Asian Flame Restaurant

If I could give this a zero I would. The green bean desert soup was expired and obviously went bad. The oysters we got were not fresh and stunk. The service from the waiters were terrible, as they ignored our pleas for simple service of a refill of a glass of water. Please save yourself the trouble by going to china town for better food and service.

Located right on Ave U among all Chinese businesses, Asian Flame looks like a small restaurant from the outside with poultry hanging right on the front windows. I would think for such a small restaurant, why is business so good there? The place looks a little bit bigger than what I imagine from the outside, but not by much. Frequently, I’d have to squeeze by people just to move around because people will be waiting for a table. I’d also like to mention that my uncle used to be a part-​owner of this restaurant. Before you say my review is biased, my uncle hasn’t been working there for a couple years now and I still come to this restaurant sometimes so I should feel free to review this place. The name of this restaurant changed so many times, I have a hard time remembering the names anymore. Currently, I like this name «Asian Flame» the best.
I read some comments from other Unilocalers and I would like to clarify that I’ve never heard anybody ever speak Mandarin here because this is predominantly a Cantonese-​dialect speaking restaurant. Yes, there is a large screen TV at the corner of the restaurant, but it usually displays regular TV. I usually come here in the evenings so I don’t notice any soap operas being played. Even if the TV is on, the volume is not even audible so I don’t even care for the TV. I will agree that the service leaves much to be desired and when employees do something nice, I am usually genuinely surprised. It’s the way of the Chinese culture. People are so used to being treated this way so I wouldn’t expect anything to change any time soon. At the same time, I would also think that the employees are probably not being paid a great salary.
I’d like to review the food, but I ‘d like to first note that the a few years back, the food tasted horrible and I dread coming here to eat. Contrary to what other Unilocalers are saying, in the past couple years, I think they changed the chef because the food was simply divine. Some dishes even come in nice fancy looking plates. My husband especially loves the food now and is so happy whenever we have a family even at this restaurant.
For Dim-​Sum time in the morning/​afternoons, the waitresses casually carry over dim-​sum on a tray, walking back and forth in the restaurant and if we want something, we’d have to flag and get her attention. The restaurant is small so I don’t expect any dim-​sum carts rolling by. In fact, my husband made a video with his IPhone 4 about the types of foods we had during dim-​sum and is currently on my youtube account. Dishes look and taste delicious.
At night time, we usually get the banquet package because we’re usually celebrating something. Every dish that comes out was delicious and I have to say I’m pleasantly surprised. Other Unilocalers say there were many health violations to this place, which I didn’t know. All I do know is that I survived and kept thinking the food was delicious. I can’t recommend anything specific other than all the standard dishes taste good. For my grandma’s birthday, they can make a giant Sao Bao (longevity bun filled with paste — yummy when eaten while it’s hot) with smaller Sao Baos inside of it.
There is a tiny bathroom at the left-​end of the restaurant. Again, I wouldn’t expect anything high-​class here except for the food! The restaurant can be as loud as a lunchroom with so many people.
I promote this restaurant to be my favorite Chinese restaurant of all time in terms of deliciousness. Again, I love this place now and I know it’s been through so many transitions, changes, and turmoil throughout the years. I hope nothing changes now in terms of taste because I like the food now. I really hope they don’t change chefs.
PROS: Excellent food
CONS: Crowded, Chinese-​way of customer service

Admittedly, I’ve never sat in here. A friend of mine decided to grab some food from here while we were on lunch break. I said ok. We decided not to sit in since her family was also at the restaurant, and the awkwardness ensued. Anyways, we ordered some chicken with broccoli and rice mix and headed over to the park to eat.
Before I go on to talk about the food, note it looked a little crowded, despite being cramped. I guess it’s a neighborhood favorite.
Anyways the food itself wasn’t extraordinary. Felt like I just ordered from my local Halal Chinese Kitchen. (Much love to them).
That being said, if you’re in a fix to get something cheap, I guess? But you could probably do better with something from the local bakeries.
Note: I think I’ve seen this place closed repeatedly due to Health Violations. D:

This is, by far, THE worst dim sum experience I have ever had. I guess that’s why it’s better to go to China Town. I know it’s dim sum, I expect the waiters to be kind of rude and talk behind my back in Mandarin while not understanding my order in English. But I at least expect some edible food in return.
1. It was completely empty, tons of work staff around, my friend and I stood near the register waiting for someone to tell us if they were open or not. After 5 minutes we finally had to flag someone down to let us sit and order.
2. I was given the wrong, more expensive order even though I read it out and pointed and said the number. I couldn’t even fix this mistake because people were too busy sitting in the back watching Chinese soap operas.
3. My friend ordered chicken with broccoli which she told me was super bland, surprised it was possible to screw that up. I got some sort of odd spicy pepper steak which wasn’t horrible, though my friend excitedly told me tasted like pepperoni pizza rolls. Yeah, that’s what I want to taste when going out for dim sum, microwaved pizza rolls. And they didn’t cut any of it which is how you’re supposed to serve it, so I had to use a spoon to try to cut through the tough meat.
4. The waiters were rude. Super. Rude. They never got up from the soap opera, I had to almost grab someone to ask for containers so we could take home the food we couldn’t even bring ourselves to eat. Disdainful looks were provided.
For some reason I tipped despite everything. Treat others the way you wanted to be treated.
P. S. — They had 49 health violations in ’08. Yeah.

I frequent Asian Flame Restaurant as their Roast Pork is better than any other Chinese restaurant located on Avenue U.
Roast Pork w/​White Rice (No Soy Sauce) ($ 3.95): The Roast Pork itself is basically hit or miss. Pieces derived from a leaner cut are relatively dry and coarse to eat. The flavors derived from the roasting process are relatively bland and do not penetrate to the interior of the pork. The fatty segment is an entirely different story. The juiciness derived from the abundance of fat helps with the melting properties during consumption. Patrons will find that the fatty segment of the pork works to elevate the leaner portion of the pork by providing a subtle balance between the contrasting textures. The rice used in the application contain a warming scent, which when consumed, derives an alleviating sense of calmness. A true Chinese comfort food.
Outside of the Roast Pork w/​White Rice, a few Dim Sums are worth mentioning
Shrimp Dumplings: Juicy and Flavorful. The encasement was perfectly balanced, not too thick, thin, or chewy, but with the proper texture. The confines of the shrimp were remarkably flavor with a juicy texture.
Shumai: Slightly hearty but welcoming. The proper balance of fat in the pork allowed the Shumai to have an welcoming ease when consumed.
Overall, a great place to grab a quick lunch. Just don’t expect world class food, Avenue U is certainly not known for that.