Kathryn Toppan
Google
I am leaving this review here because Stadler's food quality policy at ZaoZe Cafe certainly applies to Bao Bao too. Be careful if you go here.
After being a customer for many years at Portland’s Bao Bao Dumpling, Brunswick's Tao, Brunswick's ZaoZe, and then Brunswick's Bao Bao, we will never return. I had three bites of my entree today, I found it dismally below the usual standard, and the owner would not refund my money or even let me switch out the food for another because I had tasted it. I would have to buy a new dish if I wanted more food. I asked how I was supposed to know if the food is good if I can’t taste, and the employee just kept repeating that he was sorry and that this was the policy. I confirmed that the owner was there and that this is her position. No one told me this when I brought the food back, and I would have at least eaten the doctored up rice had I known that I would go hungry instead.
I first had gotten the slaw and found the vinegar aside so bland that I used their black vinegar and house chili paste to dress it up (at which point it was very good). Then I received the pork chop fried rice, which was not fried rice at all. It was steamed white rice with some allium underneath about 8 slices of fried pork chop. Fried rice itself is fried with seasoning and mixed with its other components, but this wasn’t mixed at all. The pork looked desiccated from being over-fried, and every piece had large amounts of fat and gristle. The rice was so bland that I added more black vinegar and chili paste, and then it was fine but still only steamed and kind of mushy. I gave my husband one slice of pork to try and I took one small bite of one piece, tugging at it with my teeth because it was so tough. Grease spilled into my mouth.
Enough was enough and I knew I had to bring it back, so I went up to the counter. The man took it and said he would be at my table in a few minutes. When he came over, I said that I would have the dumplings instead, and then he explained that I would have to buy them.
I have never had an experience like this in a restaurant and certainly not at Stadler’s restaurants, at least the way they used to be. Now, the food is disappointing, and they won’t stand by their product, instead having an outrageous policy requiring patrons to assess the quality of a dish without tasting it. I told the people in line that they had better choose wisely because it will be on them if the food falls short. We will never go to one of Stadler’s restaurants again, which is a real shame.
