we ordered the chicken pot stickers ($8) and Shanghai spring rolls ($8). The pan-fried dumplings were plump, juicy and well seasoned. At first, my youngest daughter (9 years old and picky) was put off by the squiggle of Sriracha-based sauce on the plate. But as she saw the dumplings disappear, she took courage and ate one. And then another. And another. And then we ordered more.

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The spring rolls were, in my opinion, the gold standard of this classic appetizer. The flavorful pork filling is tightly wrapped, cigar-like, into compact little rolls and then fried until they are crispy. Oh, so crispy. Next time, I'm not sharing.

For our main courses we ordered the walnut shrimp (a generously sized appetizer, $12), Kalbi tacos ($11) and the River Phoenix stir-fry ($15), which was the day's special. When I wavered about also ordering a plate of pork char siu, our waiter helpfully pointed out that they sell the pork to go, by the pound ($11). So I ordered some to bring home.

Of all the dishes we ate, there was only one that, for me, missed the mark: the kalbi tacos. They looked promising but were disappointingly one-note. The marinade on the beef was sweet and the fruity, almost plummy sauces that dressed it up were sweet too. I was looking for something salty, fishy or soy-saucy to provide balance. But I appreciated the unexpected addition of black forbidden rice on the side. It's full of antioxidants, according to our waiter. It's also full of mystery and glamour, according to my 14-year-old.

The waiter didn't steer us wrong with the walnut prawns. These were fat prawns, deep-fried to a tempura-crispness, then glazed in a spicy honey sauce and sprinkled over with finely diced walnuts. They were sweet, spicy, meaty and earthy -- all in one bite. The diners at the table next to us ordered them too, authoritatively asking for them with extra honey. In other words, these shrimp have developed a reputation.

The River Phoenix stir-fry was one of the best Asian dishes I've eaten in a long time. It's a generous plate teeming with juicy morsels of chicken and glistening shrimp. The vegetables, like baby bok choy, mushrooms and chunks of sweet peppers were cooked to a perfect tender-crisp. Fragrant, bright notes of lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves added complexity to the sweet, velvety sauce. A slightly pungent hint of fermented black bean lends a funky saltiness to the dish. It's a dish that is in perfect harmony and shows off the chef's mastery of Asian flavors.

I took the char siu pork to a friend's house to share around a bonfire. I sliced it thin and we ate it cold with our fingers out of the Styrofoam box. The pork was tender and we ran the slices through the sticky, sweet sauce that was heady with the pleasantly musty flavor of Chinese five spice. A wasabi dipping sauce comes on the side of this dish but we didn't use it. I can think of a hundred ways to eat this pork -- in tacos and sandwiches, cold in school lunches or on top of rice or noodles. It could easily become a takeout staple in our house and a pound goes a surprisingly long way.

I met friends for lunch the following week. To start, we shared the firecracker calamari ($10), which came to the table wearing a perfectly browned jacket of crunch. They were a hit. Inside, the squid was cooked perfectly -- tender and meaty, not at all rubbery.

We ordered the kalbi ribeye for the table. It was gently seasoned, luxuriously marbled and perfectly medium-rare. The kalbi marinade is subtle, so this felt like a meat and potatoes kind of plate. Or, rather, a meat and forbidden rice kind of plate. That's not a complaint.

I decided to try a different fusion taco this time and went with the bulgogi chicken. I love bulgogi and liked this twist on the classic. And the chicken was juicy and flavorful -- much like the chicken in the River Phoenix stir-fry. I love chicken but it's so often bland or dry and served hidden under a tastier sauce. Not this time.

Of course, we had to order the walnut prawns again. I had been waxing poetic about them and my friends wanted to try for themselves. I didn't oversell them. The plate was practically licked clean.

So forget about the ghosts of Pizza Huts past. They're creating delicious new memories in the Brickhouse kitchen.

Brickhouse Asian Grill

Hours: Lunch from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; dinner from 5-8:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday and 5-9 p.m. Friday and Saturday

Location: 3311 Spenard Road

Contact: 562-7425

****

$$

Mara Severin | Eating out

Mara Severin is a food writer who writes about restaurants in Southcentral Alaska. Want to respond to a column or suggest a restaurant for review? Reach her at dining@adn.com.

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