Asqew graphic

Restaurant: Asqew

Location:
5614 Bay St. #240
Emeryville, CA

Phone: (510) 595-7471

Price Range: $5.50-$9.50

Number of visits: 1
Last visit before review: December 29, 2002

Randy had: Herbed salmon over basil & baby arugula salad.

Jeff had: Balsamic beef over baby greens salad, iced tea.

We shared: Ginger basil lamb over citrus cous cous.

Rating
9 chunks
9
(of 12)
Good
Jeff says: The baby greens salad was very nice and came dressed in a light oil and vinegar dressing. The balsamic beef was flavorful and shared its skewer with grilled yellow zucchini and red bell pepper. There was also a cup of brown sauce, and I wasn't sure if it was for the salad or the beef skewer, but it had a rich beefy mushroom flavor so I used it as a dunk for the beef.

Randy says: The salmon was very tasty. The salad was nice although there were more wilted leaves than I would have preferred. I didn't much care for the champagne vinaigrette dressing. I thought it was bland and milky so I ate and enjoyed the salad without it.

Jeff says: The ginger basil lamb was also good, and I was surprised that I really enjoyed the citrus cous cous. Usually I find cous cous boring and flavorless, and I was afraid the citrus flavoring would overcompensate making it simultaneously overly sweet and acidic, but the flavor was very nice and not overly anything. I tried Randy's champagne vinaigrette dressing as a dip for the lamb and found it nice in that capacity. I thought the brewed iced tea had a delicious rich tea flavor.

Randy says: I found the lamb had a strong flavor and was maybe a little gamy. I thought it was a slight bit overcooked but I liked the seasoning. I was quite pleased with the mushrooms and zucchini that were co-resident on the skewer. The cous cous was nice. The coleslaw that came with it was not bad. I thought Jeff's iced tea lacked robust flavor.

Asqew at Bay Street in Emeryville is small and busy. Although pleasant and friendly, the woman working the counter seemed to be moving as slowly as humanly possible as the line to order continued to grow longer and longer. There is a menu posted outside, however once inside we found that many of the items on the menu are not available every day, and so we were unable to try some of the items we thought sounded good such as the grilled pear salad. The menu outside described each item which the hanging placards inside did not do, so while we waited in line Randy went back outside to reread the descriptions. Not on the menu or posted is the fact that you don't have to get the skewers over the "starch" (garlic mashers, cilantro jasmine rice, citrus cous cous, orzo pasta) listed with each; you can get it over a salad (caesar, baby green, basil and baby arugula, panzanella, grilled pear, spinach) instead. We especially liked this (once we found out) since we're not big on the starches these days.

On the down side, in addition to the aforementioned slow service Jeff ordered the soup of the day, cream of brocoli, which never materialized. Only when we decided it wasn't coming and inquired about it were we told that they had run out of soup and instead they offered us anything else we liked. That's how we came to share the lamb and cous cous. The soup must have run out just before our order was filled, since seeing someone with a bowl of it while waiting to order is what inspired Jeff to try it.

Asqew at Bay Street had only been open a few weeks when we visited and has the potential to do well once the kinks get worked out.

Back To: Together Jeff's home page Randy's home page Pensive