Pete D.
Yelp
Was excited to try Peter Chang's newest restaurant in Columbia, MD. I will start the review by saying the food was excellent. However, the experience didn't match the taste.
The staff: The hostess was kind, the bartender made a good drink, our server, once seated, was clearly inexperienced. They didn't know the wine list, told us that they were out of one white wine, of which there were only two of that variety. We requested that she check again with the bar, and low and behold, they found additional bottles. In addition, she was slow to ask for refills, and didn't even wait for us to pack up our meal before she was clearing our table- too rushed.
The ambience: The restaurant was underwhelming. Not having been at the other MD location, I was expecting more upscale. We were greeted by a large portable coat rack and several dying/dead flower arrangements in the small lobby/hostess area, which honestly was not a good first impression. What you get is basic modern-no frills, light wood with mauve-ish vinyl seating and nice-looking table lighting that wasn't turned on/or wasn't working when we were there. So bright overhead lights it was. The bathrooms were clean, but the tile design and color selection did not coordinate. The picture style on the wall was also an odd choice, as it wasn't modern and didn't match at all.
The food: We had no complaints about the food except a slight sticker shock for some of the entrees. We ordered the spring rolls, which were good, but very small. The sauces were excellent though. The pork dumplings were good size and tasted great. Our entrees were: Kung Pao - delicious and fair portion; Vegetable Lo Mein- generous portion and good; and the Dry Scallion Stir-Fried w/ Wagyu Beef - cooked well and tasted great, but the beef was cut in too large of pieces to manage in a bite - and you only get a fork and chopsticks. So, should be smaller sized pieces - that is only complaint about the beef.
Overall, we enjoyed our food, but were not wowed by our server (hopefully they will improve over time) or the restaurant ambience itself. With the quality/price of the food served, I expected a match of both experience and taste.