Azia & Caterpillar Lounge

09/18/2008 Posted by gopherz99

I recently went to Azia on Sept 17th for my birthday. The service was impeccable with our waitress Trista looking after our every need. It caught me off guard when after ordering she recommended possibly a different meal that had more flavor to it even though the cost of the new dish was much lower. It's not every day that a waitress would risk a possible higher tip for the satisfaction of the customer. She was more than willing to answer every question we had as there were a ton of selections to choose from. My girlfriend went with the Sea bass and it was cooked to perfection as she said. I ended up going with the Scallops / Shrimp / Calamari platter. It was a very spicy plate, but put together very nicely. I would highly recommend this location for any type of outing. Ask for Trista next time you attend Azia and you won't be disappointed

Pros: Attentive wait staff, attractive surroundings

Cons: nothing

09/08/2008 Posted by superchaos

My family and friends celebrated two birthdays on Saturday, Sept 6 at Azia. The service was great and the food was amazing. Our waitress was very attentive. On that day, as we celebrated life we also received a phone call during our dinner that our beloved grandmother passed away. I found the closest staff member and informed her that we needed to leave right away. Within a few minutes, our food was packed, our check was ready and we were on our way. I want to commend Azia for their swift and caring attitudes. We will definitely be back. Thank you for everything.

Pros: Great service, excellent food and drinks

Cons: We waited quite sometime before we ordered our food

08/30/2008 Posted by shoutoutNWSuburbs

Realized I am in trouble for not planning our anniversary!! So thought I'd make this somewhat special and get out of our suburban setting. Remembered Thom Pham's restaurant from Star Tribune feature a while ago. So called in the reservation late evening. After a 25 minute drive out of the nw suburbs..we entered into a wonderful experience....the Azia is a romantic setting that creates the right mood even after a busy day! Food was divine, service was good. I could'nt resist and took a tour of the rest of the restaurant the caterpillar lounge, etc., simply superb. After dinner me and my wife went for a walk along Nicollet. Thank you Azia for making our anniversary event special. We will recommend this to others and be sure to come again!! Sirish

Pros: Ambience, Food, Service

Cons: Make sure to ask for the main dining

07/20/2008 Posted by lovlife

I just moved to Mpls recently from L A and visited Azia for the very first time. What a place ! I hornestly was not expected something like this would be in Mpls.Our sver Matt was delghtfull ! we ordered the chef"s choice $75 plate with some other hot appitizers and two entrees ( the halibut and the pork dish) for the four of us, oh man, we can"t be any happier. We walked throught out the restaurant after dinner, every single room tastfuly putted together. the crowd was beautiful and very interesting mix. I LOVE AZIA !!!

Pros: thumbs up, hot hot hot spot in town.

Cons: recentable price, could be very crowded, watch out for the bathrooms.

07/16/2008 Posted by jonnylias

I've been going to Azia for three years now. It seems like Azia is the hottest spot in town. Azia always has some new concept that hasn't been done yet. The last time I visited Sushi Chef Kenji was in the sushi bar cutting a whole blue-fin tuna in front of the sushi bar customers. The tuna looked like it had just been caught that day, I've never seen such a bright red color in a fish. Yes, when Kenji was done cutting the fish he made me a special tuna roll just for me. I've never been disappointed in the food or the service. I love Azia and will continue to go back and tell all of my friends. Don't forget late night D.J.'s.

