Bowie Restaurant Project: (67) East Moon Asian Bistro

East Moon Asian Bistro

For an explanation of the Bowie Restaurant Project, look here.


For a list of all the Bowie Restaurant Project reviews, look here.

East Moon Asian Bistro, 6107 High Bridge Rd.
Most Recent Foursquare Check-in: 6/9/2013
Total Foursquare Check-ins: 3
Pre-Foursquare Visits: No
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

East Moon's stylish interior

Somehow Bowie has ended up with three restaurants with "Asian Bistro" in their name. Golden Pavilion Asian Bistro and Ichiban Sushi Asian Bistro are the other two. Having not been to Ichiban since they expanded into an Asian Bistro, I can't yet compare and contrast each of them. But I will say it's tricky to do a review of any of them, since by design they feature a variety of cuisines, which are hard to completely sample in my standard two visits. In addition to one sit-down visit to East Moon and two take-outs, I believe I've had delivery once.

The bottom line is that the mix of cuisines generates a mixed bag, but the best of the food is excellent. My main complaint is that the Thai food -- the only Thai available in Bowie -- is the least spicy Thai food I've ever tasted. Also, if you think because you're having Chinese food, you'll order an egg roll, be aware that you'll end up with a "Vietnamese egg roll," which I don't find nearly as tasty.

That said, their dishes are generally very well-prepared, and the presentation is very nice. The interior decor is head-and-shoulders above what you'd expect from the strip mall interior. The sushi is good, though I've yet to find the definitive area sushi joint. I'd definitely recommend them, with the caveat that your, "Oh, how exciting, they have that" moment may not live up to expectations.

Tuna pizza letdown

Case in point: Christina was amazed to see that they had "tuna pizza" on the menu. We've had a longstanding discussion about the fact that you can get tuna on your pizza anywhere but the United States. Her observation that this is the case has held up very well. I don't think we've ever failed to find it on a trip abroad, and its absence in Puerto Rico was a sure sign we were still in an American territory.

This...was not tuna pizza. It was tasty, but it was some sort of sashimi-on-wonton thing.

So...3.5 stars. It could probably be 4, but the fact that I'm not motivated to drive past Golden Pavilion to get there keeps it at 3.5.

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Bowie Restaurant Update

 Hibachi Bowl is open! Review coming later this month once I make it out there.

The full name of the restaurant coming to Free State is apparently "Anthony's NY Pizza & Pasta House". That means it's probably related to this one in Clarksville. My uncle calls that place, "pretty good, but not outstanding."

A colleague has confirmed my suspicions that Ichiban is the same place as the restaurant the City has listed as "Asian Bistro" next door, so that knocks down my to-do list by one. Here are the remaining restaurants to review and complete this Project.

1. 19th Hole Bar & Gril
2. Anthony’s NY Pizza & Pasta House (not open yet)
3. Carrabba’s
4. Chessie’s
5. Hibachi Bowl
6. Ichiban Sushi Asian Bistro
7. Irie Cafe (not open yet)
8. Jerry’s Seafood
9. Longhorn Steakhouse
10. Penalty Box Cafe
11. Pizza Hut (There are 3; I have visited 2, and will combine the reviews into one post.)
12. Sakura
13. Texas Roadhouse