Shan is a new Asian restaurant in Bozeman, MT, that opened one year ago. Its dishes are influenced by the owners' 20 years experience in the restaurant business in Bangkok and Hong Kong, though the cuisine isn't explicitly Thai or authentically Chinese. The business model is based on traditional family-style Asian service. Everything is à la carte. The menu features six sharable snacks suitable for two and fifteen main items served in large bowls sharable by three to four. The main items are: (1) curries, stews & soups, (2) BBQ, (3) wok, and (4) noodles. Prices for the snacks range from $12-$18 and the main items range from $16-$25.
This restaurant is small with a seven-seat counter and about five two-place and five four-place tables. Its size does not support the family-style business model very well. One main menu item at a two-place table means the patrons must agree to eat the same thing. One purpose of going out, especially to a new restaurant, is to sample the menu, get the lay of the land, and to decide whether to come back. A family-style business model at two-place tables frustrates this. While two-place tables can select more than one item, one main item is usually sufficient to satiate two guests. Selecting more to better enjoy and diversify the experience results in half the food being left or carried home, which is false economy because left-overs from last night's restaurant are always enjoyed less the next day.
Shan has an extensive wine list from all over the world (Australia, Argentina, Chili, Corsica, France, Austria, Spain, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, California, Washington, Oregon, and Wyoming). It offers 6 sakes, 12 bubblies, 14 whites, 3 oranges, 3 roses, and 32 reds. One wonders why a small Asian restaurant that offers 6 snack and 15 main dishes needs 70 wines, and how American and European wines are supposed to pair with dishes from countries that did not have significant wine cultures until the 1990s? Perhaps the list is intended to convey that Shan is a high-end dining experience. But this doesn't work when the wines haven't evolved with the cuisine and there's no way of knowing how anything on the list would fit with any dish.
Two of us has the following dishes at a two-place table: Hand-Chopped Beef Larb (one of the snacks), Cumin Lamb Noodle and Sticky Tamarind Ribs (two main items), and two pilsners. There was no bread or any other accompaniment with the dishes.
The Larb was a make-at-the-table lettuce-wrap of finely chopped beef in sauce with leafy herbs on the side. The herbs included fresh cilantro and other things. Unfortunately, the cilantro was 6-inches long and impossible to cut or eat in the wrap, and many of the other herbs were wilted limp or dried out. While the aroma and flavor of the Larb was good, the meat was chewy and full of gristle that had to be spit out with nearly every bite.
The Lamb Noodle was lamb pieces in a slightly spicy sauce with interesting noodles. The meat was favorable, succulent, and tender, and the noodles were al dente just right. The dish was good. However, huge stems of raw cilantro were mixed and wilted into the dish making it impossible to get a bite without dragging out a 6-inch-long tangled mass of herb with the noodles. Eating it was a chewy mess.
The Sticky Tamarind Ribs were lightly smoked and modestly glazed with a tamarind sauce. The tamarind was an interesting and unique flavor for pork ribs and was wonderful. There were about three ribs per person. It was the best dish. The beer was good.
Shan Restaurant aims to be an upscale, trendy eatery. To succeed, it must achieve quality-control on every dish. Serving chewy, gristly meat is not acceptable at any level. Throwing long stems of raw cilantro on a dish that require botanical dismembering by customers at the table may be traditional in some cuisines, but not here. A little attention to plating and presentation will go a long way. The restaurant's business model is not well suited to its space because family-style dining requires large groups that can order numerous items to enjoy the menu's diversity and share the cost equitably. Couples can't do this. Our meal cost $80 plus tip for a snack, two main items, and a couple of beers. At any other restaurant, this price would have got different entrees for two people with at least two different sides and bread and butter. Its food for thought. read more