The Asada dining experience {FriYAY favourite)

Date nights are something that are far and few between when you have 3 kids. It’s not shocking really, because nobody willingly wants to babysit THREE kids! So recently my husband bribed my mom to babysit one night so he could take his girl out for a night on the town 😉  Let me clarify: ‘Night on the town’ usually means supper at 5pm and us hiding in the garage at 7pm so nobody knows what nerds we are, arriving home so early. I’m not even joking.

He wanted us to go for supper at Asada, a newer eatery in Port Elizabeth. (I believe Asada has the same owner as our other favourite sushi restaurant, Fushin. If you live in PE and love sushi, but you’ve never been to Fushin, you have not lived!) I got dressed up, which is an event on its own, because um, Saturday, kids had no activities on… so PJ’s are usually the only #OOTD. I even wore heels. From what I’ve seen about Asada on Instagram, they serve delicious looking bagels and the food is all coal/pit fire roasted. My husband is a bit impulsive and I didn’t want to make him doubt himself, but I was thinking…a bagel joint on our night out? I said nothing and off we went.

When we arrived I felt a bit overdressed. There were no available tables, so we sat at the bar and had a few drinks. We were also served a complimentary nibble while we sat there that seemed to be a pickled octopus of sorts. A bit chewy, but good flavour. And free…so no complaints. Eventually we got a table, but I am going to say that we didn’t mind the sit at the bar. The chairs were comfy, the barman was entertaining and our waiter kept checking on us. Usually I would rather leave than sit at a bar.

We went to our table and, with the night I was dressed for, the table felt a bit underwhelming. Round pine table (I think), no table-cloth or anything like that. This all sounds negative perhaps, but I promise it’s not. It gets better….lol…just keep reading. Our waiter, as mentioned, was great. He asked for our names before we proceeded and he mentioned my name a few times during the evening. A great personal touch that obviously ensures he is going to get a good tip….and also just speaks to the vibe at Asada. He gave us a tour of the place and provided some info as to the cooking process. We asked for some recommendations and in the end we decided on the beef short rib, the lamb flank, baby potatoes (side) and the salmon pate (starter).

The salmon starter I did not love. It was a bit salty….but Oh My Gosh…the baguette that came with the pate was so divine and made us realise we need to come and have bagels and baguettes for lunch one day. Then our meals arrived. I wish I had those meals in front of me right now. The food was nothing short of amazing! The beef short rib was a really generous portion and my husband made sure to dip his bread in there to mop up as much juice as he could. My lamb flank was so tender inside and crispy on the outside. The baby potatoes were supposed to be served with sour cream, but came with cottage cheese. That was fine though, because they were really good and I will in future be throwing cottage cheese on top of baby potatoes at home!

Gerard (my husband) and I honestly enjoyed every single bite. I didn’t think the food was badly priced at all. My only complaint was that we had such FOMO about everything we wanted to try on the menu! lol. We definitely want to go back to try the gumbo and the bisque. My husband and I always have food FOMO…but I’m the only one that gains weight. So not fair…..

So I was commenting about the tables and it being a ‘bagel joint’, and I want to just conclude that train of thought. Hubby and I enjoyed the experience a lot. We actually got home way later than 7pm and we didn’t have to hide in the garage. We didn’t feel time pass us by, because Asada just has such a great vibe.

It’s a place you want to take your friends to, where you all order a bunch of meals and share the food. You’ll enjoy the music and the energy in the place. The fact that you see the guys preparing the meal right there in full view, adds to that vibe. You won’t care that there is no table cloth on the table. Heck you won’t even remember what the table looked like, because it will just be decked out in glorious looking food. So I hope that makes sense. It wasn’t dress up date night material…I’d much rather have gone in flats and jeans, but I would definitely go back for date night any night.

Have you been to Asada before? Also, when you and your other half plan a night on the town, what do you do. Where do you go?

PS Please #ShareTheBay and share this post with your friends, so the people of PE can support all the great gems within our city 😉 Ya’ll didn’t do that for Bubble Tea and now they’re gone! tsk tsk….