Final Thoughts: 4.50/5.00
New Asian fusion restaurant that just opened up in the Milpitas area. They really do sell a variety of different foods that combine various cultures. I'm all for the fusion, so my friends and I officially decided to try this place as we were in the area today. Overall, I do think this is deserving of a 5 star for me today.
Food:
Signature Dry Rub Wings, Garlic Parmesan Flavor: 3.8/5
This is their fried chicken with their garlic parmesan dry rub on top served with fries, yellow onions, red onions, and jalapenos. They do have a few other flavors for you to choose from (most containing a garlic flavor base) and spice level. They are really not skimping on their flavoring and rub for this plate. The chicken came out piping hot. The fries were super crispy and I would compare it to the "well-done fries" at In-n-Out. The addition of the different onions are good with adding some of that sweetness. Of note, there is *a lot* of parmesan on this plate. Typically, I would never complain about having more, but the flavor of parmesan is very sharp, so it was a little too overpowering for my taste. Some people will love the cheese, so it's perhaps just a preference. I brushed some of it off before eating and it was chef's kiss.
Grilled Garlic Chicken Hainan Rice: 4.5/5
This is their grilled garlic chicken served with fragrant chicken rice, cucumber soup, pickled veggies, and house sauce. Seems most simple, but was definitely my favorite dish of the three items that we got today. The chicken is super tender and very flavorful. The rice has a beautiful color to it and a light flavor too it. Perhaps there's a variety of different spices to it, but it reminds me of saffron rice. Not too salty or seasoned. The flavor of the chicken is actually quite light, but seasoned very well. The garlic isn't overpowering the whole dish, so I really liked how it turned out. Chicken pieces in the dish were nicely charred, so it has that smokiness to it without being dry. Their sauce reminds me of this fish sauce/garlic/ginger sauce. Very classic dipping sauce for this dish.
Phnom Penh Dry Noodles + Egg Noodles; Pork for Protein: 4.0/5
Second favorite item. We did have the option to choose rice noodles or egg noodles and my choice was the egg noodles today. Their noodles seem just almost too soft for me. I would have liked to see there to be more bite to it. Not a big concern though. I thought the flavor of this quite good. Very umami. The pork was also nicely seasoned. They do well with balancing the sweet, salty, and umami. Even for pork, the meat is very tender like it's been marinading in a sauce, which I like. They do come with a shrimp eggroll. This one is interesting because I feel like the ratio of shrimp to wrapper is a little off. My friend initially noted it, but I had to try it for myself to see what he really meant. It's really just shrimp and that bite of it is pretty overwhelming, so the eggroll part of it becomes masked. Theres nothing else inside of the wrapper either, so no other flavors or textures are there to support or contribute to it.
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Quality: Hot and made to order
All of our items came out piping hot. Each item was literally sizzling while on the plate or super hot internally. Will definitely have to caution to not burn our mouth, but it's nice to see that things are made fresh like this.
Price: Affordable
They are currently having a buy one, get one event right now, so the price was really affordable for our dinner today. Regardless of the BOGO event though, their prices seem reasonable for one plate. Price ranges will be from $12 to $17 for a plate. Of note, their portion sizes are optimal and what makes this place appealing to me. Their chicken plate looked amazing for it's price. They don't just give you fried chicken, but they add items in it like the fries. It's actually makes such a big difference and I personally really liked that.
Service: Limited Services
Limited service because all of the ordering is from the Kiosk at the back wall when you enter the door. They have the option for "Dine In" and "Take Out", but you do all of the ordering on the kiosk. You're also able to get your own water, utensils, and take out boxes on the side.
Ambiance: Pizza Kitchen vibes
Can be a grab and go place or a dine in place. This place does sell pizza and I might have to come back to try it. The interior itself gives me mostly pizza kitchen vibes though. Might be the color, but overall quite nice. Aroma of the food smelled amazing here and really stimulates my hunger hormones.
Location/Parking: Tiny parking
This place is located really close by to Great Mall. It's on S Main Street and next to Thaibodia. Parking is absolutely tiny. There are about 15 spots, but some of them were blocked off during the time that we came, so +/-5 spaces. We came early, so we had a lot of spaces open, but by the time we finished and within the midst of dinner rush hour, there were no spaces left. read more