I can't find a good Chinese restaurant down here. If someone can help - seriously - please message…read moreme, because this one ain't it. Yes, I know "ain't" isn't a word; much like Asian Grill isn't clean, or particularly good.
I'm actually tiring of writing reviews for bad Chinese restaurants; I feel like I'm typing the same things over and over, and am kind of at the point where I want to say "the food is shite", and move on. Sadly, that isn't who I am.
So, o.k., the shrimp toast is good. If I stopped here, we'd be at four stars. It comes as a sizeable portion, albeit in the bizarre format of three pieces, horizontally sliced, that are heavy on filling and light on bread. It isn't saturated with oil, and is totally par for the course. Egg rolls are pretty much the same everywhere, and to possibly channel Yogi Berra, so are these. I'll include a mention of the sweet and sour chicken here as well, since all of the above is basically fried junk food, and that was fine, too. The sweet and sour sauce doesn't have much going on in the sour department, but it very rarely does, wherever you go.
Actual Food Not Involving Fryolator:
The fried rice is yellow, and if you read my reviews, you will know I think yellow fried rice is inferior. While there are exceptions, this is not one. For starters, there is no egg, which is JUST FUCKING BAFFLING to me. Also, infuriating, if you couldn't tell. I've had both the chicken and pork iterations, and I do prefer the chicken; the char siu here is almost completely devoid of flavor. I say "almost" because, in the most recent instance, it tasted like it had been sitting in the fridge for two days. And you know what they say - there's no pork like old pork. Do they say that? If they do, it's only because it's nasty.
The pork lo mein is made with the same pork as above, only cut longer. This one didn't taste slightly turned or like smelly refrigerator, but like anything at all. If there were such a thing as stringy tofu, it could have been that. There are almost no vegetables in this dish: a miniscule amount of nearly evaporated sprouts, three pieces of either scallion or garlic chive in the entire quart, and a small number of celery slivers. That was it. Not even a lonely canned water chestnut. Also, it was overcooked, so the noodles were too soft. If I may borrow one of yours, I would like to give this three thumbs down.
The hot and spicy beef, warm and not particularly spicy, has a sauce that is mainly ketchup. Yes, actual ketchup; if I had to guess, Heinz. I'll just end this one here. Anything more would be a superfluous addition of insult to injury.
The General Tso's chicken was not even a little spicy, but otherwise what it should be. In other words, edible, but probably not what you're expecting. This could be repaired by knowing in advance, and telling them not to forget the peppers. Assuming they have them, that is.
What else? I might have blocked some of it out. Oh, yes - I also ordered hot and sour soup here once. Again, not very hot, but a little sour, and full of what I think were sliced button mushrooms, as opposed to shiitake and wood ear. Edible, but wrong. I don't recall seeing any pork in there either, come to think of it, but maybe that's just as well.
All in all, first impressions at Asian Grill are correct. You walk in, it looks bad, and it's not great. I'd say to go with your gut on this one, and if not, trust your eyeballs.