Ruyi, a new asian restaurant, offers a variety of food including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Italian.
The city’s newest restaurant opened last week at 1113 Commercial St., the former location of Wings, with a new décor and a menu offering a sampling of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Italian, and Vietnamese foods.
Owner Tony Wang said that Ruyi Asian Foods features popular dishes from several Asian cultures, to give a variety of choices to customers. Two Italian dishes also are part of the menu.
The restaurant currently is operating with a temporary menu, as Wang and his employees adjust to the needs and preferences of their customers.
“Is because we just open and we want to make it prepared well,” said Lauren Liu, who translated portions of the interview for Wang. Liu, who is from China, works as a waitress at Ruyi and is a full-time student at ESU, where she majors in communications and journalism.
Wang said he has been pleasantly surprised by the number of customers who have come to Ruyi, and returned, in the short time the restaurant has been open.
“People come here for lunch and then come back for dinner,” Liu said.
Riyu will be open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
The permanent menu will be unveiled soon and will feature appetizers, like crab Rangoon, French fries, and barbecued squid; a variety of soups and soup with noodles; barbecued dishes, like Korean barbecued beef, Cantonese roast duck, and Texas grilled barbecue griskin; Teppan-yaki dishes, made with squid, eggplant or black pepper beef; several “hot pot” entrees; and a selection of four desserts, such as sweetened sago cream with coconut milk.
The house specialties, all served with rice, include Asian and American favorites, marked with red chili peppers if the dishes are hot and spicy.
“My boss, he picked the most popular and the most favorite,” Liu said.
The Vietnamese beef soup always is in demand, and Wang said that a special rice, nestled inside a broad lotus leaf and steamed inside a reed container, will offer a new taste for Emporians.
“I put the food here,” Wang said, illustrating preparation with a large serving of the actual products, “I put the lid, I cook. … People can eat it all because it’s too delicious. All the smell goes to the rice.”
Wang said that oil is not used to prepare dishes at Ruyi.
“We put the vegetables in hot water to cook instead of oil, because it’s healthier,” he said.
Wang has 11 years’ experience operating a restaurant; however, he made several trips back to China, his home country, to take chef’s courses in preparation for opening Ruyi. Among his new specialty dishes will be Beijing roast duck, once called Peking duck, which he expects to become a popular choice.
“He went several times to go to different provinces to learn different kinds of food, because China’s a giant country and it has different kinds of food — the north, the south, it’s different kinds of food,” Liu explained.
Wang emphasized that he uses Lee Kum Kee brand of sauces, manufactured in Hong Kong, because of the flavors and quality they add to the food.
Last week’s opening came after three to four months of remodeling and preparations.
The new restaurant has satin-finished wooden tables and matching chairs, with padded, ebony-colored seats and backs. High-back booths made of varnished beadboard line each side of the room, and traditional Chinese hanging light fixtures have replaced the fluorescent lights.
“He wanted to make the best climate for people to come here,” Liu said. “In China most of the restaurants is like this.”
Traditional Chinese music is being chosen to provide an authentic atmosphere for diners.
Wang asked Liu to create a questionnaire for customers to let them give their opinions about the reasons they came in, what their favorite dishes were, the quality of service and their thoughts about the prices.
“In all,” the seventh and last set of questions asks, “how did you like your visit to Ruyi? Do you have advice to help us make your visits here more enjoyable?”
Advice from the restaurant’s patrons, he said, will help him shape the restaurant and its foods to fit the local customer base.
And Wang, who has lived in Emporia since 1998, offered his opinion of the city and its friendly residents several times during an interview Wednesday afternoon.
“I love Emporia,” he said.
Comments
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create (anonymous) says...
I had the Vietnamese beef soup yesterday and enjoyed it very much. It's made with rice noodles. The portion was very generous and the accompanying vegetables were fresh and crisp. Watch the peppers, though, they're super hot. Just let them float on the soup for flavor.
March 5, 2009 at 5:38 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
lightenup (anonymous) says...
Yay, a new restaurant with a variety of new flavors. Looking forward to trying this place!
March 5, 2009 at 8:46 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
admireed (anonymous) says...
Need recommendation...not super hot but with some bite. I Like asian food but have never paid much attention to remembering what is what
March 5, 2009 at 8:48 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
admireed, I recommend you try this place out. Try the Korean Barbecue. It's made with pork rib meat --good sized pieces-- very tender, with pieces of carrot and bell pepper. This is a generous serving and served with fried rice. The sauce is served on the side; it has a bite but not real hot. The Korean sauce I make here at home is wicked hot; the one at the restaurant is not. When I was there, the two waitresses were new and trying to learn what is in each dish. Right now, they're working with a smaller menu, but up in front near the register, there are big pictures of the various dishes. I am looking forward to trying the squid.
Do you like sushi? This place will have sushi soon, and there's a new sushi place opening up also where Arizings used to be in that little strip mall on 12th where Subway is located across from ESU. I'm looking forward to that place too.
Hope you enjoy this Ruyi Asian place. I'm just thrilled that at last, there is a restaurant here to offer a variety of flavors. Oh yeah, I was surprised to see they offer a couple of Italian choices. I haven't tried it though. Also, what I really liked about this place is the seating. They have those really high-backed booths that don't allow the rest of the world to see what you're eating. I eat with chopsticks, and I sometimes become uncomfortable because people always stare at me when I am eating in a Chinese place. Chinatown in Honolulu and San Francisco and Chicago offer the high backed booths and I like them for privacy.
March 6, 2009 at 11:26 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
cheryl (anonymous) says...
Dave and I tried out the restaurant this evening. Here are photos...
http://www.flyoverpeople.net/news/ind...
March 7, 2009 at 10:02 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
silver07 (anonymous) says...
I tried the pineapple chicken and it was some of the best Chinese food I've ever had. Good quality meat and very tasty. Hope they add more chicken dishes to the menu. I'm definitely looking forward to eating there again.
March 27, 2009 at 4:48 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )