Traditional Asian Restaurant Review

Just thought I'd report back on our Tuesday night restaurant outing (for the lack of anything else to talk about). We ate a small cafe called "Traditional Asian Restaurant" located in a strip mall not far from our villa. Not much thought in the naming of the place, but the food was wonderful and the decor was modern and bright...just a really "fun" atmosphere. And as always, the Asian service was impeccable, down to the "excuse me, madame, while I put your napkin in your lap". By all means, spoil me rotten, please. The menu consisted of Thai, Chinese, and Filipino fare. Kristi & I went the safe route and got Shrimp Tempura and Sweet & Sour Chicken. Of course, the portions were huge, but somehow we managed not to save any to bring home. David opted for Chili Prawn, which was spicy, but quite tasty. There wasn't a grain of fried rice or anything else for that matter on our table by the time we were done. We topped it off with our waitress' suggestion of her favorite dessert of "Purple Yam". As she set it down in front of us, I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall to have seen our faces. Probably one of the most unappetizing desserts I've ever encountered was staring back at us.... a square purple blob with a hint of a yellow smear on top. The three of us reluctantly picked up our forks and scooped out a very small portion of the blob. Hmmm, not bad...maybe even edible...hey, this stuff is pretty good. With a great sigh of relief, we licked the platter clean. We quizzed the waitress on what it was made of (afterwards, of course, just in case!) and she said, "violet sweet potatoes, milk, and sugar". I'm sorry that I didn't get a pic of it, but I did find a dessert on the internet with purple yam in it...just click on purple blob above. Our dessert was more like a hunk of purple mud, not so much in the cake format as in the picture. We left with happy hearts and full bellies. Sybil Knox reporting from Doha.