One-line review: Beautiful venue, pricier fare with mixed results.
We visited here for the start of Chinese New Year, having noticed that it had recently opened. We ordered:
-Taiwanese chicken appetizer (I liked this fine; fried well, not too oily. But my family thought it tasted 'powdery.')
- Malaysian Curry crab (This was the hit of the evening. Beautifully cooked and displayed, succulent, and tasty. But NOT cheap -- see below.)
- Wide rice noodles with chicken and satay sauce (This was the loser of the bunch. The chow fun style noodles were way overdone, to the point of being pasty, no texture at all. The supposed satay sauce didn't taste like any satay sauce I've ever had, and the chicken texture was... too soft. Overall, wouldn't ever order this one again.)
- Pork and green bean (a bit salty, but tasty)
- Chili pepper fish soup (This was good. The right amount of spice for our spice-loving family; fish was tender and soup was well-seasoned.)
The big, unwelcome surprise: The delicious crab was quite a bit more expensive than we anticipated. Rookie mistake: we asked about the market pricing and they said $28.99, which we found remarkably economical. Turns out that that is the price /per pound/. Our overall bill for three, including tip, was right at $200 -- a bit high for what we got. I might have given four stars for most of the food and venue, but took off another star for value.
You can tell that they're going for a finer dining experience here, but the service was mixed. It was Chinese New Year, but none of the staff wished us a Happy New Year. They never offered tea, and the first hot water they brought us wasn't hot. They didn't bring a crab cracker, crab forks, or plastic gloves for the crab until well-after we had started eating it. On the positive side, they repeatedly asked if we were enjoying our meal, cleared plates promptly, and generally seemed concerned that we were having a good experience. We really should have spoken up about the noodle dish and given them a chance to make it right; I'm guessing the request might have been well-received. On the whole, I'd rate the service adequate.
We walked over, as the restaurant is right around the corner from us, but we heard that there was parking in the rear. Otherwise, you're at a meter on the street.
Bottom line: Some delicious dishes if you order the right items, but there are some to avoid, and no matter how you slice it, this is not a value pick. read more