Rose E.
Yelp
First of all, I must mention that this place needs better tables and chairs. For me at least, their seating situation strikes me as weak. They seem to have more high-tops and counter-top seatings over the standard, two- or four by four tables/seatings. If this was a casual burger joint, I'd be fine with that...but this is a nice restaurant, with fairly expensive menu. I just don't get it.
Again, on our most recent visit, we encountered more seating issues. This time, I reserved our table via Open Table in advance, with explicit notes requesting a "standard table". Well, despite all that, we arrived only to be escourted to the counter...to counter-top seating! Not even high-top tables this time...but counter-top! *SIGH*
Despite our extreme disappointment, we decided to just dine outdoors, in just one of their two super-casual patio tables (not comfy at all, with no cushioned seatings). BTW, this wasn't a super-nice patio dining situation. Honestly, at this point, I was ready to drop many stars.
But then...the FOOD! We ordered several dishes to share...from this Smoking Tuna Poke and Thai Shrimp Bao Tacos, to Sticky Chicken and Seared Scallops.
Our luck started to change. Everything we ordered tasted AMAZING. Surprisingly for me, I loved the Smoking Tuna Poke the most. Not only impressively presented, in a smoking platter (thus the name!), this had to be the best salad I've had in a LONG time! The sauce was SO savory, and even the Tuna was innovative in its cubed slices!! Possibly one of the most expensive salad dishes we've had...but worth every penny. The Bao Tacos were also super-delicious...not only filled with flavor, the fried, semi-crunchy buns tasted SO good! We loved the Scallops as well...but felt it was a bit lacking in portion, considering the lofty pricing. In fact, I noticed that in Yelp, others got 3 stacks of Scallops...we only received 2. Huh?? Did we get shorted...or did they get "thrifty" more recently?? Guess my least favorite of the dishes were the Sticky Chicken...but even that was delicious!
I also enjoyed their Pear+Lime Spritz Mocktail...and my husband loved his blonde beer (??).
We agreed that this had to be the best, most cutting edge restaurant in Rock Hill. I've always loved the historical theme of this restaurant as well. Very cool, concept-driven, innovative place. However, I can't stop myself from expressing my disappointment with the lack of comfy seatings, and a smaller portion of Scallops at the same price.
Though we weren't thrilled with how the hostess took us straight to the counter (despite our reservation, with specific request!), our waitress was great...as she was very attentive, despite being the only customers that were seated outdoors.
This was one of those situations where I could have given a bad rating...but the quality of the foods bumped things up. I might have even bumped this up to 5 stars for their chef-inspired foods...but I felted shorted in the portion of Scallops. So that's the second pitfall on this night.
Still, we DID love all the foods. We agreed to never come here again during peak dinner hours, but shoot for 5 pm next time (our reservations was for 6 pm). Also, I plan to skip Open Table, but instead call ahead to request a "standard table" (instead of high tops or counter-top seatings)...if even that works???