2Fortune house 5 out of 5 spartan heads
Wasabi 4 out of 5 spartan heads
The first restaurant I went to was Fortune House. Fortune House is located in the University Town Center Strip Mall, 1100 19 Avenue North.
The outside of the restaurant has a big sign with Chinese characters with the word ‘Fortune’ after. The storefront window contains multiple LED signs, and the restaurants hours are also posted outside. The inside of the restaurant is probably what you would expect of a traditional American-Chinese restaurant. The ambiance is very warm and inviting, and the food definitely fills you up. The walls are a basic tan color, but they do contain some Chinese style art hanging on them. The walls are lined with booths and tables, and the back of the restaurant has a buffet.
The menu contains many different variations of food and also includes a lunch and dinner menu. The lunch menu is much smaller than the dinner menu. It only contains a few of the dishes the dinner menu contains. However, the dinner menu is very extensive. Some of the categories on the dinner menu includes curry, sweet and sour options, vegetable options, tofu, chicken, combination plates, chefs specials, lo mein, fried rice, chow mein, moo shu, egg foo young and seafood. Personally, I ordered the sesame chicken and chicken fried rice, but they also have some vegan and vegetarian options like tofu and vegetables with white rice.
Fortune House opened in 1997 and specializes in serving Szechuan, Cantonese, and Hunan cuisine. Fortune House is also family owned. The service is very fast and reliable, and the hours are from 11:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. every day, except it’s closed on Sunday.
The second and last restaurant I went to was Wasabi. Wasabi is a Japanese type restaurant that is located on 560 2 Ave N. It is on the same corner as the Silver Lining creamery, and it shares its space with Poke Bowl, which is another restaurant. The outside of Wasabi has two signs that have the names of the restaurants and are placed in the storefronts. Also the hours of each restaurant are located on the storefront window. The inside of the restaurant is separated into two spaces. The ambience of Wasabi is very modern, but you also don’t feel out of place if you go there. The main types of people you’ll see at Wasabi are younger couples and friend groups.
When you walk in, you’ll notice that the Poke Bowl side of the restaurant is in the front and you have to walk back to enter the Wasabi portion of the restaurant. When you enter the Wasabi area you’ll notice that there is a Japanese theme throughout. The menu of Wasabi is very extensive and includes many different types of fish and sushi including sake (salmon), tako (octopus), unagi (cooked eel) and much more. There are also some non fish sushi options like california rolls and veggie rolls. The beverages served at Wasabi are the basic soda options and they also have some alcoholic options for people 21 and older. I wouldn’t recommend this restaurant to people who are vegan and vegetarian, because there’s not a ton of options for people who don’t eat fish or meat of any kind. The service at Wasabi was very good and professional, and the lady taking my order was very nice.
Wasabi just recently moved from NP avenue to Second Avenue and has been a Fargo business since 2009. The hours are 11:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Sundays.
I definitely recommend these restaurants to anyone who hasn’t heard of them or to anyone that wants to try out something new.