Green onion pancake
A while back, I got a tip about a new Chinese restaurant in Brentwood, Corner Asian Cafe. Or was it bistro? It’s down on Concord Road. No, it’s by the new Kroger. It turns out that there are two Corner Asian Cafés (or Bistros) in Brentwood, one on Concord Road and another on Franklin Road (near the old Harris Teeter/new Kroger). Both restaurants have menus that serve traditional Chinese dishes beyond the American standards, so we joined some friends who are frequent visitors and fans to try it out the Franklin Road cafe one Saturday night.
Well, apparently, word has spread more quickly than I’d thought, as the restaurant was crowded, and the staff seemed to be as surprised as our friends (who noted that it’s often quiet when they visit). Despite the long wait for a table, I took this as a good sign.
I ordered green onion (scallion) pancakes for an appetizer, a big bowl of vegetable soup for my daughter’s dinner, home-style tofu for myself, and my husband (the “porcetarian”) ordered a pork and tofu dish. We were warned by the server that the pancake takes about 20 minutes, which was fine; that signaled to me that it was house-made instead of the frozen kind readily available at international markets. And indeed, it was larger (and greasier) than the frozen pancakes. Good, but heavy.
Home-style tofu (with pork)
The printed menu in the restaurant didn’t come with the warning about the home-style tofu dish that is noted on the online menu — the tofu comes mixed with pork. Since I'm a vegetarian, it promptly went into a to-go box for my husband to enjoy later.
Fortunately, the bowl of vegetable soup was large enough to share with my daughter and quite good, with a generous portion of mixed vegetables (including bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, and mushrooms).
My husband loved both of the pork and tofu dishes, so it was overall a successful visit. We’ll try it again soon, though I will be more careful with my ordering (and I’m sure my husband will be more adventurous with large selection of porky choices).
If you go, consider a weeknight visit. And look over the large menu online first; it's extensive.
210 Franklin Road/10656 Concord Road
Brentwood
