Hanson Kang
Google
For all the great reviews, I was really expecting something at least decent. I was shocked.
Good things first, the price was reasonable and the staff very pleasant. The ambiance is great, with plenty of space and comfortable, clean seating. I ordered an iced Americano, and while it was too dark for my liking, it was pleasant.
Onto the food. The chicken and waffles were simply not good. The chicken itself was fine, but the yuzu sauce was strange (perhaps too salty?) and definitely didn't mesh well with the waffle. This is coming from somebody who rates kaarage as their favorite fried chicken variety (with yuzu mayo for dip, of course). The waffle was also a huge miss, as it was very doughy and dry--I could not finish it. Oh and there's cheese on it? I don't know what the reason for that is, but personally I felt it was a bad combination.
The steelhead trout was a mess. The fish was fine, but that's just a small portion of torched raw fish--you can't mess it up. The sushi rice, which made up the majority of the plate, was clearly day-old and literally hard. I thought the sauce was good, despite it having an overpowering amount of liquid smoke in it.
The mushroom benny was probably the best thing of the bunch, but it too was far from good. The sauce was a Bearnaise, which was interesting for a benedict given its thicker texture but the flavor was good (very tarragon forward). The amount and variety of mushrooms were also good. The potatoes were decent, but tasted either old or too greasy--something I'd expect at a lower-priced diner than a fancy brunch bar. Perhaps a more classic Benedict would have been better.
Tldr: come for the ambiance, not for the food.