Family Dinner at Ken's Asian Taste

Ken's Asian Taste
40 Bowery Street New York, NY 10013
212.608.0806

Last month before Chinese New Year arrived, my family and I had an early and mini Lunar New Year's eve dinner in Chinatown.

Ken's Asian Taste is a mid-sized Chinese restaurant that we visit occasionally when we have family dinner. We originally didn't want to come to Ken's Asian Taste after hearing the owners switched and heard from a relative that the new owner was a little cheap with portion size of the food.

The portion size of the food wasn't a problem, but there was a problem with the amount of tables and occupancy level. It was definitely a lot crowded and they definitely added an extra table.

Fish Soup solids with Tofu

My family and I often order a fish soup which has a light fishy scent to it, but otherwise it's quite delicious. Sometimes different chefs and restaurants add a slight splash of heavy cream/milk to the soup to give it that rich and creamy taste to it.

Along with the fish soup, there's a plate of the solids used to give the soup it's substance and flavoring. There's tofu, pork, baby mushroom, fish, ginger slices,and I believe Chinese broccoli.

Stir-fried fish fillet with sweet peas and mixed vegetables

Next, we ordered the stir-fried fish fillet with sweet peas and mixed vegetables. The fish fillet is from the same fish used for the fish soup. This is actually one of my favorite Chinese dishes because the colors of the vegetables used are vibrant and there's a little sweetness from the sweet peas. The fish fillet was light, moist, and tasty.

Garlic crispy skinned chicken

We also ordered the garlic crispy skinned chicken. The skin has a slight garlicky flavor to it and is lightly crisp. The meat was cooked perfectly moist and tender.

House Special Stir Fry

Next dish we ordered was the house special stir fry which I also really like because there's sauteed calamari, different vegetables, and macadamia nuts which gives this dish a nut-like, buttery flavor.

Lamb and bean curd stick in clay pot

Ah .. one of my ultimate favorite dishes - lamb and bean curd stick in a clay pot! I absolutely love lamb especially the way it's cooked in Chinese cuisine because there's a rich bean sauce and hint of star anise. The lamb and bean curd stick clay pot also has slices of water chestnut and sometimes chefs include slices of sugarcane.

I love this dish because it's really hearty and especially good to eat during the winter and chilly days. It really warms you up.

Lobster with Ginger & Scallion

And... here's an all-time, Chinese family favorite - lobster with ginger and scallion. Absolutely meaty, lobster goodness!

Broccoli with Deep-fried Shrimp & Walnuts

Finally, another one of our favorites - broccoli with deep-fried shrimp and walnuts. I always love the deep-fried shrimp and how it's so moist, tender and slightly sweet from the mayonnaise sauce that's used. Broccolli is usually blanched and the walnuts are delicious and glazed with sugar and sesame seeds.

There were a few other dishes that we had, but I didn't have a chance to snap a picture of them. Overall, this was delicious family dinner. I thought every dish we had was perfectly cooked and delicious. It looks like our relative was wrong with the portion size because it seemed to me that every dish was full and complete.