Review: T'Asia in Seminole offers satisfying sushi, Thai food under one roof

By LAURA Reiley

Times Food Critic

SEMINOLE

They have it in Brookline, Mass., in Kingwood, Texas, and in Warrenville, Ill. Who knows what they'd think of the combo in Thailand, but it's all over Tampa Bay: Thai restaurants that serve sushi. It's like the Ginsu knife commercial from the '70s. "How much would you pay for this panang beef? Wait, there's more . . ." A volcano roll won't exactly cut through a tin can, but the option lends a "something for everyone" luster to mom-and-pop places.

T'Asia has been a successful Thai-Japanese meld in Seminole for nearly six years. Oneta Sylapheth used to be just the chef, but she bought out the owners in 2009 and now runs the show. It's not glamorous but serves satisfying Thai curries and pretty sushi rolls.

I was more smitten with the straight Thai dishes: a panang pork ($7.95 at lunch) crowded with snappy green beans and rounds of fresh zucchini, its sauce with a come-hither sweet smolder; the broad rice noodles of pad se-ew ($7.95 at lunch) fried with egg, chicken and dark soy. A street food eaten in Thailand and Laos, this dish seems somehow Chinese, not out of place on T'Asia's menu with its workhorse sweet and sour pork ($7.95) and cashew chicken ($7.95).

Lots of tempura, egg rolls and fried bananas keep the deep fryer busy at T'Asia, a fact that can make the air a little close when the restaurant is busy. A sprightly antidote is a bright, fresh dish of nam sod or larb kai (both $5.95), the former a ginger-spiked ground chicken salad with peanuts, cilantro and lime, the latter with minced grilled chicken hepped up on galangal, lemongrass and lime leaf.

Sushi rolls arrive on wide bamboo boats equipped with sea rations of wasabi and pickled ginger (hey, ginger has vitamin C, so it'll ward off scurvy). The rolls themselves are nicely done, but some of the combos have a more-is-more aesthetic that really pack in the ingredients. Call me a traditionalist, but I'll opt for a straight tekka maki ($5.45) or hamachi nigiri ($4.95), all the better to savor the fish itself.

Sylapheth's attention in the dining room is palpable. She brings complimentary soup, swoops back around with a little tray of spicy condiments and ends things with tiny gratis pastry packets of fried banana. T'Asia doesn't serve anything you haven't seen before, but rather a lot of competent dishes under one generous Asian umbrella.

Laura Reiley can be reached at lreiley@sptimes.com or (727) 892-2293. Her blog, the Mouth of Tampa Bay, is at blogs. tampabay.com/dining. Reiley dines anonymously and unannounced. The Times pays all expenses. Advertising has nothing to do with selection for review or the assessment.