Michael R.
Yelp
We enjoyed our meal here, and the restaurant has lots of potential, but is not there yet, particularly at this price point.
First, the room is very nice, small and cozy. The music is a bit loud (loved the modern playlist), but this encourages diners to shout to hear each other, and then the whole room is just very loud. This is very common in many newer restaurants today and I trust they will find the right volume setting for the music soon.
Our server was delightful and knowledgeable, and her explanation of the cocktails and food were spot on. Cocktails were priced at a premium, $17/$18 or so, and while they taste good, the presentation was quite average. Our drinks were garnished with nothing more than wilted, mint leaves. If my mint was that damaged I would not have used it, but we watched drink after drink served with this sad garnish. Did it affect the taste? Of course not, but it demonstrates a lack of detail and polish.
We started with edamame, which came piping hot and topped with lemon zest, a new and unusual twist for us. Next, we moved on to an ebi roll, which was a shrimp tempura style roll. This was decidedly underwhelming as compared to any of the other local sushi bars, where it would be served at a better price. Appearance wise, again the plating was not up to expectations at this price point.
We had high hopes for the crab fried rice, and while this was one of the nicer presentations, it was again just average I went back to look at their instagram page, and nothing served to us was remotely as nice looking. While this dish had lots of delicious crab and interesting additions, I felt that it was a tad too spicy. I love spicy food, but in this case it overwhelmed the mild crab flavors. If the heat level was dialed back a tad, this would be a hit.
Our waitress raved about a special dish, a duck confit served bowl style on rice with a curry sauce, $21. The duck was indeed melt in your mouth delicious, and reminded me of perfect duck confit served in the south. I suppose I would not have included potato as the vegetables within a rice bowl, but that's what the chef decided. Other than that, this dish would have been a full on win for me. More of a fusion style dish however.
We tried the chocolate fondant cake for dessert. Tasty enough, but plating was sloppy.
Again, I think this restaurant has lots of potential. It is still new, and I trust they will retool based on feedback they hear. We look forward to trying it again in the future.