Two Asian Treasures – Liu Fu and Aomi

I have recently uncovered two Asian treasures in my neck of the woods! The first one, Liu Fu, is an impressively authentic Szechuan restaurant in John’s Creek, GA. The second, Aomi, is a high-quality Japanese spot right in The Forum shopping center in Norcross. Both blew me away.

Let’s start with Liu Fu. I was there with some co-workers, one of whom is Chinese and in the know. Between her insights and some recommendations from the server, we ended up with the following, which we ate family style:

• Spicy, crispy chicken
• Kung Pao chicken
• Honey-walnut shrimp
• Dry fried green beans
• Pocket tofu (Soft balls of tofu and chicken that taste like chicken croquettes)

      The meal was perfected with some complimentary Chinese bread, or mantou, which had a light, airy texture and a slightly sweet taste. All of it was out of this world, and none of it was too spicy, despite several warnings to the contrary from our server. I had not been that happy with a restaurant meal in a long time, and didn’t think I would be again for quite a while…

…But then I tried Aomi in Norcross about a week later and was once again thoroughly impressed. I wasn’t sure what to expect from a restaurant in a shopping plaza, but this one was the real deal. While they do offer some very expensive dishes, my husband and I each got amazing entrees that were under $20, as well as a couple of appetizers well under $10. 

To start, the calamari was some of the best we’d ever had, especially dipped in the famous Japanese white sauce (it’s actually more of an orange hue). We also got the stir fried seafood appetizer with shrimp, mussels and scallops. The vegetables in the dish could have used more flavor, but all of the seafood was great (and I don’t even usually like mussels).

Not wanting to end our seafood marathon, we ordered the salmon teriyaki entrée, as well as the shrimp & vegetable tempura. Again, the vegetables served with the teriyaki didn’t taste like much, but the salmon was very flavorful and cooked perfectly with some slightly crispy edges. And don’t even get me started on the tempura! Those fried pieces of shrimp and vegetables made we want to dance in my chair, especially when dipped in, you guessed it, the white sauce!

Entrees come with miso soup, salad with addictive ginger dressing, rice and ice cream, so we left with a doggie bag full of food. (And of course we requested extra white sauce to go!) In terms of the rice, you can get plain steamed rice or buttery fried rice for an extra $2 or so.  I would highly recommend the upgrade!

The restaurant also offers some nice-looking cocktails, tons of sushi and hibachi options. If you haven’t been to The Forum before, it’s quite a fancy place with lots of interesting stores, so I’d recommend doing a little browsing or shopping before or after your meal. (My husband and I spent a good hour or so beforehand in the Barnes & Noble across from the restaurant – nerds!) 

The only complaint I have about Aomi is that they only offer the choices of vanilla or rainblow (oops, Freudian slip) sherbet for the complimentary ice cream. Both of these suck in my opinion, and if I’m at a Japanese restaurant, gimme some green tea or ginger or something! Of course you can order green tea ice cream for a charge, but by dessert time I only had room for three bites max (which is about how much you get with the complimentary serving), so why not throw me a bone and let me have a few spoonfuls of the good stuff? 

Other than that, though, this place is top notch. Way to go, Forum, see you next week!