I almost never leave negative reviews. This is the first one I've written in about five years.
I came here today with two friends. We ordered the braised pork bones based on the menu photo, which showed meaty spine bones. What we actually received looked more like the ends of large leg bones with very little meat and was noticeably different from the photo. After we raised the issue, the restaurant eventually refunded that dish, which I appreciated.
Unfortunately, the other food was also disappointing. The iron pot stew was extremely salty, while the colorful cold noodle dish was bland. There was also very little description on the menu about the flavor profiles, which would have been helpful given how strongly seasoned some of the dishes were.
That said, the food was not even the biggest problem. The way the owner handled our feedback was what made the experience truly unpleasant.
We were not initially asking for compensation. We were simply trying to give feedback about the menu photos, dish descriptions, and the food itself. We had to speak to three different servers before our concerns were properly passed along. The first two listened briefly and then walked away. The third server was the only one who seriously tried to help us.
When that server went to ask the owner about possible solutions, we could hear the owner scolding the server in the back. It was uncomfortable to hear an employee being blamed simply for trying to help customers communicate a concern.
When the owner finally came over, his first response was not to ask what happened or listen to our feedback. He interrupted us almost immediately and asked which restaurant in the Bay Area serves better braised pork bones than his. He also argued that if the food were really as bad as we thought, the restaurant would not have been able to stay open for so long, and repeatedly pointed out that other customers had not complained.
None of those points actually addressed what we were trying to say. Other customers having different opinions does not change the fact that the dish we received did not match the menu photo, nor does it invalidate our experience of the food being overly salty or too bland.
What was most frustrating was that there was no sense that our feedback would be taken into consideration. We did not hear anything along the lines of, "We'll review the menu photo," "We'll make the description clearer," or even simply, "Thank you for letting us know." Instead, the conversation felt focused on interrupting us, defending the restaurant, and arguing against our experience.
I also personally saw and confirmed that the restaurant offers incentives for positive reviews, including free side dishes, plum juice, or a $10 voucher. Because of that, I would take the restaurant's overall rating into account with some caution.
If the issue had only been that the food was not to my taste, I probably would not have written a negative review at all. What made this experience worth reviewing was the combination of a significant difference between the menu photo and the actual dish, inconsistent food quality, and especially the owner's dismissive and argumentative response to normal customer feedback. read more