Miss Asia

Type: BYOB Asian restaurant
Fancy Shmancy Factor: 2.5/5
Price: Entrees range from $6-$13
Quality for price: 3.5/5
Ambiance: Casual, warm and friendly
Other: got nothin' here...

This city is definitely not lacking in Asian BYOB places, but we both agreed that Miss Asia has a little something on most of them. While some places might be big on value or ambiance or variety, Miss Asia has it in all these categories. From the outside it might look a little cheesy (and the name sounds like it belongs in the food court of a mall), but inside it has a simplistic and warm-feeling charm. This might be because it is situated a bit below the street or because the lighting and color scheme are reds and oranges, but we felt comfortable as soon as we walked in. There was only one other table in the restaurant, so we had our choice of where to sit. We brought a bottle of Evolution, which is a really nice white wine from Oregon that is a blend of nine different grapes, and they took the bottle and opened it for us, which is always a nice touch in a BYOB place (a lot nicer than plopping a wine key in front of you, or worse- informing you they don't have anything to open wine, which has actually happened). The menu is very extensive and it took us a while to go through the entire thing. We ended up getting Panang Curry and one of their signature dishes, the Charcoaled Chicken which was a half of a chicken with sticky rice and a spicy dipping sauce for under $7. The Panang Curry was good, pretty standard as far as other thai and asian places. Our only complaint with the food was that the Edamame we ordered as an appetizer was really salty. I mean, really salty. Other than that, the food was excellent, especially for the price. This would be a perfect place to bring a first date or if you've been dating for a while and want to try something other than Joy's Noodles for a BYOB asian place. Grab your bottle of wine and walk a few blocks south on Broadway towards Diversey to experience this cozy little restaurant with a lot to offer any couple on a casual date.