Simply Asia is a chain of restaurants, some of which are only take away outlets. The prices are the same for the eat in venues and the take away venues. While the prices are reasonable for a restaurant, they are quite high for a take away option. I have been to the Simply Asia take away outlet in the Waterfront and find that R49 for some noodles with a few pieces of beef, onion and greenpepper, is a bit pricey. For the same price I can go to Nandos and have a chicken liver starter with a roll plus a quarter chicken, chips and a cooldrink (this is my current favourite meal).
I recently had dinner with a friend at the Simply Asia restaurant in Park road. The service was nice and friendly. It’s a really small restaurant so it’s easy to get the attention of a server if you need something. We tried their new Dim Sum starter which consists of a selection 5 pieces of Dim Sum with soya sauce for dipping, for R29. It was horrible. I haven’t had that much Dim Sum in my life, but I have had the Dim Sum at Haiku and it was delicious. The Dim Sum at Simply Asia was so bad that I was eating it out of curiosity rather and enjoyment.
For mains, I had the yellow noodles with chicken and pieces of onion and greenpepper (R49). It was quite tasty, but I think I should have ordered a different type of noodles because they remind me too much of 2 minute noodles which I overdosed on during my student years. I also asked for it hot but went for mild on their recommendation. I had to use 2 bowls of their chilli to get it to the heat I wanted. My partner had the beef strif fry on rice (R49) with extra veg (R7). It was pretty tasty, largely due to the oyster sauce. The extra veg was a nice, I think the dish should include that much veg by default.
The wine list is not extensive nor is it expensive. We drank wine by the glass (R22). If you have a particular penchant for Asian food, then Simply Asia is a quick, casual and inexpensive option. I have no reservation recommending it as a restaurant (if you avoid that Dim Sum), but as a take away outlet, I would say there is better value to be found.
Simply Asia
(14 branches in the Western Cape)
http://www.simplyasia.co.za/index.php
Comments
4 responses to “Simply Asia review”
yeah, i don’t think they’re quite as good as they used to be… i worked just across the road from the park rd branch for a long time, and ended up there fairly often, and in those days every thing i tried was really good. but recently they’ve lost a bit of their flair and flavour, and the portions are in some cases smaller than before. a consistent winner, though, is the 302 – chicken and cashew nut stir fry with rice, always good, always tasty 🙂
There is a HelloPeter complaint regarding portion sizes and the fact that one owner went out of business due to his large portion sizes and they now have to give smaller portions – you are right that they are not as good as they once were (most branches I’ve tried). The branch in Tygervalley – the owners/managers have seem to have just disappeared
I love simply asia, the branch in Tableview is fab! food is great, not too expensive and service is amazing!
My mom LOVES Asia as we call it but to me it has always been the McDonalds of Asian food(sounds horrible I know) It simply lacks the flavours and the wow factor that Asian food normally has. I have popped into the Cavendish one a few times when I need a quick bite and dont want junk food. The last time I was there I found a fat green catterpillar (in tact) in my Thai Veg Curry. I know these things do happen but it left a bad taste in my mouth (excuse the pun) 🙂