My significant other and I were looking forward to checking out this restaurant. We actually watched the build out progress. We love going to "Sweet Things" next door for ice cream now and then where we often sit outside and eat it.
We both remembered chatting with some of the workers about what was going into that space. We were hopeful when we learned that it was going to be an independent restaurant.
A few months later, after we saw all of the five star ratings and realized that we sort of knew this place, we were excited to check it out.
Our first experience was with take out. We called and discovered that they delivered. So we ordered (a large amount of food for friends and ourselves) excited that such a high rated restaurant provided delivery service. Two hours later... nothing.
We called back to check on the status of our order only to find out that somehow, during the time that we placed it and our call to check on where it was, our order had been canceled. Frustrating, but we chalked it up to a new restaurant operator experiencing glitches.
A month or so later, we decided to check it out in person. We were shocked at how small the dinning area is.
I am from New York, where commercial space often comes at a premium. So the size of the space is not a negative for me. I found it quaint and intimate. It is well decorated.
Our dining experience here was that the food looked great, it photographs well, but the taste is horrible. The soup broth (wanton) was salty (to an extreme), the chicken was so dry that biting into it produced sort of squeaking sensation against your teeth. The egg rolls (spring rolls) had an awkward and unsettling flavor profile at best. The garlic beef cubes were ... OK.. Pot Stickers where (greasy but) tolerable.
This restaurant presents evidence as to why the yelp rating model needs some tweaking. Perhaps an algorithm to identify and eliminate constant 5 Star raters?
This is the type of restaurant that Katy already has too many of. People who are just not qualified to run one. It breaks my heart because, I so want these small independents to thrive.
I just can't give a good review to a restaurant that is producing food that tastes like an stoned teenager whipped it up in their dorm room.
I don't normally do this, but, I am going to take a shot at figuring out what is wrong with this place.
I am going to guess, that the owner, is not the chef. He/She is someone who has had a life long dream of owning a restaurant, but actually knows nothing about commercial operations.
So, he/she hired a chef, and opened this one.
The problem being that the square footage of this place is not enough to support paying the salary of a decent chef. So, the owner now has a problem. They've spent their money, and they are dependent on others to make this place work.
This is an expensive and classic mistake. The restaurant is probably going through "chefs" quickly, trying to find one that will stay on for a while.
This would explain (possibly) how so many ratings could be so far apart in their opinions. Different chefs/cooks with different skill levels. Probably none of them qualified to run the kitchen and no kitchen manager/executive chef to keep the quality up.
My final word on this place:
At best it is hit or miss. Probably more accurately, it will be miss or HUGE miss. Because I don't see this working out long term. read more