I ran out of space on Google reviews and felt the need to continue to voice my opinion; specifically regarding my visit from last night.
My boyfriend got the Dan Dan noodles with pork belly. Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of this dish, I have a picture of the first takeout order we had back in December 2021. The reason I feel so adamant about voicing my experience today is because the wait staff (three different employees helped us out, one of the three was a manager) were rude to me when I complained about the dish. The first time I asked one of them "hey, did they change the recipe, it tastes a lot different" and they replied "no, they just rearranged the sauce or peanuts, I'll go ask" comes back and assured me it's the "same thing." PEOPLE GO OUT TO EAT TO ENJOY THEIR FOOD, the ambience, the experience, the consistency in a dish, and so they don't have to clean up after themselves NOT to be patronized by wait staff about a completely valid complaint which I tried to bring up without being rude. The second time I bring it up to a second staff member I said "hey, I'm sorry to do this but can you take the dish back or take it off the bill, it tastes very different from the last time we got it and it's terrible..." to which they responded "well, you seemed to eat most of it." How about a civil response like "I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it, or can I take the dish back for you" or any other simple response rather than be snarky with an attitude about the dish when I'm clearly voicing my concerns.
They get the manager and he's the third staff member to tell us "it's the same dish, same people, same cooks, but yeah, we'll take it off the bill for you." Would it have been so hard to say "we can remake the dish?" or "we're sorry it wasn't to your standards" or whatever bullsh*t customer service you want to say instead of patronizing the customer and trying to gaslight into thinking it's the same exact recipe. The cook screwed it up, just take accountability for that. I wrote this in my Google review but it's worth repeating: THE WAYS IN WHICH THEY TRIED TO SAY THE DISH WAS THE EXACT SAME is to compare ketchup and bolognese, Tabasco sauce and pico de gallo, almond milk and cow's whole milk. PEOPLE CAN TASTE THE DIFFERENCE and the audacity to question me and try to make me feel like I'm in the wrong for kindly trying to bring up an issue and asking them to make it right instead of taking the accountability without me basically having to beg for it? The attitude was irritating to say the least, almost as bad as the dish itself. I know the difference between a hot dry chili oil and Sambal Oelek; totally different flavors! I don't even like Sambal Oelek, I think it's overrated and it lends a completely different flavor to the dish. Other things were off too but trying to pass that off was cheap. I'm visibly Asian -- and I know the different nuances between the different types of heat you can add to a dish. The dish was ugly, poor presentation, and even worse flavor. I have a picture from when I first tried it back in December 2021 and it had a rich, deep peanut and hot oil flavor, the color was different and darker. I came here today expecting the same thing or close enough. This wasn't an issue of overcooked or undercooked, or a slight change. It was like night and day so screw all three of them for trying to make me feel like our voice wasn't valid without some pushback and bullying from them first.
For whatever reasons they had to be defensive and short from the bat was uncalled for; I first tried to nicely ask about a possible recipe change, then I mustered up the courage to kindly ask them to take it off the bill because it tasted awful. I wasn't trying to run them out for a $14 dish. So what was the point in them being so rude about it instead of offering a solution? Why make me feel guilty and uneducated and defensive about my valid complaint? If you want to take sh*t or have a rude attitude about me then take it to the back on a smoke break but no need to take it out on me because I wanted a solution to my problem.
I've been places before where the dish has changed, and if I dislike it I just suck it up, eat some of it, and then decide to not return again. Even some places I love have over cooked some dishes, and it's disappointing but for the most part they're pretty consistent. These two sets of Dan Dan noodles were night and day. The noodles are supposed to taste like hot chili oil and have a dash of sambal oelek, not have the entire dish be one part sambal and one part noodles and half-assed garnishes.
I know waiting tables is a tough job and stressful but customers asking for the bare minimum -- a good meal and receptive customer service isn't asking a lot. read more