Asian-Latino cuisine seems a culinary oxymoron to the uninitiated. Both regions prefer hot, spicy foods yet rarely utilize the same spices. How could the combo become a working restaurant?
Betty’s Wok ‘ Noodle Diner (250 Huntington Ave.) achieves this tall order with equal parts kitsch and true style. Appetizers such as the Crispy Cabana ‘Juan-Tons’ ($4.95) epitomize the flavor formula: chili-spiced beef won-tons with a Cuban citrus dip. The ambiance is also a melting pot of sorts, matching 50s diner booths and stools with a contemporary flair designer lights, deep warm tones and flat-stoned walls abound.
And Betty, Donna Reed of the woks, dressed in homespun digs, smiles from two oversized framed posters the restaurant’s only wall décor as she pours rice into a top-loading washing machine. The diner moniker in this case only spills over to the food’s loving preparation and friendly staff. This ain’t your ‘every-waitress-is-named-Flo’ diner it’s comfort food for the contemporary city dweller.
Our enthusiastic the word does not do her justice server accosted the long table with simplified instructions on how Betty’s works: choose a noodle/rice dish, choose a bowl of veggies and tofu from the bar and select a sauce. Sounds simple? Not so much. There are four types of noodles and seven varied sauces, not to mention the vegetables baby corn, peas, water chestnuts, bamboo, peppers, mushrooms, to name a few.
So we opted for an appetizer as the explanation settled. A friend from California where the food is apparently cooler suggested Edamame ($4.95/order; two were more than enough for a table of ten), a traditional dish of light salted soybeans in the shell. The closest taste comparison would be roasted pumpkin seeds if the salty, grainy taste is not enough reason to choose this dish, consider how funny people look ripping soybeans out of the shells with their teeth, all the while attempting to retain dignity. Guaranteed icebreaker.
The noodle bar Nazi returned, requesting our food orders. I opted for a brown rice dish with vegetables and the Asian Pesto Sauce (that’s #34-B on the menu, $9.95) between everyone at the table, we explored chicken, shrimp, and veggie dishes, annotating the menu but hardly covering the entire expanse.
The Asian Pesto, though tangy and fragrant with cilantro and basil, tasted similar to Italian pesto and probably isn’t a good choice for the more adventurous. I also tasted the Cuban Chipotle Citrus sauce which was the most invigorating (sweet, lemon first bite, sharp aftertaste) and the Cantonese Hoison (a saccharine, extremely rich twist on the traditional). The only disappointment was the Red Thai Coconut sauce. Although not billed as spicy, the aromatic coconut milk, tempered with lime turned up surprisingly bland for red curry.
Most of us had rice to spare in the end, and the food and drink was not heavy, but satiating, refreshing and light. After a Betty’s meal, you feel full but still able to dance to the mix of War, Tom Jones and Barry White spinning on the speakers.
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