I suppose I should explain why.
While the service is good, the food is tragic, and the ambiance is an odd amalgamation of different styles that don't work together, down to the ugly mismatched plates.
Even the cuisine doesn't know what style it is. Is it Asian? Is it American? Is it "fusion"? The answer is "no" to all of these questions.
The food was so bad that I'm not upset I only had my little pink point-and-shoot.
Mr. Monkey tried a peach "smoothie." Yeah, it separated in the glass. Sad. His father ordered a Thai iced tea, which he decided he didn't want upon its arrival, so Mr. Monkey drank that, too. Meh.
Mr. Monkey's brother had some escargot, which was surprisingly decent.
But then it all went downhill. Like into a deep pit. Really deep.
Prix fixe lunches cost $8.99, $9.99, or $11.95 and include your choice of "first course" and entree. The "first courses" are pathetic little items that taste like they emerged from the freezer.
The chicken dumplings were horrid. The filling was mush. The skin was cold. The sauce tasted like the death of a tough old orange.
The fried mozzarella was better, but it was clearly born at Costco.
Like the chicken dumplings, the shrimp ravioli were filled with indiscernible mush.
The grilled tiger shrimp were passable...for a place like Denny's.
Mr. Monkey's brother gave me a bite of his New York steak. Sizzler quality.
I don't know how this place stays open. I will give the restaurant credit for warm and friendly service, but the food is truly an affront to anyone with functioning taste buds. Maybe it's the low prices. Oh, stupid cheap people. You can do better than this.
The saving grace of the meal wasn't food-related at all.
At least I had a good laugh over Little Monkey Niece's delight over this owl.
I'm sorry that you had to eat that atrocious meal. It's suppose to be Asian fusion. It used to be good in the 90s. I'm surprised that place is still open. Bleh.
ReplyDeleteThis is a sad, sad post.
ReplyDeleteLMN is such a cutie. I'm always amused when mashed potatoes are presented in a cafeteria scoop-like manner.
ReplyDeleteoh that owl redeems the food, indeed.
ReplyDeletethe color of that thai iced tea scares me. i love that cee remembers this place from the 90s.
i've seen commercials for this place on cable tv; you know if a place advertises on cable tv, it's gotta be bad.
ReplyDeleteit also kinda reminds me of babu's restaurant on seinfeld.
The "death of a tough old orange" line killed me. Keeeeeeeeelled me.
ReplyDeleteThai tea/escargot/fried mozzarella????? This place is like the Sybil of restaurants.
ReplyDeleteCostco-ish fried mozz? Diame would love this place!
ReplyDeletethe sauce on those dumplings doesn't even look good! I'm thinking those who love olive garden would be a fan of this establishment. ;)
ReplyDeleteamen to good company I suppose.
Love your descriptions, love the first line of this post, and love the owl.
ReplyDeletesesame grill does suck. and it's one of my family's favorite places.
ReplyDeleteyuck.
What's the orange stringy stuff over the dumplings? It looks gross! And the mashed potatoes look like glue. Yuck!
ReplyDeleteYou're even more entertaining when you blog about unpleasant meals. Now I'm going to secretly wish more yucky restaurant experienceson you.
ReplyDeleteLol owl! Well, even I have to say that the smoothie doesn't look so good, the cheese sticks look straight out of Dennys but just fancier presentation, and the gyoza looks tough. I like the shrimp on a skewer though. Shut it mboc.
ReplyDeleteBad food makes me sad. :(
ReplyDeleteat LMN is still a cutie!
ReplyDelete