Mystery Diner in Fox River Grove: Yummy Asian Bistro offers wide variety with good flavor

Looking at the hefty menu highlighting cuisine from Japan, China and Thailand, I wondered if Yummy Asian Bistro in Fox River Grove was offering so much that it wouldn’t do a particular thing well.

I needn’t have worried.

On a recent lunch visit, my fellow diner and I tried two appetizers, nigiri, a Thai curry and teriyaki, and we were pleased with all our selections, already discussing a return.

Yummy Asian Bistro is in the Stone Hill Center at the corner of Northwest Highway and Route 22, east of the Jewel-Osco, in Fox River Grove.

Yummy Asian Bistro offers Japanese, Thai and Chinese dishes and is located in the Stone Hill Center at Northwest Highway and Route 22 in Fox River Grove. — Yummy Asian Bistro, which offers Japanese, Thai and Chinese dishes, is in the Stone Hill Center at Northwest Highway and Route 22 in Fox River Grove. (Mystery Diner)

The restaurant has a bar along its east wall and booths along the west. We chose a booth right by the window to take advantage of the sunny day.

The menu was almost intimidating with all its selections. We completely missed the lunch menu on the back, but instead ordered two appetizers to give us time to make a decision.

We chose shrimp shumai ($6.60) and fried vegetable dumplings ($5.80). The shumai were soft and full of shrimp flavor, and the dumplings were crispy, clearly fresh from the fryer.

As one of our appetizers, we selected the shrimp shumai at Yummy Asian Bistro. (Mystery Diner)

As one of our appetizers, we selected the vegetable dumplings, fried instead of steamed, at Yummy Asian Bistro. — For another appetizer, we selected the vegetable dumplings, fried instead of steamed. (Mystery Diner)

Other appetizers include egg rolls ($3.90), spring rolls ($4.50), crab Rangoon ($6.60), fried calamari ($9.90), veggie tempura ($7.70) and yakitori chicken, which is grilled chicken skewers ($6.60). Some sushi selections are offered as an appetizer, and the menu also serves up salad and soup.

Sushi makes up nearly two full pages of the menu. My fellow diner chose to give the nigiri scallops a try. She said wasabi was available to add spice to the fresh scallops.

My fellow diner also selected a plate of nigiri scallops at Yummy Asian Bistro. (Mystery Diner)

The menu offers a wide range of simple to extravagant rolls, plus nigiri and sashimi. The VIP Roll ($21.95) looked intriguing with lobster tempura, cream cheese, avocado, mango and spicy crab. So did the Angel Hair Roll ($15) with shrimp tempura and sliced apple inside, topped with crab meat, fish eggs, scallions, tempura and mango sauce.

I chose my entree from the Thai portion of the menu. I’m a big fan of Thai curries, and selected the yellow panang curry with shrimp ($17.60). You can pick your protein for this dish – beef for $17.60, chicken for $15.40, or just veggies for $14.

The dish was hearty and delicious with okra, tofu, potatoes, green beans, red peppers and summer squash.

The panang curry, one of the Thai dishes on the menu, came with tofu, potatoes, okra, summer squash, green beans and red peppers in addition to the shrimp. (Mystery Diner)

Craving teriyaki, my fellow diner went with teriyaki chicken ($16.95), which came with broccoli, carrots and white rice, as well as a side salad. She said the chicken, which was grilled and not overcooked, provided the teriyaki flavor she’d been wanting.

The menu also offers a wide selection of Chinese dishes, including kung pao with a choice of protein (veggies $12, chicken or pork for $13, and beef or shrimp for $16), “egg fu yang” (veggies $10, chicken $11, and beef or shrimp for $12.50) and shrimp with lobster sauce ($16). Yummy Asian Bistro offers hibachi preparation as an option.

My fellow diner selected for her main dish at Yummy Asian Bistro, chicken teriyaki, which came with a side of rice and a salad. — My fellow diner selected chicken teriyaki, which came with a side of rice and a salad. (Mystery Diner)

As you can imagine, we had plenty of leftovers, and we left full, happy and wondering what we’ll try next.

• The Mystery Diner is a newsroom employee at the Northwest Herald. The diner’s identity is not revealed to the restaurant staff before or during the meal. If the Mystery Diner cannot recommend the establishment, we will not publish a review.

Seeking reader suggestions: We welcome readers to share their recommendations of places they would like the Mystery Diner to visit. Email ideas to tips@nwherald.com.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Yummy Asian Bistro

WHERE: 918 Route 22, Fox River Grove

PHONE: 847-462-9668

INFORMATION: yummyasianbistrofrg.com