Oklahoma City Restaurants

Kang’s Asian Bistro has two locations, 6600 N. Olie in Oklahoma City (map) and 2080 East 2nd Street in Edmond (map). You can find hours, menus, and other information on their website.

When I sat down to write about Kang’s Asian Bistro, I found it hard to describe. Part of it, surely, was from food overload. We had so many dishes and sushi rolls that it’s hard to really separate them properly.

But part of it also is that Kang’s has such a broad reach — from Thai to Chinese to Japanese to American foods — that it can be a little schizophrenic. It’s very much like a locally-owned P.F. Chang’s, except with sushi — or maybe a less-expensive version of Buddha Tao.

For instance, we started the meal with summer rolls — the Vietnamese restaurant favorites with shrimp and vegetables stuffed inside sticky rice paper. These fresh, light rolls don’t boast as much punch as some I’ve had (there was much less mint than I’m used to) but the accompanying spicy garlic sauce and the peanut sauce more than made up for it. But at $7 for four pieces (two rolls cut in half), it is a pretty expensive start to the meal.

We also had lettuce wraps ($8.45), the kind you might find on the menu at Chili’s, but these were much better. The chicken was expertly cooked and flavorful and the spicy sauce they served with them had a real kick, full of nasal heat, that I appreciate.

The sushi, which came next, was good, but not quite what I like. Sushi is subjective. Some people like nothing in their roll but rice and a sliver of fish or vegetable all wrapped up in seaweed. Some like nigiri — where there’s a slab of fresh fish on a ball of rice. And some like those towering rolls, fish inside and out, plenty of sauces and creams and seasonings &mdash the kinds that look like works of art when done right.

At Kang’s, you can get a couple of nigiri at very reasonable prices — anywhere from $1.75 for quail egg or $5.95 for tuna or yellowtail — or sashimi for $9-$11. Sarah would like for me to point out that she tried sashimi for the first time here. Yes, we’re all very proud of her for eating raw salmon, but the majority of the sushi we tried were Kang’s special rolls. They were a bit too much. I am an equal-opportunity sushi lover. I take all kinds, but at some point, you just need to put the roll down and be done with it.

The Mountain Roll ($14.45) was filled with shrimp tempura, cucumber, salmon, tuna, yellow tail, masago, spicy mayo, eel sauce and green onions. It tasted fine, though a bit heavy, but my problem was picking out individual flavors. The same went for the Baby Gecko ($9.45) which had cream cheese, jalapeno, salmon, spicy mayo, eel sauce and green onion. Plus, that one was tempura fried. Tasty, but it all started to taste the same.

The Spicy Cowboy ($11.45) also had tempura shrimp in it, but was at least a bit lighter. It was Tim’s favorite, and a favorite of some we’ve heard from on Twitter. Even though most of the rolls we tried were heavy and complex, they do have plain-old tuna and cucumber and California rolls, too and the pricing is quite reasonable — along the lines of what you’d find at Tokyo.

One big selling point for Kang’s is that if you don’t like sushi, there’s plenty more to eat. My favorite was probably Kang’s Fiery Chicken ($11.95) which was basically a General Tso’s Chicken with a fresher, spicier sauce. I also enjoyed the Mongolian Beef ($11.45) which was tender and flavorful.

One disappointment was the Crispy Thai Fire Fish ($15.45). Everything about that dish was perfect, except for the fish. If they had just chosen something other than catfish, I’m sure it would have been my favorite. Catfish, as Andrew said, just tastes like catfish, and messing with that can create an odd flavor. It wasn’t bad, I just would have liked it a lot more if it had been rainbow trout or another lightly-flavored white fish.

A delicacy was the Five Spice Quail, which wasn’t too hot, but had a richer flavor than plain old chicken. At $16.95, it’s an expensive treat, but delicious.

One other let down was the Thai Steak Salad ($11.50), which tasted great, but was textured all wrong. The lettuce was crisp, the cherry tomatoes were fresh, the marinade/dressing on the steak was wonderful, but Sarah commented that the steak itself was tough and chewy.

All in all, I really enjoyed Kang’s. The restaurant in Nichols Hills is hidden away on Olie Street, and the decor inside is modern, but comfortable. The prices are reasonable — especially for nigiri — and the flavors are spot on. Despite a few texture issues, I would definitely go back.

And if you’re with someone who just doesn’t care of Asian food of any stripe, Kang’s does a grilled beef tenderloin to placate them. If you’re tired of the long waits and higher prices at P.F. Chang’s, you can get similar, locally-produced food at Kang’s Asian Bistro. Please let us know what you think about Kang’s in the comments.

Other articles you might like:

• Saii, sophisticated sushi experience
• The Grand House China Bistro and dim sum tips
• Turquoise American Bistro: a unique little gem
• OKC’s asian district featured in the New York Times
• La Boucherie et La Baguette: a fabulous market

This article was posted by Greg Elwell on Thursday, March 19th, 2009. It is filed in Chinese, Edmond, Japanese, Northwest OKC, Sushi, Thai, Vietnamese. Please leave your comments below (we'd love to hear from you), or trackback from your own site.

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