Sparkling Crystal

Photo by Brady Hess

Crystal Jade
7255 Cedar Street (a block west of 72nd)
398-1688
Open seven days

Since 1997, one of the better Asian restaurants in the metro has been Jade Palace in Bellevue. Chef/owner Steve Yau and his wife, Shirley Sieng, have offered a basic Chinese menu there with Malaysian touches – Steve is from Malaysia, but both sides of the family have strong Chinese connections – his parents spoke the Chinese dialect of Taiwan. The menu there always had Malaysian and Korean items, too.

The family has opened a second location, Crystal Jade, a block off 72nd Street near Mercy Road – on the west side of 72nd, on the same little curving street that harbors the Drover. Crystal Jade is in a converted and spiffed up former Village Inn, with the master chef himself on the premises.

Unique about the new place is that it has a palate of Asian choices but also some basic American fare. If you (or your children) don’t care for Asian, you can get terrific barbecued ribs here or a juicy, delicious half-pound hamburger, or one of several pastas (chicken, shrimp, salmon alfredo) – or even spaghetti and meatballs.

If you are dining Asian, you have a cornucopia to choose from: five dozen Chinese dishes, including 16 house specials, plus four Malaysian curries, Rendang (a meat dish – chicken, pork or beef - slow cooked in spicy coconut milk, then slowly fried as the liquid disappears), or the same meats (or fish) in a “Lemak” preparation: the word means “fragrant” and applies to many rice/meat dishes in Malaysia – in my case, a thick slab of salmon covered with the lemony yellow “lemak” sauce in a preparation that resembled a curry, the tint coming in part from turmeric and the thick sauce hiding warm pineapple chunks and bamboo shoots ($10.95). To go wider afield, there are two Indian dishes (both chicken), a Korean noodle soup and a Vietnamese beef noodle soup. We sampled an American potato soup – creamy and mild, and enjoyed the house hot and sour soup, elegant with bits of mushroom and pork – with a little heat in the finish – silky and orange-gold in appearance.

Salad dressings are homemade and the sweet sesame that graces most salads is tasty.

On a recent visit, we stuck to the non-Chinese side of the menu and were amply rewarded.  The Malaysian “exotic” chili chicken was an elegant dish with chicken chunks, zucchini, chunks of green pepper, crunchy scallions, and onion in an orange-brown sauce that was lively but not hot ($13.95). A Thai dish, 7-flavors chicken ($11.95) was a dark brown, grainy-textured chicken offering, likeably gummy and fragrant with lemongrass, with a flavor melded from the above plus peanut, turmeric, Hoisin suace, chili, garlic and ginger – in this one, the sauce is the thing!  Tokyo shrimp has a Japanese-inspired grainy ginger sauce with plump shrimp, zucchini, mushrooms, celery and onion ($12.95).

Also interesting are two versions of Korean Bulgogi – a thin-sliced barbecue-style meat dish. Steve has a spicy version and a sweet version. The former has ribbons of pork or chicken stir-fried in a Korean chili paste, brightened by flecks of carrot, scallions and onion. It is hotter and spicier than the sweeter version, which has similar ingredients (each $11.95). The sweeter Bulgogi is milder in heat, more syrupy, fruity rather than sweet with a sauce that is a mélange of ingredients: Asian pear sauce, soy, garlic, ginger, sesame seed, sugar and black pepper. Each Bulgogi is $11.95.

These are all rich, filling dishes, which can serve two at least. They are lively with flavor (ginger and lemongrass is never overdone, though), but sauces tend to be subtle. Each meat or seafood or vegetable ingredient remains discreet, only modestly settled into the sauce. Most dishes are healthful, too.

We tried an off-the-menu item, crispy fried shrimp, heated up a bit, as was the Indian fried rice (chicken biryani), which is first steamed, then added to a wok for a quick stir fry with chicken bits – very flavorful, hearty with coriander. The Mala chicken here is good, too, as is the crispy orange chicken, with a real orange peel tang.

Steve likes to offer seafood and one evening had tilapia, flounder, Norwegian salmon and Chilean sea bass all available fried, grilled or steamed, with seven basic sauces available (Lemak, red curry, hot garlic and the like).

Amusing is Steve’s habit, going back 12 years, of carving swans, flowers and other decorative objects out of carrots and radishes – a large carrot crocodile joined our table, complete with cross pieces for legs. Table service is excellent, much of it from Shirley’s sister, Jennie, an outgoing personality.

Ice cream and cheesecake are available for dessert, but go for the fried banana in a pastry shell – it looks like a Chinese egg roll. A sopapilla kind of beignet is available sometimes as a special. They can do a chocolate martini for you (one of a dozen specialty martinis that include apple, mango and even cotton candy), a Mai Tai, a strawberry daiquiri, $5 cocktails made from rum, vodka, scotch, bourbon or any one of several liqueurs. A limited wine list is dirt cheap, with domestic beers $2 happy hour, $3 otherwise (and that includes Sam Adams). Imported beer is $4 per bottle. Jasmine tea is popular here, too.

There is a $5 lunch buffet special and everything else at lunch is in the $6.75 to $8 range, with the same mix of Asian and American choices on the lengthy dinner menu. A tiny red pepper designates those dishes that are hot.

This is a delightful restaurant – try Chinese here or Indian, Malaysian, Korean, Japanese or Thai. Omahans now don’t have to go to Bellevue for Steve and Shirley’s superior cuisine. It’s down 72nd Street, across from the College of St. Mary, very near the Drover, on Cedar Street.