This place is cute and super tiny. The food was excellent and a good value, but given its small size, and consequently the small number of staff working, it had some limitations, so it's important to have the right expectations before going.
First, the restaurant has six tables (3 2-person high tops and 3 4-person low tops) and a little counter seating. It can seat around 20 people at max capacity.
The dishes we ordered all came out super fresh, and it's clear it was made to order with fresh ingredients, and I thought portions and quality were great for the price. In particular, the size and quantity of shrimp in my fiance's noodle dish was impressive. The presentation was also thoughtful, and we walked away very satisfied. The restaurant gets plenty of natural light, so the food pics I took (see my uploads) came out beautiful. Note: we did not try any sushi items.
That said, meal timing would have been an issue if we had been in any kind of rush. I think the dishes were so fresh because they make entrees one at a time. My entree came out several minutes before my fiance's did, and the overall pacing was kind of slow. Our drinks, just an iced tea and a diet coke, also took a long time to come, despite there only being 7 customers while we were there. In particular, my fiance ordered an unsweetened iced tea and it didn't come until after we finished our appetizer (a papaya salad we ordered medium hot that was still pretty spicy). It arrived with his entree, and when it did, the server told us they only had sweetened tea available. This was a problem because we are both trying to avoid sugary beverages. We had come for lunch on a weekday because my work computer wasn't working; had it been a regular workday I think the pace of the meal would have been a problem and I would have been antsy to get back to my desk.
Another nitpick is that dishes did not come exactly as described on the menu, which can be an issue if you have dietary restrictions. My fried rice was described as coming with peas, but arrived with no peas and containing broccoli, which I can't digest, so despite it being pretty and adding value, I had to pick it out. Likewise, there were two papaya salads on the menu, one that clearly stated it contained fish and one that didn't, so we were surprised when we ordered the one that didn't mention fish and there were shrimp in it. This would have been an issue if either of us was vegetarian. To be fair, there were definitely vegetarian options on the menu.
Basically, this is a cute little neighborhood place with fresh flavorful food with good value. It is very chill. Definitely come if you're in Cherrydale and you are eating by yourself or with just a friend or two, and you're all feeling relaxed and have nowhere to be. I would pass if you're taking your lunch break from work or are otherwise in a rush, if you have a large group, or if your party has complicated dietary restrictions. read more