While looking for an international dining experience with my friend Katrina Scheer we were surprised at how “Americanized” the Asian Cuisine restaurant appeared.
 
Katrina and I parallel parked on Monroe Center downtown and headed to XO Asian Cuisine. When you first walk into XO you are greeted by two sets of wooden double doors, finally arriving at a cashier’s desk which is connected to a bar. A hostess lit the candle after we sat down at our table and we noticed the faint Asian instrumental music that played in the background. Around the windows we saw beautiful silky, handmade gold linens, which the owner bought and brought over from China. Katrina was surprised at how there were not very many Asian art pieces on the walls or shelves and that we were not given chopsticks to eat with. The lighting was very soft which made it difficult to read the menu, however it did create a romantic atmosphere. On the walls we noticed that there were advertisements for Thailand. The posters looked like they were technically advertising a beautiful resort in some faraway land and “Thailand” was the only word on the poster.
 
Each place setting at our booth was double plated, the top plate for appetizers. Katrina and I didn’t get appetizers, so our waitress took the top plate. Katrina and I were actually confused when it came to our waitress. We had someone seat us, another person came and gave us our waters, and another person filled our waters when they were empty! Eventually our actual waitress came and took our order. Our authentic Asian food came hot and fast!
 
The XO Asian Cuisine is very popular amongst the Caucasian eye as many middle class white people say this restaurant is their favorite and that was obvious. Arriving at 5:30 was a good idea as every seat in the restaurant quickly became occupied. Katrina and I found out that XO Asian Cuisine has only been in the Monroe Center for three years, and the owners travel back to China every year to visit family and friends.
 
The XO Asian Cuisine had a very unique way of displaying their alcoholic beverages. It would seem that book shelves were placed against the wall but they used them to store the wine and beer. How creative! You can also sit at the bar and watch Channel 8 on the flat screen television.
 
Chinese, Japanese and Thai cuisines fill the menu with authentic Asian food. Katrina ordered the chicken fried rice and I ordered the sweet and sour pork which also came with a bowl of rice. Our food came hot on thick light blue square plates. We also had large silverware and the servings were large as well. Our servings were large and it was so good that we left with two “leftover” boxes and extremely full stomachs.
 
XO Asian Cuisine makes for a nice, relaxing night out of town. It’s very quiet, with a pleasant, even romantic atmosphere that is appropriate for a nice date, or even just friends. So GetOut! And try this food from another country.
 

 
Quick Facts
LOCATION:  58 Monroe Center St (7 minutes from CU)
HOURS: Monday - Thursday: 11 am to 10 pm
Friday and Saturday 11 am to 11 pm
Sunday Noon to 9 pm
WEB:  xoasiancuisine.com
PHONE: (616) 235-6969
GET OUT! FACTOR (OUT OF 5): !!!!

Oberlin’s Top 3
3. The Asian music
2. The soft relaxing atmosphere
1. The large servings