Review: Warm up with Asian fusion downtown

Polly Campbell,
Chiangmai Thai curry chicken at Neuf

In creating a menu for a pan-Asian or Asian-fusion restaurant, there's a lot to work with. The continent has 59.69 percent of the world's population and some of the most complex and evolved cuisines. How to possibly choose which to represent? 

Toby Harris and his co-owners of Huit bbq, which opened on Court Street in 2014, spent several years wrestling with that question as they developed a menu that expanded and changed and roamed widely. It included some off-beat choices but concentrated on the most deeply delicious Asian foods. 

And now they've changed again, closing Huit (which means 8 in French) and opened Neuf (which means 9 in French) on Main Street. There are further changes in the menu as well as those to the feel and decor. They're still getting the menu edited to those most delicious dishes. They still haven't quite nailed it as a complete package, but there are dishes here that I predict you will crave after you try them once, like the eggplant sticks, some fun loose takes on popular Asian dishes (the free-form bibimbap) and some favorites from the Huit menu (drunken brisket). 


What they've chosen are simple, flavorful dishes that they think of as Asian soul food. Makes sense. 

The decor of the new place on Main, which was Dynasty restaurant, is straight-up 70's. It's a decade I remember fondly, but not for its aesthetic sense. The diagonal stripes in orange and brown all around the room, the plain wooden tables, the hanging glass globes are kitschy fun but make for a rather cold atmosphere.There needs something more to soften and pad it.

Ramen dumpling noodle soup

The fried eggplant starter is Japanese tempura-inspired. It's cut into sticks, lightly battered and fried, then served without any dipping sauce. With just the slight crunch and the interior turned into that creamy texture, it's hard to believe is just a vegetable. 

You can also start with a choice among several kinds of wings. My hot-wing-loving friend really went for the hot ones, which have a fried crunch covered in a thick Korean-spiced sauce that I found quite spicy. Or get some dumplings. There are fat gyoza-style pork and kim chee dumplings, cooked a little unevenly. Also, some very meaty spring rolls and a crab-avocado take on crab rangoon.They didn't really change my basic skepticism about crab rangoon, and when you consider how many delicious, authentic wrapped-and-fried dishes there are in Asia, it doesn't earn its spot on the menu.

Free soup on a cold day was creamy corn, a very standard Chinese-restaurant version, and hot and sour soup, which was tangy and full-flavored, a very good version. 

If you love dumplings and noodles, you get both in the dumpling ramen. The noodles, of a perfectly satisfying springy texture, are in a broth that's fairly light as ramen broths go these days. But I liked it with the noodles, dumplings, fresh bok choy, carrot ribbons and pork. The drunken brisket noodle soup is another big bowl of warming broth. The drunken brisket is slow-cooked in wine, making for highly tender and flavorful meat (though it also includes bits of fat). With broth and more of those noodles, it's a filling, warming, satisfying meal. 

A dish from Neuf.

The peanut noodles are good but don't have the craveability of some of the other dishes. I guess we gravitated toward noodles, not surprisingly, since Asian noodles are one of my favorite food categories. They also take a lot of space on Neuf's menu. But there are also rice dishes, like the "not so traditional" bibimbop. It's got many of the elements of this traditional Korean dish, but also includes some iceberg lettuce, arugula, red cabbage, sort of arranged like a salad on top, with the fried egg crowning it. 

Thai curry gets its spot on the menu, as one of the most complexly flavored dishes that has made its way from Asia to us. It's applied to a Cornish game hen, which is fun. The coconut milk and lemongrass, mildly spicy sauce covers it, but it's easy to pick up a piece and eat the tender meat from the bones. Short ribs, cut crosswise into thin slices with a bone in the middle of each, has the heaviest, most intense flavor of anything we tried, with lots of soy and garlic, perfect for picking up with chopsticks. 

Neuf does not yet have a liquor license, so we drank tea. There's a nice selection, and it's served in French press pots. Service isn't completely organized, we waited too long at different points in the meal. We felt a little forlorn. If more people discover Neuf, and it fills up with life and activity, I think it will feel less so.

And I wouldn't be surprised if it does. There is really not much competition downtown for Asian restaurants. So Neuf fills a needed spot for Downtown workers and residents, and anyone searching for something new, and by the way, quite reasonably priced, from the world's most populous continent. 


three stars 

(out of five) 

Where: 709 Main St., Downtown

When: 11 a.m.- 9 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday

Prices: Appetizers $2.50-9; entrees $8-20

Vegetarian options: Good 

Miscellaneous: Accessible to disabled except there is no parking. Take-out. Liquor license coming

Phone: 513-381-5256