Traditional meets modern at Smokin’ Hot Asian Kitchen in La Jolla

When it opened last year, Smokin’ Hot Asian Kitchen provided a fresh take on modern Asian cuisine in La Jolla’s Village.

Located just steps from La Jolla Cove at 1000 Prospect St., the restaurant’s hours are 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays. A full menu and more information are available at smokinhotasiankitchen.com.

To learn more, the La Jolla Light posed the following questions to chef Tricia Kim.

Q. When did Smokin’ Hot Asian Kitchen open? Who founded it? What is its mission?

A. We opened Aug. 15, founded by the Kim-Clark.Enterprises.LLC group. The mission is to offer diverse Asian dishes, from traditional to modern-day Asian fusion cuisines, to the La Jolla community [and to be] your La Jolla neighborhood Vietnamese restaurant by the sea.

Q. What services do you offer?

A. We offer a family- and dog-friendly establishment, gluten-free dishes and vegetarian dishes. Every dish is made to order, so we can customize most dishes.

Q. What makes Smokin’ Hot Asian Kitchen unique compared with other area restaurants?

A. We are a Vietnamese/Asian fusion bistro [featuring] ... traditional cuisines such as Vietnamese crepes (banh xeo), shaken beef (bo luc lac), grilled pork and egg rolls Vermicelli (bun thit nuong cha gio), pho and Vietnamese sandwiches (banh mi) to ... modern-day Asian fusion dishes like Korean barbecue short ribs, miso sea bass with bok choy, butter garlic Dungeness crabs and more.

Smokin’ Hot Asian Kitchen is at 1000 Prospect St. in La Jolla.

(Tricia Kim)

Q. What’s new with the business that you want everyone to know about?

A. We offer Vietnamese coffee, boba and beignets. We have been recognized for our signature dishes such as oxtail pho and lobster pho (which features a whole 1.5- to 2-pound lobster) and our $1 oyster specials. ... We also offer three pho broths: chicken (white meat; we cook for six to eight hours), beef (with beef bone marrow; we cook for eight to 10 hours) and vegetable broth. No MSG in our broth, nor any of our dishes; all natural ingredients. Our veggie pho has been a very popular item for the La Jolla community.

Business Spotlight features enterprises that support this publication. ◆