Northwest 1

Royal Egg Rolls Restaurant in Centerton

January 18, 2022

Author Lyndi Fultz

January 18, 2022

Lyndi Fultz

If you look at a strip mall and wonder if the restaurant with a small simple sign is worth trying, then Royal Egg Rolls Restaurant in Centerton is your place!

Smiley eyes and a dimple in her cheek.

Spend one second with Katherine Xiong and you are drawn into her quiet charm. She is proud of her sons and husband and she is quick to tell you so with her smiley eyes and a dimple in her cheek.

Katherine and her husband own the Royal Egg Rolls Restaurant in Centerton, which opened in the summer of 2018. Their son runs another Asian restaurant they own in Farmington called Mandalay Fusion.

A winning combination.

While Mandalay Fusion is more Chinese-cuisine-inspired, Royal Egg Rolls is a combination of Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, and Japanese.

Originally from Laos, Katherine and her husband are native Hmong. What’s interesting is that once they came to America, she and her husband learned to cook from working at various Asian restaurants that focused on all different styles of cuisine.

“When we got married, we learned to accommodate different cuisines as we learned different languages. We learned Japanese and learned sushi from there. We worked at a Thai restaurant and learned Thai and Chinese. I always put my own touch to it,” Katherine shared with me. “My husband is picky with his own sauce and puts his own touch to it, too. We adapted recipes and made it our own.”

Can we talk about the Pad Thai, please?

If you order nothing but the Chicken Pad Thai over and over again, you’ll never be disappointed. It is Katherine’s personal favorite dish and yes, it’s that good!

Her Pad Thai is so rich and creamy because she creates a wonderful tamarind sauce. She was quick to let me know that adding tamarind is what makes it “original Thai.”

“People don’t usually add tamarind to their Pad Thai here, I’ve noticed,” said Katherine. “I’ve been using my recipe for almost thirty-years and I still work on it. I crunch the tamarind, soak them overnight, and use my fingers to get all the paste out and all the seeds. I think our Pad Thai makes you want to say, “I think I will sit and enjoy this.”

Okay, so what else is popular?

Since the restaurant has the word “rolls” in its name, it’s only right to start off with a roll. I suggest an appetizer of Chicken Eggrolls, made with chicken, cabbage, carrots, and onions served with their house plum sauce. It’s delicious!

If you want to get creative with mixing different cuisines, order the Chicken Eggrolls (Chinese), Thai Vegetarian Spring Roll (Thai), and a Spring Roll (Vietnamese).

I also recommend the Chicken Lo-Mein with stir-fried noodles with broccoli, carrots, mushrooms, peapods, cabbage, and onion.

Dine in or take it to go.

The restaurant went through some adjustments over the past year because of the pandemic.

Previously, they had a larger space with linen cloths on the tables for family dining. Over the year they decided to close in that space and operate out of a smaller dining area. While there is a steady stream of to-go orders, you absolutely can come in and dine in person.

In fact, why not tonight?