Rose E.
Yelp
I finally made time to drive out 45 minutes to check out this place in the University area, far north of Charlotte.
I hit the place close to 2 pm, and there was only 1 table full. The place itself was casual and cozy...and much smaller than I had anticipated. As expected, it was a walk-up eatery...but the price points were not cheap. Basically, it struck me as an upscaled version of something like Sake Japan. I would have liked the place, but it was incredibly stuffy...as it felt as if they had no A/C on this 90-degree day?!? I regretted not eating outside on their small patio.
Anyway, I ordered the Hibachi Combo (NY Strip & Shrimp)...which came with Fried Rice, Sobe Noodles and some Veggies...a very full dish! It might have been a tad short of the fresh, live Hibachi grill demonstration dinner, but still quite good...very fulfilling!
Then I decided to try this highly raved and photographed dessert, "Halo Halo". Well, this dessert (which included a scoop of ice cream!) was initially served in an ill-fitting To-Go Cup with a closed lid (Why, I have no idea...given that I was dining in?!?). This busy Shaved Ice/Ice Cream-Plus dessert was literally squeezed and smooshed in together). Seriously, it looked so bad (like some fancy dessert trying to look like an ice cream shake???), it was laughable. Funny thing is that I haven't seen a single version of this dessert in Yelp served like that...like CRAP. I mean, just look at the Yelp picture of this dessert...and imagine that semi-fancy dessert stuffed into an ill-fitting plastic cup with a lid, with ice cream squeezed underneath. WTF?!?
Well, as much as I hated doing it, I went back up to the counter and asked for this expensive dessert in a decent cup or glass. Well, they managed to serve up an attractive version of this dessert this time...like the versions I saw in Yelp beforehand. Sadly, I still didn't love it...as the middle portion of the dessert were these frozen SHEETS OF ICE!! I know that a portion of this dessert was supposed to be Shaved Ice, but this was more like a big LUMP of ice. I did like the Lychee-esque toppings on the bottom, but the Ube Ice Cream turned out to be kinda tasteless. OMG...what luck with this dessert. Don't think I'll be ordering that again. I appreciated their second chance efforts, but this dessert was just not happening for me, I guess.
So...very mixed feelings about this place. Hated the lack of A/C and the super-botchy desserts (despite the 2nd attempt?)...but I really liked the Hibachi Combo. Also, I liked their menu, and there were plenty of other things I'd like to try...minus that botch-friendly "Halo Halo" lol.
Given what I experienced here, I can't give higher than 3 stars. Hopefully I can bump up the review if I return in the future?