Admittedly, yes, I’m food obsessed, but that doesn’t stop me from being misinformed about my restaurants from time to time.  I recently led you to believe that Sukho Thai in Belden Village is the only Thai restaurant in Canton.  Come to find out, this is only partially true.  Indeed Sukho Thai is the only exclusively Thai restaurant, as in, they focus on Thai cuisine, the word “Thai” is on the sign….you get the idea.  But recently we became acquainted with a pan-Asian gem called Jasmine Asian Bistro and discovered another great local place for Thai.  Pan-Asian is a fancy way of saying that they serve a mix of Asian cuisines, including Japanese, Chinese, and yes, Thai.  A big thank-you to one of my readers, Lee, for pointing this out.

Now, about my new friend, Jasmine Asian Bistro.  I had been hearing bits and pieces about this place for a while, but since it’s located on 30th Street, between Cleveland Ave. and Market, I don’t pass by it enough to remember to go.  Once inside, I was pleasantly surprised that there was some attention paid to design details in the dining room.  With white table clothes and napkins and an updated and almost swanky bar, this place definitely had a little ambiance going; at least they’re trying, that’s all a girl can ask for.

The menu offers an enticing variety of sushi, Japanese, Teriyaki, tempura, Thai, and Chinese. We decided against ordering sushi this time around, and instead opted for some Thai and Chinese, starting with a gyoza appetizer.

The gyoza were delightful little pan-fried dumplings filled with pork and spices.  Most sushi restaurants in the area have this as an option and they are quite addicting.  Maybe I love them because they remind me of dim sum.  These were delicious and offered a nice palette teaser for the rest of the meal.

All three of our entrees came with a small fresh salad with a delicious citrus dressing, similar to that served at hibatchi restaurants like Wasabi and Otani.  (I wish someone would package this dressing and sell it at the grocery store…or do they already?)  It is so delicious if you like a sweet touch to your salad.  The miso soup was also very good, although not unlike other miso.  Again, a nice starter to the main event.

I opted for Pad Thai with vegetables, which were crisp and al dente as they should be.  I love Thai food because it has so many dimensions and layers – noodles, fresh veggies, egg, peanuts, tofu; this dish has it all.  In all honesty, I felt Sukho Thai’s version has a little more spice and flavor, and also I prefer a round rice noodle to Jasmine’s flat one for this dish.  Also, the noodles were somewhat “wet” for a Pad Thai – after going back to my photo of Sukho’s version, I recalled theirs being a little less saucy, and somehow the ingredients seemed to marry a bit better.  However, this is an excellent dish; I’m only getting crazy specific because I’m a Pad Thai nut, and have ordered it at various restaurants way too many times.

Summer ordered this chicken and vegetable dish, but I can’t tell you what the sauce was because I’ve forgotten.  Here again, everything was cooked perfectly and the brown sauce was delicious.  Nice fresh zucchini, onions, and red peppers complimented the grilled chicken well.

Dave’s gorgeous entree was called “Dragon & Phoenix” and was a combination of orange flavored chicken and spicy shrimp.  This presentation, as with all the dishes, was exceptional – although this was my favorite dish to look at by far.  The sauce was amazing – extremely spicy (to us) but well balanced with the sweet orange.  With all this beauty, it was disappointing to find that some of the smaller pieces of chicken had been fried a bit too long, and were tough as a result.  Apart from that, this dish was fantastic.

In terms of service, Jasmine was spot on; very attentive and eager to please.  The overall dining experience was an excellent one; we can’t wait to go back and try some other pan-Asian dishes, and definitely some sushi too.