Cafe Asia owners have downsized to the smaller Asian Wok, but the flavors are still big
Yook and Mike Gan have been in the Wichita restaurant business for 23 years, and they’re ready to slow down. For the Gans, though, slowing down seems to mean finishing their work days at 8 or 9 p.m. rather than at 1 or 2 a.m.
The couple, who on New Year’s Eve closed their popular Cafe Asia in Normandie Center after 20 years, have just opened their new restaurant, Asian Wok, which has taken over the space formerly occupied by Rita’s Italian Ice — right next to the Five Guys at 2929 N. Rock Road. Actually, they’ve been quietly serving to-go orders for the past couple of weeks but asked me to keep it quiet lest Wichita Eagle readers slam them with business they weren’t ready for.
But as of this weekend, the restaurant is now fully up and running, and the Gans have even opened their small dining room, which features just five tables. There’s also a small outdoor seating area that will be able to accommodate diners when the weather warms up.
Recently, the Gans invited me over to see the new space and to learn about what is — and isn’t — on their new menu, which features a mix of old Cafe Asia favorites and new dishes the Gans were inspired to add after their travels throughout the United States and Europe.
The new restaurant represents a bit of a compromise for the workaholic couple. Their grueling schedule at the much larger Cafe Asia had gotten to be too much, and they often talked of retirement. But when it came down to it, both decided they couldn’t sit still.
They found a partner and a good deal on the space on Rock Road, and initially, they’d planned to open a small, upscale fine dining restaurant. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic hit and that no longer seemed like a good idea, Yook said. The concept they came up with allows them to continue to feed their customers on a smaller scale that they feel they can better control. (Though it’s easy to see after a few minutes with the couple that they’re not really the slowing down type.)
Their new menu isn’t exactly small, though. It features many of the Malaysian specials their customers love, including Salt & Pepper Chicken and Curry Noodle Soup. They’ve also added several noodle soups, like Udon noodle soup with a heavy brown broth, as well as appetizers like homemade pan fried chicken dumplings and fried calamari rolls.
Cafe Asia’s famous fried rice is still on the menu, and the Gans have added a new House Special Seafood Fried Rice entree, which features a massive portion of rice stir fried with calamari, shrimp and mussels.
They’ve also added a gluten-free section to the menu, something that customers have been requesting more and more over the past 10 years or so, Yook said. Though she can make just about any menu item gluten free upon request, the menu offers dishes like chicken fried rice, Vegetable Delite with steamed rice, Malaysian Rice Noodle with chicken, and Pad Thai.
There’s also a lunch menu served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays that features dishes priced at $9.25 each and served with spring roll, crab Rangoon, soup or salad. Options include Chicken Curry Fried Rice, Pineapple Chicken, Green Curry Chicken, Thai Penang Curry, Sesame Chicken and more.
Customers who dine in may have their food delivered in a small stainless steel wok that keeps the food warm with Sterno on the underside. The dishes are popular in New York City, Yook said.
People new to the Gans cooking should know, though, that the menu is not like what they may be used to at local Chinese carryout places. There’s no Sweet and Sour Chicken, for example, and though there is General Tso chicken, the Malaysian style is a bit different and its brown sauce is not made with corn starch.
The Gans both grew up in the southern part of Malaysia and met at college in Taiwan. They moved to Wichita in 1984 so Mike could continue studying computer science, and after he got a job in that field, Yook decided she wanted to start a restaurant. They opened Cafe Malaysia Cafe at 7777 E. 21st St. in 1998, and it was a hit. Soon, Mike was leaving his day job then heading to the cafe to help his wife. Eventually, the two decided that he’d quit and join her.
They sold Cafe Malaysia in 2000 and opened a restaurant called Malaysian Cuisine in Derby. About that time, the couple also helped Mike’s brother open a restaurant in Normandie Center, which when it opened in 2000 was called Malaysian Cuisine II. But after a couple of years, the brother decided he wanted out of the business, so Mike and Yook took it over. They earned legions of fans with their Malaysian-style cooking, and those fans were devastated when the Gans announced last year they were closing Cafe Asia, then delighted when they learned they were opening something new.
The two seem to be trying to draw some boundaries with their enthusiastic customers and are letting them know that they can’t do everything they used to. The restaurant’s popular, buttery roti bread, for example, can’t be ordered eight at a time because the bread takes constant attention, and Yook and Mike are the only two people in the kitchen.
Yook said she’s still willing to make special dishes her longtime customers miss from Cafe Asia when she can, but she’s no longer carrying the flat noodles needed to make popular dishes like Char Kueh Teow — though she may pick some up from time to time and offer that dish as a special.
The Gans’ goal, they say, is to get the new restaurant on its feet and then maybe step away in five years or so. But it’s difficult to picture that happening once you see these two in action.
The restaurant’s hours — 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. seven days a week and 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays — are only temporary, Yook insists. She won’t be adding hours, she insists, but will eventually eliminate some, probably on Sundays. She and Mike plan to plant a little garden in a patch of ground just outside the restaurant’s front door and will grow lemongrass, snow peas and long beans to use in their dishes. She’ll need a day to focus on her plants, Yook said, and she’s already warning customers.
Because it’s just the couple in the kitchen, Yook warns that it’s best to call ahead for carryout. Asian Wok is not like a typical carryout place where items can be ready in 10 to 15 minutes. To place an order, call 316-239-1238.
This story was originally published February 22, 2021 at 2:44 PM.
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