asian food: A hot spot for all types of Asian food TASTES OF HOME ARE AVAILABLE FOR DIVERSE POPULATION By Aleta Watson Mercury News When enthusiastic diners talk about Asian food in the South Bay, the conversation inevitably turns to Milpitas. The suburb on the northern border of San Jose has become a destination for Asian food lovers in the past decade as Pacific Rim restaurants have opened to serve the expanding Asian population. Today, half of Milpitas' 63,000 residents trace their roots to the Far East or India. That's nearly twice as many Asians as were counted in the 1990 census. In the wake of those new residents has come a vast collection of restaurants offering the tastes of many homes. Among the city's 296 eateries, there are kitchens serving dim sum in the Hong Kong style, vegetarian curries from the Andhra Pradesh region of India, redang from Malaysia and Muslim fare from China's western borders. Thai noodles, Japanese sushi, Korean tofu, Vietnamese pho and even Hawaiian plate lunch have their own shops. At the same time, there are independent restaurants serving Mexican burritos and Southern barbecue as well as chains peddling Italian pastas and American burgers and steaks. Whatever cuisine you crave, you're likely to find it in Milpitas these days. However, most restaurants are quite casual, with the focus squarely on the food. Not until Bleu Ginger opened this year in a small strip mall on Abel Street did the city get a chic restaurant with creative cooking and artistic presentations. Chef Terrence Khuu draws on his Vietnamese roots to combine Asian ingredients in imaginative and flavorful ways in a setting worthy of special occasions. The Asian dining boom began with the opening of the Milpitas Square shopping center on Barber Lane a decade ago. Billed as the largest Asian shopping center in Northern California, it became a destination for Asian shopping and dining with about 20 restaurants in addition to grocery, jewelry, optometry, housewares and gift stores. The big draw here is Mayflower Seafood Restaurant, a vast hall dedicated to dim sum and Cantonese seafood dishes. A number of the smaller restaurants, including Zhao's Hot Pot, cater to the tastes of the Taiwanese immigrants who came here to work in the high-tech industry. Frequently, the signs and menus posted in the windows are written in Chinese characters only, although English speakers are welcome. Down the street, a smaller Asian center is anchored by the huge ABC Seafood, another dim sum emporium. Asian restaurants also dominate many of the small centers along Calaveras Boulevard. Mainstream chain restaurants such as Applebee's, In-N-Out Burgers and Black Angus are more likely to be found at the sprawling McCarthy Ranch complex on the north side of Highway 237. A giant Dave & Buster's sports bar and restaurant holds down one end of the Great Mall, the city's outlet shopping center. Other options in the mall include an international food court, a Fresh Choice salad bar and Great Mall Mayflower for dim sum and other Chinese food.