Jasmine Chinese Cuisine

We went here tonight and it was really good. I thought I would mention it on the board since it seemed to have a really authentic menu. It had about a billion dishes with some interesting options like pigs ear, intestines, snail, kidneys, etc. Not sure how long it has been open. It is across from Lake Forest on Shelbyville Rd.

We ate there this evening as well. Since there were seven of us (three adults and four children) we took advantage of the private "party" room. Kids were happy; adults were happy. Food was excellent and plentiful. What more can one ask?

I used to work at Sysco, and the Oriental salesrep there used to tell me that Jasmine was the best place to eat. He kept saying, "the owner is the cooker", meaning the guy who owns the place also makes the food, which is a sign of quality in his eyes. I have never been there but want to try it soon. Glad to hear good comments.

I'm a commercial broker... In September I had some Chinese clients in town for a site selection tour. I was with one of their American executives, the two Chinese businessmen, and a translator. The men were father and son - 60ish and mid 20s in age.

Even though there was a serious lack of communication, I learned - via the translator - that this crew had yet to find well prepared authentic food since they came to the USA. (We were touring on a Saturday, earlier in the week - NYC and Chicago.) The father said when you enter a Chinese restaurant and you are the only Chinese person there - up front or in back - its not a Chinese restaurant. (It was a day filled mostly with silence except for the occasional one-line observations such as that.)

I've had plenty of American Chinese at Jasmine and always heard how authentic they can be... so that's where I took them.

Here is the condensed version of the next 90 minutes...

We walked in and the old man smiled for the first time of the day - several Chinese American families were eating at 2p on a Saturday afternoon.

The father walked straight into the kitchen, spoke loudly to the owner, came back out and said "This will do." When the server offered us menus, the father waived her (and the menus) off and walked back into the kitchen. Couple more loud minutes and he returned.

Ten minutes later the first of around eight items started showing up... nothing out of the ordinary at all BTW. Just very straight forward dishes that were simple and delicious... stir fry green beans, a hot pepper & jullianned potato dish, something pork based, a giant soup pot, a shrimp dish, some special fried rice, etc. Everything was excellent.

I have no idea if what we ate was from the menu or not... we were never asked for input! I do know that both father and son said it was the best Chinese they've ever had in America and that it was as good as a home cooked meal.

I honestly believe that our lunch experience solidified their decision to relocate a factory to Louisville over a few other places. I assume we will have several meals in the future at Jasmine.

Couple of cultural things that were new to me during lunch...

The three Chinese used their chopsticks to place food in a spoon and ate from the spoon. The translator told me that they "love spoons".

Business was not discussed over food. Once we were finished we moved to a clean table for the business discussion.

The father was served first, ate first, and when he stood - we were done.

It was an interesting, productive, and educational day.

Cheers to Jasmine,
Geoff