Asparagus

This is one of the best restaurants that qualify as " special occasion"-worthy in NWI. The decor is elegant, the service pretty flawless and the menu/ drink options a fine combo of classics and creativity. I wish I could eat at least one meal per day here. They can and will accommodate any type of group and there is enough space for it to be kid-friendly. It is always recommended to try the noodle/ rice dishes but the seafood is truly exceptional as are the steak/ chops.

Our dinner club decided to go to Asparagus for our quarterly get together.  It's really 3 couples who each takes turns deciding where to have dinner every 4 months.  Never having tried Thai food, I was really excited our friends chose Asparagus.  That really is the point of the "club", going to new places and trying new foods.  I cannot comment whether this was authentic Thai food or not but I can say it was very delicious!

For an appetizer, we ordered the Vietnamese Spring Rolls and the Lobster Mango Summer Rolls.  Both were scrumptious!  Another couple ordered the Avocado Crispy Rolls, and I assume they were also yummy cause they were gone in an instant!  lol

I have to say everyone was happy with their meal.  Well, except for my husband who ordered the Red Snapper Deluxe.  He was warned that it was a complete fish, head and all but I don't think he really thought that through.  The sweet sour sauce on top was very good and the fish was tasty, but the work to eat it without choking on bones was a bit much for him.

As my Entrée, I ordered the Shitaki duck and shrimp and it was very, very good.  I was expecting a small portion, much like you'd find in classier restaurants.  That was not the case however.  I could not even finish the meal.  Of course, I had to save room for dessert!

My husband decided on the cheesecake, his favorite "go to" dessert and it was good, but not anything extraordinary.  I order the apple crisp and ice cream.  Unique and not at all what I was expecting!  It had several types of nuts, peanuts and cashews!  OMG!  Yummy doesn't describe it!  The portion could have easily fed two and I barely finished half!

The only bad thing to report was they automatically added a 20% tip to our bill.  Not sure if this was because we had 6 in our party, even though we all paid separately. But I'm more accustomed to this practice in larger parties.  Our waitress benefited from this since no one realized this until the following morning.  Each couple gave an additional 20%.  

Next time we won't be so generous!  And I do believe there will be a next time!

The food is quite good (especially considering there are practically no Thai options in the region).  If you want to dine with a bunch of hipsters (hey, sometimes I do), go to Five Star.  If you want a classier experience, go to Asparagus.  The service and the presentation of the food was probably the best I've had outside of Chicago.  This place should do more business than it gets.

FYI: there's a dining room (small, quiet) and a lounge area with an impressively stocked bar.  I much prefer the lounge for the atmosphere.