Balance Pan-Asian Grille’s fusion foods are like an alarm clock for the taste buds. Which is exactly how its owners, workaholic business school grads Prakash Karamchandani and HoChan Jang, like it. “Our flavors are turned all the way up,” Karamchandani says. His Indian background brings the cuisine’s Southeast Asian bent; Jang, a native of South Korea, riffs on the East Asian techniques he learned working in his mother’s restaurant as a teenager. We sat down with the fusion foodies in anticipation of Balance Pan-Asian Grille’s third anniversary February 22 and the expansion of their Central Ave. location to preview their new seasonal menu.
1. Bang Bang Balls
Chicken and tofu meatballs atop a bowl of noodles, complemented by Bang Bang sauce, a mix of habanero, thai, red hot dry and ghost chilis, was a dish created after customers asked for something super spicy. “I said alright, I’ll show you what’s up,” Jang says, laughing. The result is an eye-watering take on spaghetti and meatballs.
2. Cluckin’ Dumplins
The from-scratch dough is inspired by Korean dumplings — crispy outside, soft and chewy inside, wrapped around minced chicken mixed with scallions and onions. The accompanying potsticker sauce is “very light — a little tart, a little sweet,” Jang says. “That’s the perfect example of a Korean sauce.”
3. Bello Tacos
A vegetarian taco of portobello mushrooms, kale, red onion and cilantro, garnished with an Indo-Chinese tamarind chutney. “Indo-Chinese [cuisine] is really huge right now,” Jang says.
4. Wok In The Park
A Balance mainstay, this dish of 10-plus locally-sourced, seasonal veggies, brown rice and tofu has been on the menu since day one. “It’s what has made us known for gluten-free [food],” Jang says. It’s served with a gluten-free soy sauce that has a touch of tomato puree — a mildly sweet and tangy dressing.
5. Ramen
A light, vegetarian broth that’s cooked for two hours, with egg noodles, dashi (dried kelp), spices and topped with a boiled egg. “It is one of those nostalgic dishes,” Jang says. “Everyone’s eaten ramen in their college days. We wanted to make a legit ramen dish.”
6. House Sauces
The five house sauces — sweet and sour, wiseman, nuts4pao, four-star, and sassy me — were inspired by recipes Jang learned at The China, his mother’s Chinese-American restaurant in Bowling Green.
7. Shrimp Chimi Tacos
Chimichurri sauce is simplified, then boosted with a dose of mint, “so it became more like a mint chutney,” Karamchandani says. Wok-fire shrimp is inspired by the simplicity of South-American food preparation.
8. Nuts4pao
A build-a-bowl dish where patrons choose the ingredients, which is how most of Balance’s menu works. This dish features wok-fire steak atop house noodles, with home-cooked peanuts and fresh scallions and the straightforward, spicy/salty nuts4pao sauce.
9. Bombay Bomber
“It was such a hit when we used pita bread we decided to bring that [element] back,” Jang says. This wrap features grilled chicken, artisan mixed greens, red onions, fresh tomatoes, cilantro, scallions, and fresh tamarind chutney.
Karamchandani and Jang have also chosen new, more eco-friendly bowls, made of active compostable materials that decompose like food. “We want to build a restaurant chain that does not negatively affect the environment,” Karamchandani says. As they pack up the table post-photo shoot, Jang explains the appeal of his Asian-meets-American cooking. “I get a lot of influence from Korean, Japanese, and Chinese [cuisine],” he says. “But I try to fit the palate of an American. Everything is bolder than typical Asian food.”
Balance Pan-Asian Grille has two locations:
514 The Blvd., Maumee; 419-893-9999 and 5860 W. Central Ave., Toledo. 419-578-7777. balancegrille.com.
