Asian Breeze: Does it fill the void Tsingtao left?

I remember the conversation like it was yesterday. My dear friend Bouch IMed me, and I could sense the panic and pure fear in his voice...

"Yo d00d, TsingTAO fuckin' closed...ghey, lol."

Oh, he has such a way with words....

Anyway, Tsingtao House was this amazingly good Chinese restaurant in Hooksett, NH that was closed with out any warning. It was replaced with a CVS pharmacy. There are like 10,000,000 of those, but Tsingtao was one of a kind. It was a tragedy! No more pork egg rolls! No more sweet, yet spicy, General Tso's chicken. I was a wreck.

Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, another fine Chinese restaurant closed it's doors in Hooksett. The Peking Buffet. This time, I was the bearer of bad news and Bouch was the recipient...

"OMG, Peking closed, I'M gonna kill sum1! WTF! STFU! BBQ!"

I was in Honors English, can you tell?

Peking was replaced with a restaurant called Asian Breeze. At least they replaced Chinese with Chinese. You know the expression..."An eye for an eye, replace Chinese with Chinese." I am glad to hear Hammurabi's creed still lives on.

Bouch and I worked up the courage (aka found enough money) to tour the new restaurant. Upon walking in, we realized that this was a not at all like Peking Buffet anymore. Well dressed staff, excellent decor, rich mahogany scent, and to top it all off, the Eagles we're playing over the speakers. I've heard the term "good omen" before, but I had never lived one. I am proud to say that I have now.

The second our waitress put down the menu, I recognized the menu was very similar to Tsingtao's menu. That made me very, very happy. Bouch ordered himself a root beer and a Pupu Platter, while I ordered the General Tso's chicken with an egg roll and some crab rangoon and a coke to drink. While my coke tasted like coke, Bouch's root beer came to the table practically transparent.

"Dood, dis root b33r is fuckin' clear as shit."
"Stop talking like that, you're in a restaurant."

The root beer was a bad start, so my fears were again awakened. My fears were quickly quelled when the waitress brought out his pupu platter. A large heaping of spare ribs, egg rolls, spring rolls, crab rangoon, chicken wings, chicken fingers, and the amazingly good looking beef teriyaki sticks came out made me realize that even though Hillary somehow won New Hampshire over Barack Obama...the world isn't that bad.

The crab rangoon had a crispy exterior and a sweet filling, and the egg rolls were fresh tasting and filled with meat. The beef teriyaki was incredibly tender and had a sweet ginger bite to it. Bouch gave his meal rave reviews, save for the root beer.

When the General Tso's came out, I was awe struck. It smelled just like Tsingtao's. I took my knife and cut a tender morsel in half. A perfectly crispy coating and a juicy piece of chicken surrounded by spicy, yet sweet sauce danced in my mouth...

Tsingtao is back, and damn does it feel good.

The food here at Asian Breeze is exemplary and definitely exceeded my expectations. I did not have the opportunity (not enough money) to sample any sushi or other Japanese fare, but I will be sure to in the future.

Food Quality - Superb. Not greasy, nice and fresh. 5 out of 5
Food Quantity- The pupu platter was very large, the general tso's was average in size. 4 out of 5
Service- Well spoken, well dressed, well done. 4 out of 5
Price- Not the cheapest, but not the most expensive either. 3 out of 5
Environment- They could have pictures of 2girls1cup on the wall, and it wouldn't have mattered because I got to listen to Hotel California while eating an egg roll. 5 out of 5.
Wild Card- The duck sauce has a pineapple base. Amazing. +2 bonus

Total score:20 out of 20.
FUCKIN' LEGIT


The Asian Breeze restaurant is located at 1328 Hooksett Rd. in Hooksett, NH. This is in the Wal-Mart plaza. Their phone number is (603) 621-9298 and their website is www.asianbreezenh.com


-Mr. Legit