Pros: Parking lot and valet

Cons: Not open overnight

07/14/2008 Posted by MyTaste

Every Asian person I know who had been to Azia told me it was overpriced and not worth it, but every non-Asian person raved about it. What do I do?, I asked myself. In the end I decided I'd give the restaurant a shot, since it was my baby sister's birthday we were celebrating. We went on a Friday night (made reservations 2 days in advance). We were seated at the "boat table"-which we thought was so cool only to later find out it was the worst spot in the restaurant. It was so hot in that corner--I guess the AC couldn't reach it (readers from the Twin Cities know that it was a scorcher (90's) that Friday, July 11). But the restaurant was so packed we couldn't move to another table so we were stuck in the boat. So that we could get a headstart on our order, we asked the restaurant to fax us their dinner menu-to our surprise that night, they had faxed us a lunch menu..the prices were way off. However, we didn't let that stop us from ordering for 10 for only a party of 5. When our dinner entrees came we asked if we could get some dinner plates (everyone knows that Asians order multiple entrees to SHARE!). We were told they didn't have dinner plates & were (rudely) told to use the small, rectangular sushi plates that came with every table. They expected us to eat regular food on a small 2x5 sushi plate! (I guess we need to work on our eating skills.) But, in the meantime, we got creative & used the 2 small bowls that the rice came in & 3 of the entree plates as our dinner plates. The food was ok--I've had better. We also ordered 3 pina coladas but tried to cancel 1. Our waiter told us we couldn't cos he had already put in the oder. Really? So why did it take 30 mins to get the drink? We were disgusted with the service but still managed to give a 13% tip, which we thought was more than generous. Our waiter disagreed. We left disappointed & vowed never to return, and vowed to spread the truth--Azia is overpriced & overrated! I should've listened to my fellow Asians.

07/11/2008 Posted by hawkstar

I'm not one to talk down about a restaurant, but I feel the need to do so here. I reserved my table through opentable-com and noted in my reservation that we were celebrating a birthday. I even checked the birthday icon before setting the reservation. No one in the staff mentioned it the entire night. When it came time for dessert, I asked if they did anything for birthdays. The waiter said something to the affect of 'I'll see what I can do.' He came back and didn't say anything so we just got a scoop of ice cream. It came to the table with a birthday candle. Much to our surprise, there was an ant crawling around the bowl. We alerted the waiter who acted surprised and said he didn't know how it got there. When I got the bill, they had charged me $4.95. I'm not actually asking for free stuff, however I thought it was normal for a restaurant to give a free dessert to the birthday guest. I also thought the charge would be removed due to an ant crawling on the dish. For the food, most of it was pretty average. I had the halibut cheeks which was prepared with mango and pineapple. It was good but it didn't seem to be very unique. My date had Carmelia (not sure if this is the name) which is a dish prepared with shrimp, asparagus, and pecans. Many of the asparagus stalks were overcooked so the texture was very stringy. The best part of the meal was the oyster bar. Azia has a great selection of oysters and I would go back to try more. For $20-$30 a plate, Azia is quite overrated. There are many places in the city that will offer higher quality dishes at a lower price with better service. Also, if Azia doesn't do anything for birthdays, they should not use opentable as their reservation service. When I looked at the menu before going to Azia, I thought that I would need to go several times in order to try different entrees. I left unimpressed and don't really feel the need to go again.

05/25/2008 Posted by OrganicActor

Azia Restaurant and Caterpillar Lounge was one of the best dining experiences I have ever had. From the moment my car was valet parked, to the very friendly host, to the bar staff, wait staff, and environment; this place has got it going on. The service there was impeccable; our waitress knew complementary dishes on the menu and was extremely attentive to the needs of our party. The food was presented beautifully and the spice level in the food was at the perfect pitch, so as to compliment all aspects of the dishes rather than to mask them. The ambiance was lovely and the decor beautiful. Highly recommended, even for people who do not like sushi or oysters, there are plenty of selections on the menu for all palates. Impressive wine list too!

Pros: Service, Food, Ambiance

05/19/2008 Posted by Namaste13

This restaurant is stellar. Our service was impeccable, and our food was sensational. I would recommend this restaurant for a variety of occassions, and it's sure to please. Make sure to order the cranberry cream cheese wantons as an appetizer.

05/19/2008 Posted by joezi

I made reservation two weeks in advance. They require a credit card and will charge if no one shows up. I was fine with that but when we got there for our 9pm reservation, we did not get seated until after 9:30. They also seated us at the wrong table and had to move us. We originally requested to be seated on the Sushi side and we were seated by the bathroom instead. The sushi was awful and the culinary display was not price at what it should be at. The only thing there that was nice was our server, Momma. I will never ever go there again and recommend that if you have a party, DO NOT GO THERE!