Restaurant critic Laura Reiley dined out for nearly 200 meals this past year, so she knows where the best restaurants are in Tampa Bay.  As we roll out her Top 100 Restaurants, here are her picks for Asian eateries. Your fave's not listed? Let us know in the comments section. And if you want all 100 in a handy guide, be sure to pick up a Weekend section in Thursday's St. Petersburg Times.

Full Top 100 list | Search for another restaurant/bar

Best Chinese
Hillsborough continues to stomp Pinellas in this category. China Yuan used to be for the hard-core foodie, the eater who knows to ask for the special all-Chinese menu and who doesn't mind a little discomfort. At the end of 2007, the restaurant underwent a lovely remodel so it now competes ably with the other juggernaut, nearby Yummy House. China Yuan may get the nod for Peking duck and subtle dishes like sesame jellyfish, but Yummy is unrivaled for its soups and salt and pepper dishes (tofu, squid). Rookie Chopstix isn't quite ready to play with the big boys, but it's doing lots right, from well-made dim sum dumplings to its excellent veggies like snow pea tips or spicy Szechuan eggplant.
    China Yuan Seafood Restaurant, above, 8502 N Armenia Ave., No. 1A, Tampa; (813) 936-7388, chinayuanrestaurant.com   
    Yummy House, 2202 W Waters Ave., Suite 1, Tampa; (813) 915-2828   
    Chopstix , 1441 E Fletcher Ave., Tampa; (813) 632-3293

Best Japanese
The country's most expensive meal is Japanese, the $600 30-course Omakase menu at Masa in New York. In Clearwater Beach at Kiku Japanese Fine Dining you can put yourself in the hands of chef Daniel Chong  for a fraction of that ($50-$100), with wagu tartare, ahi carpaccio and delicate swaths of striped marlin, abalone and giant clam rolled, draped and wasabi-ed to perfection. On the other hand, an evening spent chasing a Signature Place roll or a Central Avenue roll around with a pair of chopsticks is a good one, making Pacific Wave still one of the smartest calls in downtown St. Petersburg. New chef Javier De Jesus  has broadened the menu somewhat, adding Latin and Caribbean flavors to the Pacific Rim lineup.
     Kiku Japanese Fine Dining, 483 Mandalay Ave., Clearwater Beach; (727) 461-2633, clearwaterbeachkiku.com   
     Pacific Wave, 211 Second St. S, St. Petersburg; (727) 822-5235, pacificwaverestaurant.com

Best Thai
Readers gave me several of my best finds of the year, among them Supattra Head's lovely Thai Spice in Clearwater: pretty dining room, excellent service and the deep, nuanced kind of spiciness that builds slowly and is mellowed by herbs and peanuts and tiny salted shrimp. Not too far away, Ban Thai benefits from gentle service, pretty flowers and a nice balance of salty-tangy-sweet-hot in curries. Thai Ruby in Tampa is a reliable we-have-no-food-in-the-house impromptu dinner: a green chicken curry heady with basil, chicken sate that arrives with its own special grill  and a comforting two-friends panang.
     Thai Spice, 2475 McMullen-Booth Road, Clearwater; (727) 791-7050, thaispicerest.com 
     Ban Thai, 2519 N McMullen-Booth Road, Clearwater; (727) 724-2992 
     Thai Ruby, 15319 Amberly Drive, Tampa; (813) 558-0570

Best Vietnamese
They couldn’t be further apart in style, but my top three favorites are Restaurant BT and newcomers Ben Thanh and Bamboozle, all owned by women. BT has been an anchor in Old Hyde Park Village for several years, B.T. Nguyen's signature French-Vietnamese cuisine elegant and modish. My enthusiasm was renewed when she launched an affordable bar menu mid year, perfect for an evening of chatting, cocktails and dueling sets of chopsticks hovering over a plate of five-spice pork skewers or gingery duck dumplings. Susan Nguyen reopened her beloved Ben Thanh in a new location at the beginning of 2008; not fancy, but fans immediately began trekking over for her pho and egg noodle soups, vermicelli bowls, soothing porridges, stir-fries and self-roll entrees. Xuan "Sing" Hurt and Lynn Pham launched Bamboozle in downtown Tampa — it's the kind of savvy restaurant that could spawn a huge chain. Bright, clean, lively, it's like a fresh-roll cafeteria: Step in line and order from the board, watch the women behind the counter corral all your fillings in a rice paper roll, hop to the sauce bar for fish sauce-spiked nuoc mam or Sriracha. Vermicelli bowls and a tasty banh mi barbecued pork sandwich round out the menu.
    Restaurant BT, 1633 W Snow Ave., Tampa; (813) 258-1916, restaurantbt.com 
    Ben Thanh, 4200 62nd Ave. N, Pinellas Park; (727) 526-3051 
    Bamboozle Cafe, 516 N Tampa St., Tampa; (813) 223-7320, bamboozlecafe.com