Last summer, we attended The Big Eat in the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. It was a bountiful sea of Colorado restaurants showing off their best. Tucked at the end of a flight of stairs was a husband and wife busy stirring, tossing, and serving up samples of food that they’d be serving at their new restaurant, MAKfam, their first full-on brick and mortar restaurant. The fact that they weren’t even open yet but had the smarts to participate in this big foodie event AND the fact that their food was a standout for us, made us take notice. “I’m going to keep my eye out for this place!” I told my husband.
Chef Kenneth Wan and Doris Yuen started their culinary careers together in New York City. They then moved to Colorado and started META Asian Kitchen in 2017 in Avanti Food and Beverage, an “incubator” for restaurants to help them gain an audience without the huge outlay required for their own restaurants. All of that experience clearly served them well for opening MAKfam.
The MAKfam experience
We visited during their soft opening period when “friends and family” and, in our case, also media, are invited in to try the food and drink and to give their honest feedback. This is a chance to make adjustments and iron out any kinks before the restaurant presents itself full force. We appreciated being included in this process.
The couple is careful to make sure diners know their food is not intended to be authentic or traditional Chinese food. Instead, it is inspired by their Chinese American traditions but with their own modern interpretation.
The atmosphere of MAKfam is fun, makes good use of space, and carries their mission through form and function. The 1,670 square feet of space which seats 50 includes a deep green color scheme (a lucky color), art by Asian American artists, Kung Fu movies playing, a long counter for eating (as well as tables), a big window view into the kitchen, and little touches reflecting their cultural upbringing. A great example is that, when you place your order at the register, you’re given an order number on the face of an iconic Asian personality, on a tall stand. Our guy was taken away when our food was delivered before I could figure out who he might be.
Here’s what we ordered:
Scallion Pancake ($7) was delicious. Share it with at least one other person to save room an entree. This is a bit of a trick to do because the savory, slightly crispy pancake is so good, you’d be tempted to just chow down on it and forget everything else.
24 Hour Pork Belly Bao ($5.50 for 1, $16 for 3) is a smaller but bulky bite in the traditional puffy white taco-like dough. It’s filled with tender meat, sticky-sweet hoisin sauce, scallion, pickled radish and sesame seeds. There is also a Spicy Chicken and Fried Tofu Bao. You can mix-and-match baos in that 3 for $16 offer, which would be a great idea.
Sizzling Spicy Noodles ($13.50) (we added crispy tofu) is one of the vegan options. It was quite spicy, even for my heat-loving hubby. He wished there’d been more cabbage (for the health factor and some crunch). But he raved about the noodles which are made by Kwan Sang, a local noodle factory in Denver. Thick, round and slurpy, they also had great flavor. Said my husband, “These are the noodles of my dreams!” High praise, indeed.
I ordered the Hong Kong Char Siu Rice Plate with an egg which, wouldn’t you know, doesn’t appear to be on the menu anymore. That’s a shame because it had a nice smokiness to the meat that didn’t overwhelm. And the yolk from the egg mixed with the meat, cabbage and rice for awesome creaminess. Next time I go, I have my eye on the Shrimp XO Fried Rice ($17.50), the Salt & Pepper Chicken Rice Plate ($16.00) or the Spicy Garlic Butter Rice Cakes ($15.50) which I believe are what originally tantalized us at The Big Eat, what with the cute oval rice noodles, cabbage and potatoes.
The beverage menu features tea, soda, beer, a huge selection of wine and liquor, and cocktails. The beer selection includes Asian-owned and led makers such as Jade Mountain Brewing, and Young Master Brewery out of Hong Kong. From the Asian-influenced cocktail menu, I had the Red Bean Kitty with a rum blend, red bean orgeat and dry curacao. It comes in the cutest, pink ceramic cat mug with the straw and mint leaf garnish poking out of its waving paw. It was really good and a nice twist on a fruity cocktail. Wisely, they’ll ask to hold onto your ID as a mug deposit. Why? Because you’ll be so tempted to pilfer it for yourself.
There’s talk of a brunch program and dim-sum cart service for special occasions like Lunar New Year. Whatever the MAKfam family plans on, we’re pretty sure it will be a success. Luck seems to be on their side.
MAKfam is located at 39 West 1st Avenue in Denver. Here’s their website.
-Article and photos by Courtney Drake-McDonough, publisher and managing editor of In Good Taste Denver
Please note, we were hosted for this meal to help facilitate our article. However, as is always our policy, our opinions remain our own, honest and true, for the benefit of our readers.
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