Photo by Christian Gooden, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Hiro Asian Kitchen
Bernie Lee made a bold decision when construction forced him to relocate Hiro in 2013 from the Delmar Loop to Washington Avenue. He rebranded it as Hiro Asian Kitchen and ditched the conventional sushi offerings for a menu that touches on Japanese, Chinese and several different Southeast Asian cuisines without succumbing to the clichés of 1990s pan-Asian fare. I haven’t seen my favorite dish there, penang bak kut teh (meat-bone tea), in a while, but I can still find the Malaysian beef rendang, the lemongrass-accented pork chop and a new favorite, the roasted-shrimp-based spicy laksa ramen.