You know when you walk into a restaurant and you get that aromatic whiff of their delicious food cooking. Well, when you walk into 663, that aroma will almost knock you out it's so strong to the point of choking you. I'm guessing they need a better ventilation system in the kitchen or just open their back door. So first hint, you will walk out smelling like this restaurant. That includes your clothes, hair, jacket, etc.
On to the food. Well, hubby was craving roast duck and I tried to convince him that Kau Kau is better for duck but he had a craving for it and you know when you get a craving, you just got to indulge it. So, we ordered the half duck, pea vine, rice and the garlic wings as suggested by the waiter.
The food came out pretty quick, duck and pea vine first but no rice. Hmmm...how do you eat your food without rice? So we waited and waited and I got too hungry so we started eating. I had to wave my arm to the waiter at the front counter to get him to notice me. He screams out "rice, right? " So obviously he knew he forgot but wasn't exactly rushing to bring it to us any time soon. Anyway, the wings and rice eventually showed up and we're ready to chow.
Where do I start? The good: excellent pea vine with garlic sauce. It was cooked perfectly where there was still a light crunch but very tender. It was loaded with garlic which we loved. As for the duck, the flavor was robust and not overly salted like some places. The skin was nice and crisp for the most part.
The bad: The DUCK. Where did they find this duck? Jenny Craig duck farm? I've NEVER seen a skinnier duck in my life. There was almost no meat between the skin and bones. Besides the breast section which offered a tiny morsel of meat, we literally ate just skin and the fat attached to the skin. Not why we paid $9.50 for. I'll never order duck from this place again.
The garlic chicken wings. Oh vey! I guess some folks like it but for me, it was not good. I'm used to either fried garlic wings and it's piping hot and crispy with bits of pepper and garlic or sticky, honey wings with a gooey sauce. This was neither. The wings were marinated with a lot of fish sauce and soy sauce. Not that tasty. So after it's deep fried, I think they stir fry the sauce to coat(thin sauce). The flavor was way too pungent and salty (fish sauce galore) whereas I would enjoy savory. Another thing I wouldn't order again.
The rice. Yes, I wrote it. How can you mess up white rice, right? I mean, every place has an industrial rice cooker. Well, you can when you add too much water and the rice comes out mushy and sticky. It's like eating rice with the consistency of a glue stick. I'm hoping it's a one time fail b/c if or when I come back, I gonna have to order rice again.
Lastly, the service. Or should I say, where was it? They were fine taking our order but after that, it was almost non-existent. Besides not bringing our rice in a timely manner, no one came to check on us, refill tea/water if needed and then we finished our meal and literally sat waiting for the bill for about 10 mins. I got tired of waiting so I just went to the counter to pay.
In summary, I would come back one day, way in the future, so they can work out their staff issues. There were quite a few angry old people wanting this or that yelling at the waiters. 663 offered enough good things for me to give them another shot and hopefully improve the quality and efficiency of this place. read more