Asian Experience on Center Street in Taft has been serving Thai and Asian comfort food to a small San Joaquin Valley oil town community since it opened, building a reputation as the most unexpected and most welcome restaurant in a Kern County city that has very little access to quality Asian cooking — the kind of restaurant that earns a small-town DDD segment by being genuinely exceptional in a place where exceptional is genuinely rare. It appeared in Season 22, Episode 9 of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, “To Bakersfield and Beyond,” which aired April 24, 2015. Guy Fieri found a Taft kitchen doing Thai and Asian food from scratch with the quality and authenticity that earns a small-town restaurant its national reputation.
Quick Facts
Restaurant: Asian Experience
City: Taft, California
Cuisine: Asian / Thai
DDD Season: 22
DDD Episode: 9
Episode Title: To Bakersfield and Beyond
Original Air Date: April 24, 2015
Address: 215 Center St., Taft, CA 93268
Phone: 661-763-1815
Website: https://www.asianexp.com
Status: Open
What to Eat
The Pad Thai with rice noodles, tamarind, and a properly balanced sauce is the Thai classic that earns Asian Experience its Taft reputation. The Green Curry with fresh green chile paste and coconut milk is the fragrant curry option most regulars return to. The Fried Rice with your choice of protein and wok-cooked vegetables is the everyday Asian comfort food done with the quality that distinguishes a serious Asian kitchen from the standard American-Chinese approximation. Find a Bakersfield area hotel on Trivago.
Plan Your Visit
Check the website for current hours. Taft is about 35 miles southwest of Bakersfield on Highway 119.
Address: 215 Center St., Taft, CA 93268
Phone: 661-763-1815
Website: https://www.asianexp.com
Status: Open
Triple D Essentials
Stream the To Bakersfield and Beyond episode on Amazon. Asian Experience is one of the great small-town surprise restaurants in the Triple D catalog.
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Asian Experience appeared in Season 22, Episode 9 of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, “To Bakersfield and Beyond,” originally aired April 24, 2015.