Rachel H.
Yelp
God, I actually can't believe this restaurant IS FINALLY OPEN. I feel like I've been stoping by the Comcast Center Tired Hands General Store for eons and asking about when this joint was going to finally be open and then BAM, surprise, here we are folks!
Let me start off by saying this: Make. A. Reservation. They're currently on Resy, but not OpenTable. The place is crampppped and waiting for an hour and a half for one of their (10?) tables was no joke. It sounds like you're cool to hang out (lol quite literally in what space?? Near the kitchen and bathroom??) and wait for the first come, first serve bar seating, (which IMO seems to be the more comfortable option) but who has the patience for that. I walked in around 5, put my name in with the hostess, she took my number down and I was put into a digital queue. Don't go to far though-- once your name is "called," they'll only hold your place for 10 minutes.
The table situation, like I said, is tiiight. As a lady with a large booty, I felt kindof awkward trying to squeeze between my neighbor's table and my own to sit on the bench side, while my boyfriend was brushed up against all night sitting on the outside of the table with a standard chair, back facing the bar. Nothing really you can do about the overall availability of space, but definitely worth mentioning.
Their drink menu offered a small assortment of their cult favorite beers like Alien Church, whatever various MilkShake IPA they had running that week, along with a selection of the PLAIICES cider and wine, as well some of their generally bottled brews like Ourison Saison, Prayer Group Lager, YUMB Saison Sour, and Creek Field witbier. I was pleased to find that they also had a short cocktail list of about 4-5 creations which all sounded lovely. In terms of non- alcoholic they offered their 333 Kombucha, Awake Minds Coffee, MINNA tea, Mexican Coke, and the ever bougie Top Chico mineral water.
The food menu was short but vibrant, offering a Asian-inspired dishes, such as "Leftover" Lo Mein ($11.00) made with hand pulled chilled noodles, veggies and ginger scallion sauce and Salt & Pepper Wings ($8.00) made with the chefs mix of black pepper heavy spices, and Serrano. The Lo Mein noddles were seemingly peppered and more exciting than their name suggested. All of the veggies were crisp and fresh (an oxymoron to the "leftover title") and I couldn't get enough of the noodles. I had actually ordered these as my meal, but as my boyfriend and I soon realized, all of these plates were more or less meant to share, and served as such. The Salt & Pepper wings were crispy but not burnt, and the dry rub was evenly distributed throughout the surface of the wing/drum. I hate when dry rubs get caught up in a clump and this was not the case.
My boyfriend and I also got the Kung Pao Cauliflower Fried Rice ($13.00) which was made with with a savory sauce, veggies and ma la peanut crunch (ma la is a spicy Sichuan peppercorn based oil, and VERY SPICY if you're not used to it) as well as the Twice Cooked Pork Belly ($18.00) which was served with five-spice (a spice mixture of five or more spices used predominantly in almost all branches of Chinese cuisines and Vietnamese cuisine) alliums, (a flowering plant that includes hundreds of species, most commonly know as including the cultivated onion, garlic, scallion, shallot, leek, and chives) and jalapeños. If I'm being honest, it was mostly the veggies and scarce pork. Served with a side of white rice. This dish was okay. Stick to the noodles, rice, and snacks IMO.
Overall the dining experience was high class but the space was cramped; the food was good, but I really wanted to like everything just a little bit more. I was impressed with the cocktail list and the essential Tired Hands brews as well as the bottle offerings. I was oddly fond of the plates that laid mostly flat to the table with a short brim (Japanese or Scandanavia style I believe) and the chopsticks weren't slippery and difficult to eat with like some places I've been to in the city (Thank God).
I think next time we'll come during the week and (hopefully) sit at the bar instead. I'm interested to see what they did with the ice-cream dessert and try their other cocktails.
Pro Tip: They WILL have cans on site, just ask your server