My friend and I are musicians, and we were heading out to a gig. We have a favorite sushi spot, but downtown parking was impossible, so we looked for something else that was in the Asian food realm nearby. (Asian food is the best pre-gig...food for us: relatively healthy, good long-term energy, not too filling.)
The restaurant was clean and well lit. The menu was a little daunting; it was quite lengthy, and there were a lot of unfamiliar items. Note: this restaurant does not serve alcohol.
We ordered the beef potstickers, and were told they were out. So we ordered the pork potstickers, and they were out of those, too. Then we thought we'd try the pork buns - never had them before but they looked interesting. They were out of those, as well.
I ordered the Braised Beef with Lan Sauce, and my friend ordered Mushroom Braised Chicken. Both came with hot and sour soup and spring rolls. The soup came almost immediately. My friend really liked it. I thought the flavor was good, but there was a bit too much egg for my taste.
After a reasonable wait, my entree arrived. I waited a few minutes for the server to bring my friend's dish, but after about 5 minutes I told him to share mine. It was big chunks of beef with green beans over rice. The green beans were excellent - perfectly crisp-tender. Unfortunately, that was the best part of the meal. The meat was tender, but rather flavorless. It was all smothered in a brown gravy that was supposed to be a little spicy, but was not. With the exception of the beans, the whole thing was just blah.
About 10 minutes later my friend's dinner arrived. We were told that the spring rolls would be right out. The chicken was nice and tender, but it, too, was smothered in the same flavorless gravy.
When we were just about done eating, the spring rolls finally arrived. They were way too hot to even touch. We asked for hot mustard, but our server did not seem to understand. When they finally cooled off enough to eat, I thought they were just awful - all cabbage, a few rice noodles, and nothing else. Neither my friend nor I could determine the nature of the sauce served with the spring rolls.
All in all, a pretty disappointing lunch.More