Melody G.
Yelp
It pains me to write a negative review, but tonight must have been an off night for Asia. When we looked over the menu, it looked promising, but somewhere between concept and execution, something went wonky.
First of all, the ambiance is nothing like what we imagined, as a Top 100 Chinese restaurant, you would think that it wouldn't resemble a takeout place, with tickets sitting on the counter, hogged up floors, dust on their awards, poor quality furniture and kitsch all over the walls.
Second, even though we'd called ahead, our reception was scattered and our waitress seemed far more interested in her half-drunk friends sitting at the corner table looking at pictures and playing games on their phones than in actually taking our order.
When we finally did get her attention and my husband asked about steamed buns, she informed us that they only came with the Peking Duck and didn't seem very interested in finding out if they could be ordered separately. Not seeing some of the things that looked really good from the menu on their website, we ordered several appetizers instead to suss it out.
First out was the kimchee, which was spicy and sweet, but much more reminiscent of pickled cabbage than the fermented product I've come to know and love.
Tempeh, described as "sliced and sprinkled with sesame seeds" came out as 1/16" thin strips literally CRUSTED in sesame seeds, making them hard, tasteless and only edible by using your fingers to hold them and dipping them in sauce to assist in the chewing process.
We ordered lettuce cups, which came out with VERY dry ground chicken (to the point that it was unappetizing) sprinkled with peanuts, but devoid of water chestnuts, carrot, celery or any other recognizable vegetable substance and instead of lettuce "cups", it was mounded on top of giant chunks of iceberg, making them almost impossible to eat (had we even wanted to....) That dish went back.
Vietnamese Summer Rolls with Basil Cashew Sauce were fresh and good - no complaints there, other than they completely self-destructed upon the first bite.
Seafood tartlets....just from the name alone, I had a bad feeling when I ordered them. Though the contents were good (the fish in them was cooked PERFECTLY, which you can't fake), the sauce was a little too heavy and the shells tasted of used oil and were stale.
When the Buddha's Delight vegetarian entrée came out, I was already so annoyed, I didn't bother. Apparently, according to the husband, it was very well made, with fresh veggies like asparagus, bok choy, lotus root, enoki mushrooms, baby corn, water chestnuts and served with rice. Too little, too late for me, so we brought it home instead.
If I'd had this experience more than once, I'd say someone's enthusiasm is flagging and Gordon Ramsay should get his arse over there, stat. But, considering there are some great reviews, I'll be kinder and say that maybe we were just unlucky.
But, if I had my druthers, you might give your busboy a decent raise, because it seemed like he was the only one who gave a damn about doing his job tonight!
