Asian restaurants around town are offering $16.80 meal deals through mid-June

It's sorta like Denver Restaurant Week, but just for Asian restaurants. Whereas Denver's restaurant week features two-person meals for $52.80, restaurants participating in Asian Restaurant Month are offering individual (in one case, for two) multi-course meals for $16.80.

Japanese, Korean, Thai and Chinese restaurants line the list, as well as a couple that specialize in pan-Asian fare.

The event was dreamt up by Christina Guo, publisher of Asian Avenue Magazine, which is sponsoring the first annual event along with the Asian Chamber of Commerce and the Colorado Asian Culture and Education Network. Guo's daughter Annie, who is president of the magazine, says they came up with the idea more than a year ago, but decided to wait until May to launch it.

The numbers 1, 6 and 8 are considered lucky numbers in China. The deal is good through June 13.

Here's a list of participating restaurants:

• Bam Bu, 5332 DTC Boulevard, #100, Greenwood Village
• Chada Thai, 2005 E. 17th Avenue, Denver
• China Jade, 12203 E. Iliff Avenue, Aurora
• Chopstick China Bistro, 5117 S. Yosemite Street, Greenwood Village
• Empress Seafood, 2825 W. Alameda Avenue, Denver
• Halu Sushi & Asian Bistro, 17525 S. Golden Road, Golden
• Jaya Asian Grill, 1699 S. Colorado Boulevard, Denver
• John Holly's Asian Bistro, 2422 S. Downing Street, Denver
• King's Land Chinese Seafood, 2200 W. Alameda Avenue, Denver
• Korea House, 10293 E Iliff Avenue, Denver
• Mr. Sushi, 8055 W. Bowles Avenue, 2A, Littleton
• Sae Jong Kwan Korean BBQ, 2680 S. Havana Street, #B, Aurora
• Saigon Landing, 6585 Greenwood Plaza Boulevard, Greenwood Village
• Super Star, 2200 W. Alameda Avenue, Denver
• Thai Garden Asian Fusion, 16911 E. Quincy Avenue, Aurora
• Wild Ginger, 399 W. Littleton Boulevard, Littleton

At first blush, we're liking the sounds of Mr. Sushi's sushi and sashimi combo, which comes with soup and salad, as well as Super Star's Szechuan scallops (one of three entrees available through the deal, served with an egg roll and soup) and Korea House's choice between short ribs and bulgogi served with "a varied array" of side dishes. Not much beats Korean side dishes.

Vietnamese (with the exception of Saigon Landing) and Indian restaurants are glaringly absent. Really, no pho? Guo says they contacted more than a 100 restaurants "who fell in the general price point" but turned up only 16 in the end. She says she hopes more -- namely restaurants featuring other Asian cuisines she says, like Filipino or Indonesian for example -- will participate in the future.

For more information, including menu details, go to Asian Avenue's website.