When walking into the recently opened CreAsian Cuisine on West
Main Avenue in Morgan Hill, you would never believe that just a few
months ago, the building housed a white-linen, continental
restaurant.
When walking into the recently opened CreAsian Cuisine on West Main Avenue in Morgan Hill, you would never believe that just a few months ago, the building housed a white-linen, continental restaurant. The brother-and-sister team of Cathy and Dennis Ma have almost magically transformed this small, intimate space into a peaceful and beautiful haven with natural wood tones, flourishing bamboo trees, soft lighting and Asian artifacts.
My husband I visited after a very hectic first-Monday-back-home-after-vacation evening. We were happily greeted by Dennis, who was at the sushi bar, and he directed us to our choice of tables. Just a short time after we were seated, Cathy appeared with menus and to ask for our drink order. There was a nice selection of wines, and we each ordered a glass of Rutherford Ranch Chardonnay ($6.50 per glass).
Usually, I take little notice of a restaurant’s menu except for what’s on the inside, but CreAsian’s menu deserves special mention. The cover features its logo and an adorable fish (obviously unaware he’s about to become sushi) drawn in bright colors. The three-page book is bound with a stick of bamboo, and inside are three indexed pages: appetizers, soups and salads; sushi; and entrees.
Maybe it was because we were so hungry, but everything on the menu sounded delicious. I didn’t want sushi for dinner but I did want to sample some, so we chose an order of California rolls (six pieces for $4.50). My husband spied the lettuce wraps (three for $5.50), and we ordered those to precede our meals.
The rolls arrived first. I always forget the difference between fresh California rolls made with the finest ingredients versus the pre-made variety. CreAsian’s rolls were fresh and simply wonderful.
After only a couple of bites, our lettuce wraps were placed on the table. The menu says that the filling is “sauteed ground chicken,” but this was wonderfully seasoned minced chicken in crisp iceberg lettuce cups. The fresh basil that laced this dish added a perfect touch.
The entrees we chose had been easy decisions for each of us. My husband loves beef teriyaki ($13.95), whereas I was feeling a little more experimental and ordered the wasabi scallops ($14.95). A fragrant miso soup was included with each entree.
The beef teriyaki is a grilled rib-eye steak that is sliced into thin, small pieces and mixed with what tasted like a homemade teriyaki sauce. This wasn’t the bottled stuff; the flavors of ginger and soy were much more pronounced. The plate was full and included a generous portion of sweet soy rice, a handful of fresh tempura vegetables and a crisp salad with miso dressing.
My entree consisted of five large, fresh scallops, lightly dipped in an egg batter and perfectly sauteed, resting in a wasabi coconut cream sauce. The sauce was velvety rich, but it had more cream than wasabi and I tasted no coconut. I missed the wasabi blast that never materialized.
The scallops were accompanied by a Japanese potato vegetable cake, a mixture of pureed potatoes, and minced vegetables, which had been formed into two small, oval patties that were dipped in panko crumbs and fried. They were not only delicious, but a nice change of pace from the usual side dishes.
As more customers began to arrive, we noticed some very interesting acoustics in the restaurant. We could hear the couple across the room from us very clearly, but not the couple right behind us. I’m not sure why this is, but when the restaurant fills with other diners, it can be a bit distracting.
You’d think that with everything we had consumed, we would have had no room for dessert. But when Cathy described the sauteed banana sundae, I knew I HAD to have it. There was one issue, however – they were out of bananas. But if we wanted the sundae, she said, she’d be more than happy to send one of the kitchen staff across the street to the grocery store to buy some bananas.
Sure enough, in just a few minutes we had a beautiful dish set before us with a fresh banana, quartered and sauteed until some of it was caramelized, topped with a generous portion of vanilla bean ice cream, and sprinkled with macadamia nuts. A bit of chocolate sauce drizzled over the dish gave it an extra richness.
We left feeling happy, relaxed and satiated, knowing that we’ll look forward to making CreAsian one of our regular dining haunts.
Sara Leigh has lived in Morgan Hill for 26 years with her husband and two sons, who are now away at college. She loves food and wine, and keeps all the delicious calories in check by avid race-walking. Reach her at ca*******@ho*****.com. All reviews for The Dish are anonymous, and all reviewers’ meals are paid for by South Valley Newspapers.
