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Kon Asian Bistro

With a Pan-Asian menu and a side order of show biz, Kon makes its successful debut in East Greenwich.

Photography by Angel Tucker

Kon Asian Bistro

553 Main Street, East Greenwich, 886-9200, konasianbistro.com. Open for lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday, dinner only on Sunday. Reservations accepted. Cuisine Traditional Asian presented in modern attire. Capacity More than seventy at the hibachi tables, a hundred in the main dining room. Vibe RISD’s Buddha gallery after five shots of sake. Price Appetizers $2.50–$10, entrees $9–$31. Karen’s picks Mini Beijing duck, garlic Chilean sea bass, Szechuan crispy shredded dried beef, hibachi. Key Fair Good Very Good Excellent Half-star

There should be limits on how much and how quickly a person should eat, but don’t tell that to East Greenwich’s latest Asian smorgasbord, Kon. Time’s winged chariots may approach at a measured pace, but a ready hibachi waits for no one. Head-high flames, soaring spatulas and the irrepressible showmanship of a hibachi chef could come across as kitsch, and Kon does indeed, at first glance, look that way. And though it masquerades as a suburban, strip-mall hot spot wedged between a Starbucks and a CVS, the restaurant still manages to translate Asian cuisine into American entertainment without assimilating the culture.

Eastern culture, however, may be easier to sell when it’s wrapped in the modernity of Western design. A bullet-studded door and domino-tiled wall give way to orange silk ballooning from the ceiling, bars (sushi and standard) lit with sun hues, and an imposing Buddha that oversees everything, including a wall of water that separates the hibachi room from the more low-key diners. The concept of the restaurant may be founded on the tenets of Buddhism, but its visual elements are a very American component. Rich and luxuriant, the decor alone is enough to differentiate Kon from the local take-out and, consequently, it’s easy to be distracted by tinted lights and fluorescent cocktails. Don’t be waylaid by the backdrop though; the food stands on its own merits, showcasing its culinary history adroitly. 

Where roasted duck shows up with flour tortillas and foie gras at fusion restaurants (that is, Asian-American, rather than Pan-Asian), Kon’s slices of crackling Beijing duck ($8) come with traditional steamed buns that retain a hoison-style sauce and sliced cucumbers with ease; it is simple, craveable comfort food. More demure but no less appealing is a silky grilled sea bass ($9), served with a surprisingly sweet miso sauce and a vibrant pickled bean sprout radish garnish.

There are a great number (nearly seventy choices) of sushi and sashimi, and only here are there instances where flash prevails over substance. Classic combinations—everything from tuna to octopus—are bright and flavorful, as are some more innovative vegetarian varieties such as roasted peanut and avocado maki. The special rolls are certainly dramatic in appearance, if not unilaterally successful in taste. The Pink Lady, wrapped in a slightly sweet pink soy bean sheet, pairs subtle shrimp and crab with mango and a crunchy sprinkling of tempura flakes, all of which contrast nicely with the ubiquitous soy. The Kon’s Prayer, spicy crab and vegetables, is coated in thick layers of contrasting roe. The result, in this case, is a lot of showboating; the flavored, rainbow-hued caviar dominates the seafood all too easily.

Chef Hua Hua has managed to whittle down the list of Asian entrees (excluding the communal grills) to about twenty, though, once again, it’s a discerning and worthwhile list that includes food from several Far East countries, including China, Japan and Thailand. The classic style of regional cooking evokes Federal Hill’s MuMu Cuisine, though in a far more theatrical environment. A mildly spicy shrimp with mango sauce ($12) served in the skin of its namesake fruit is vivid aesthetically and gastronomically. Szechuan crispy beef ($11) is a far better version of the greasy dish that shows up in many restaurants. Kon takes the best attributes of Asian cuisines —the boldness of Chinese, the minimalism of Japanese and the distinctness of Thai— and melds them into a cohesive whole.

But lest we forget what lies behind the proverbial curtain number one: the large hibachi room, washed with floor-to-ceiling white brick and leaf-printed floor tile. U-shaped tables built around center grills do allow for some off-the-menu ordering, though servers will assume that you’re ordering from the hibachi. Consequently, counter space is limited and plates pile up as the cooking gets underway for what is, after all, the Asian version of dinner theater.

There’s an element of the absurd to the performance, though it’s good-natured and appealing to diners well above and below voting age. Not everyone is ready to share a meal with strangers (each grill serves nine), but one quickly learns that community is built at the table. Not three minutes after the arrival of the hibachi chef du jour, he sends an egg dancing across the heated cooktop, which he quickly shells, scrambles and tosses pell-mell through the air for diners to catch seal-style. If you’re not the most coordinated person and on the receiving end, it might not be your Olympic moment, but there’s plenty more opportunity to prove your athletic dining prowess. Flying egg is topped only by shots of sake, which the chef fires haphazardly from a plastic squirt bottle straight into the mouths of game participants. In fact, the only things that are placed gingerly on plates—lobster, scallops and steak—are the ones too expensive to end up on the floor.

If Western habits creep into the Kon experience in any other manner, it’s in the comparison between hibachi cooking and the American steakhouse experience. If your friends refuse to eat anything remotely challenging, and shy away from sauces (though there are accompanying condiments), these options will suit them fine. Chicken, sirloin, filet and shellfish aren’t inexpensive ($15–$30) though miso soup, ginger-dressed salads, freshly fried rice and grilled vegetables go a long way in proving this is no streamlined a la carte order. In addition, the grill gets hot enough (and the chefs are proficient enough) to render simply cooked and well-seasoned food that can stand up to far more expensive strip steaks and tenderloins.

Dessert shows off with one final celebratory fried spark, either as deep-fried ice cream or equally crispy bananas. Both are fun and speak largely to the image that Kon pursues: Everything tastes better when it’s served with a side dish of showmanship. The restaurant does offer up plenty of it at each step though, with very few exceptions, it’s not done to bolster the food; the food here stands on its own, simple and good. Kon may be a hybrid of family Chinese, steak and a drink-driven social spot, but it doesn’t give up one for another.