Happy Hour at AZN; Worthwhile?

AZN

AZN restaurant

is a restaurant that features Asian food. They have been open for over 10 years now in the Mercato, a mixed use commercial/residential development in North Naples. I am not a big fan of these types of developments as I think they’re a bit too contrived. It seems to have worked for some at this location though, including AZN.

I was recently at Mercato for their Sunday Funday event, and rediscovered their happy hour, “R’AZN the Bar” at AZN.  I Blogged about their happy hour over 4 years ago; the food being just O.K. and had not been back since. On that more recent visit, the food seemed much better, so I planned a third visit with a few other friends.

Here were the happy hour offerings that day. I was pleased to see that the items that were kept on their happy hour menu from four years ago had only a very mild price increase. This has not been the case with other local happy hours, especially the ones owned by large restaurant corporations.

Happy hour menu, AZN

There were four of us, and we decided to try a number of menu items. The first was the chicken lettuce wraps. 

Chicken lettuce wraps

This was a hold over from the menu from 4 years ago and I was happy to see only a 16% price increase. This is about double the average yearly Consumer Price Index from 2014-2018, but no where near the increases seen at other, again, corporate restaurants that have happy hours.

This item was good, featuring ground chicken, water chestnuts and hoisin sauce. As there were four of us, the lettuce was mostly ornamental. I’m sure we would have received more lettuce on request, but we were happy to just sample the filling.

We then tried the beef lo mein, another holdover.

Beef lo mein

This was very good, it being the typical lo mein incorporating beef, soy sauce, sesame oil and various vegetables. What is the difference between chow mein and lo mein you may ask? It’s principally in the noodles. Chow mein uses crispy (c as in chow) while lo mein uses soft boiled noodles. I haven’t yet thought of a good mnemonic for lo mein noodles but if you can, please write me!

We also sampled the spicy calamari and the coconut shrimp. The calamari was battered and spiced with Shichimi commonly known as togarashi. This is a spicy, 7 component Japanese seasoning agent similar to Garam Masala of India or Advieh used in “Persian” cooking. It was served with a togarashi mayo dipping sauce. It was good, but not my favorite of the afternoon.

The coconut shrimp were next. There were four of them which was perfect for sharing at our table. This recipe is usually made by dredging shrimp in flour, then an egg wash then rolling then in shredded coconut and putting them in a fryer. They were served with a pineapple/ mango puree and were good.

My favorite of the menu items we selected were the pulled pork sliders.

Pulled pork sliders

This excellent happy hour menu item features pulled pork, in house made BBQ sauce and cole slaw. In house made potato chips sealed the deal. There were two per serving so we ordered two plates for the table. Everyone was happy with these.

Our bill came to forty dollars, or ten dollars per person and we did not walk away hungry. The happy hour offerings ordered were not exceptional, but were good and a really great value for ten dollars per person. Better yet on Sundays, the day we went, happy hour is extended from it’s normal 3-6 PM to 12-6 PM. This is a great place to have a few good bites after a movie at the Mercato and/or just sit outside and people watch. The happy hour at AZN has much improved since my initial visit and I would recommend it without hesitation.

That’s that for another post on Forks.

AZN

9118 Strada Pl.

Naples, FL 34108

(239)593-8818

AZN Naples Website

All major credit cards accepted, Happy hour 3-6 PM Monday-Saturday and 12-6 PM Sunday

Spicy calamari

Coconut shrimp