Justin M.
Yelp
Recommended on Howard County's restaurant week as one of the top establishments around the area, so we decided to come for dinner. Sad to say that I will not be returning.
Our server was very nice, but food came quite slow. This was Sunday night, so that wasn't a huge issue for us.
The food was the real issue here, which surprised us given the great reviews. I guess the dishes were either a hit or complete miss. Our starters included the caprese, salmon toast points, and the seared tuna. Caprese and seared tuna were fine (literally 6 pieces of tuna as big as quarters though). The salmon toast points weren't really "toast points," more like just toast with salmon cream cheese.
For entrees, we ordered the shrimp pasta, chicken udon bowl, pan-seared salmon, and onion burger. The onion burger was by far the best, delicious actually. Great use of different types of onions and the house made ketchup has a nice smoky flavor to it. The salmon was also done well. Vegetables were buttery, cooked well, and treated respectfully. Wasabi rice was actually quite delicious too. Then we have the chicken udon bowl. $26 for a small portion of udon (usually udon is also a bit thicker noodle) topped with dry, like desert dry, fried chicken. Also, way too much salt. The shrimp pasta... I expected to taste of tomato, but flavor was flat. The shrimp were tiny and clearly frozen because it had a nasty soft, gummy texture and tasted of freezer burn. Definitely don't recommend. For a well-established restaurant such as this one, I expected fresh shrimp at least.
Well, I wish I could say that's all, but dessert had to come and disappoint. The peanut butter pie was SWEET AF and a lack of peanut butter flavor. The blondie was... well, more like raw cookie dough? I like my blondies and brownies gooey, but this was basically raw - gritty and chalky.
Such a shame because I had high hopes for this place. If anything, would return for the burger, but I'd prefer not to sit though that experience again just for a decent burger.