Phoenix Asian Cuisine

Located at 1641 New Garden Road in Greensboro, Phoenix Asian Cuisine offers Asian fusion for lunch and dinner seven days per week. There is a full bar with specialty drinks, and gluten-free food items are available.

If you set the bar higher than “satisfying generic takeout,” then finding good Chinese food in Greensboro is no easy task. To that end, Phoenix Asian Cuisine is a welcome change of pace, both in terms of ambiance and menu selection. It’s also quite a bit costlier than ubiquitous takeout fare, and for the money charged, the food falls a bit short of expectations.

Phoenix is nicely appointed with dark woods and a distinctive tapestry-like paint scheme above the bar area. The menu is deep and varied, offering everything from soups and salads to vegetarian, chicken, beef, pork, and seafood dishes to sushi to chef’s signature dishes featuring duck and lamb. Thai curries and Vietnamese noodles hobnob with familiar Chinese favorites like lo mein and sweet and sour chicken. There are also a few dishes not often found elsewhere, such as sweet and spicy walnut chicken.

For our first visit, my wife and I went with steamed potstickers, Singapore noodles, and the aforementioned walnut chicken. The potstickers were good: they avoided the gumminess that ruins other versions. The walnut chicken was sweet but not cloyingly so, and the candied walnuts were a nice touch. The Singapore noodles were fragrant and tasty enough though a bit underseasoned. Service was polite albeit a bit harried: an order of sake was initially forgotten though the oversight was quickly remedied when pointed out.

Pricing, unfortunately, is very nearly Phoenix’s undoing. The walnut chicken came out to $15.50 and the Singapore noodles ran $13. In the case of the latter, better versions are available elsewhere for several dollars less. Portion sizes were certainly adequate though not large enough to justify the money charged.

Were either the food elevated or the prices lowered, Phoenix would be a must for anyone seeking good Chinese cuisine. Instead, it comes across as a more authentic, non-corporate P.F. Changs, offering food that is well above takeout grade in classy digs while still leaving you wondering if it was really worth what you paid.

7.75/10