My wife wanted something with white rice, so found the highest rated Chinese restaurant within…read morewalking distance from our downtown Cincinnati hotel: Harry & Shan Asian Cuisine. Got to meet Harry (who was our server). For the most part, the food was good, though definitely have stuff to write about.
The area that the restaurant is located, would not be considered the vibrant, touristy part of town and I would not want to walk here after dark. The restaurant looked closed as we got close, but the door was unlocked. There was nobody in the restaurant except the proprietor, who asked if we were eating in. Once we confirmed, he gave us menus and sat us down. It's a small menu, so I think he expected us to order something quickly...but there were no pictures and barely any descriptions. After the second time he came to ask 'You Ready', we just chose some items. They came out pretty fast, and was served piping hot, which really made the difference on well it tasted. Later I confirmed that the entrees come with white rice, which is what I expected from the Midwest. Also learned that the place has been open for 2 years now.
Chicken Lettuce Wraps ($10) - diced dark meat chicken pieces, stir fried in a dark sauce. I liked this dish, with the filling going well with the romaine lettuce leaves.
Sesame Chicken ($15) - I think my wife got a little flustered when asked about ordering so quickly, so went with her standard. It was actually quite good, with deep fried dark meat pieces that tasted house-made, not overly battered. The sauce was good as well, with slightly sauteed broccoli, and black and white sesame seeds topping the dish. It's a good rendition of this American-Chinese dish.
Harry + Shan Fresh Catch ($20) - I was warned by Harry that this was not a whole fish, so should have chosen something else at this point. But I didn't. The sauce was solid, a very light and delicate white sauce with ginger, scallions, and white onions providing good flavor. The fish was generic white fish (thinking either tilapia or sway), coming frozen from a food distributor...one benefit is that there were no bones to worry about, but there was no flavor either and I didn't like the texture...wouldn't have got this if I knew that was the fish being provided.
The meal was over fast, and towards the end, two youngsters came in and were treated the same way as us. So that's the just way it is here, which is fine considering the food...just skip the fish if you want something fresher.
