New Asian Bistro in Lehi brings style, flavor and quality to the restaurant scene
The Orange Chicken is pictured at Red 8 Asian Bistro and Sushi Bar on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017, in Lehi. DOMINIC VALENTE, Daily Herald
The Executive Roll is pictured at Red 8 Asian Bistro and Sushi Bar on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017, in Lehi. DOMINIC VALENTE, Daily Herald
The Executive Roll is pictured at Red 8 Asian Bistro and Sushi Bar on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017, in Lehi. DOMINIC VALENTE, Daily Herald
Snowbird is pictured at Red 8 Asian Bistro and Sushi Bar on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017, in Lehi. DOMINIC VALENTE, Daily Herald
Snowbird is pictured at Red 8 Asian Bistro and Sushi Bar on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017, in Lehi. DOMINIC VALENTE, Daily Herald
The Executive Roll is pictured at Red 8 Asian Bistro and Sushi Bar on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017, in Lehi. DOMINIC VALENTE, Daily Herald
There are a few things that really resonate with me when I go out to eat. With two young kids, a mortgage and a car payment, price is one of those things, followed shortly by quality.
Both have a little wiggle room because I know you can’t expect the best food at the lowest prices everywhere you go, but generally, for me to enjoy it, we’ve got to meet somewhere in the middle. Top that with service, and it’s decided pretty quickly where I’ll be returning and where I won’t.
With those factors in mind, I was cautiously optimistic as we made our way to Lehi for a visit to the Red 8 Asian Bistro & Sushi Bar. I genuinely love Asian food, though my time working at a Chinese restaurant has made me a bit particular. All pretenses dropped though, this place deserves a return trip, even when considering the drive it took to get there.
Red 8 boasts a very modern design, with sparse but classy decor, excellent ambient lighting, a bar you can dine at, and a series of booths and tables that make up the carefully divided dining area.
The simple, elegant interior design pave the way for the food to be the star of the show, and believe me, it was.
We were seated quickly, which was good, because we needed the extra time to look over the ample options on the menu. The restaurant offers a wide variety of sushi options, with an impressive spread of Chinese, Japanese and Thai entrees, starters, soups, sides and desserts, with a variety of lunch specials and bento boxes for those dining during lunch.
Though the prices for dinner are listed a little higher than I generally want to pay, I can say with 100 percent confidence that both the portion (they’re massive) and quality (so good!) more than compensate for the cost. Even on our tight budget, we’ll be back, but it was really the service that did me in. Our waiter was on the ball with water filling and plate clearing, but more than that, he took time to acknowledge the kids in our company. I’ll get to that after the food, though.
We started our meal with Chicken Satay, Fried Tofu Tod and Shanghai Rolls, all of which were good in their own respects. The chicken was well-seasoned, though a little crisper than I generally enjoy, and was served with a thick peanut sauce that tasted even better when mixed with the Teriyaki sauce that was also served.
Fried Tofu Tod, in case you haven’t tried it, is deep-fried tofu served with sweet and sour sauce. I’ve found that tofu generally takes on the flavor of whatever it’s cooked or served with, but it seemed like the fried tofu was just dropped in to fry, and was lacking a little in flavor. Again, pretty standard for tofu, but the highlight of the appetizers was probably the Shanghai Rolls.
The rolls are made of veggies and glass noodles wrapped in crisp egg rolls, and served with sweet and sour sauce, and they were delightful, but even those paled in comparison to our main dishes.
Since Red 8 is an Asian Bistro AND Sushi Bar, we figured we’d better try the sushi as well. Our crew ordered a California Roll and a Spicy Tuna Roll, and were pretty impressed with how excellent they looked on arrival. Presentation was fantastic and the ingredients were ridiculously fresh. Both rolls, however, took a backseat to the meals that showed up at the same time.
Our three core entrees were Chicken Teriyaki (beef was apparently sold out), Beef Donburi and Pad Thai, and all were different and excellent in their own respects.
The first two came with a side of soup, and we all enjoyed sampling the Miso and Egg Drop, though the Egg Drop was the favorite. Hot & Sour was also an option, so we’ve made a mental note to give it a try next time.
The entrée plates came ridiculously fast (we barely had time to touch our appetizers) and they were gigantic, so it took us a moment to find space on the table for them. They were excellent though, as was the side of Lo Mein we ordered to accompany them. The tender chicken and stir-fry noodles were a favorite among the littles, and would honestly have made a great stand-alone meal.
The Pad Thai included a stir-fried rice noodle with egg, shrimp, chicken, bean sprouts, scallions and roasted peanuts in a special sauce. It was piled high on the plate, and by the time we were done, it barely looked touched.
The flavor, though? It was excellent. It was mild, but all the ingredients made for an excellent texture and each brought a little more depth to the overall taste.
The Chicken Teriyaki included 8 ounces of grilled chicken breast with fresh broccoli and a delicious, sweet house Teriyaki sauce. It takes a special kind of skill to have meat that’s cooked to perfection: Tender and juicy but completely cooked, and this chicken fit the bill. It was hard to have to put it in the to-go box when dinner was finished, and the 2-year-old ended up having five more slices of it before she went to bed that night. Served with a small bowl of white rice perfect for soaking up the extra sauce, this dish was a real treat.
The Beef Donbury, grilled steak with teriyaki sauce served over rice, was equally as good, and the crisp outside and soft inside of the tempura vegetables it was served with were an excellent side. The steak, similarly to the chicken, was perfectly cooked. It was the melt-in-your-mouth tender that inspires food comas, and on its own, is worth going back for.
With such a wide spread to sample, my base observation for anyone wanting the ultimate dining experience would be to skip the starters (unless you really, really love sushi) and head straight for the entrees. The quality was unmistakable, the food fresh and quick to arrive, and plenty filling. Plus, if you have extra room, you could even tap into the dessert menu we so sadly neglected.
Though the food was definitely the champion of the evening, I’d just like to comment on the service. Dining with kids is a tricky thing. You never want to deplete the experience of those around you, but you have tiny tummies that need to be filled, and picky taste buds you have to work around, not to mention the short attention spans.
During our meal, our waiter took time to specifically address both kids. When we started digging in to our food, he showed up at the table with a pair of chopsticks cleverly rigged to stay together – perfect for our little one to experience her food the way it was made to be eaten.
When she’d finished eating and was quietly watching the fish in the tank next to our table, he swept over, pulled out their food, and to her delight, fed them so she could watch them eat. She was ecstatic.
He even gave her an extra fortune cookie following our meal, and took a moment to snag a baby sock that had made its way to the floor. Even with sub-par food, that kind of service would make me want to return. It’s hard to ignore the awkward stares and rude glances that even sometimes plague meals out with well-behaved children, and someone who so kindly acknowledged our junior diners was a real treat.
Now, on to those absolutely delectable left-overs.
Where: 1678 E. SR-92, Suite 104, Lehi
Prices: $2.50-$35.95, with most meals priced between $8-$14
Hours: 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, closed Sunday
Info: (801) 768-2828