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| - Summary: novelty of customizing your own noodle order faces increasingly better competition, plus stingy pricing with unsatisfactory customer service detracts from solid specials
Top Must-Get: kumquat tea
Top Regret: customer service
When Deer Garden first opened a few years ago, I was excited at the thrill of customizing your own noodle order - it was unique at the time. As more places popped up with a similar style though, the novelty wore off and the question became whether (and how) Deer Garden would sustain it's legacy.
The noodles are decent, and the drinks are actually pretty good (best kumquat drink I've had, actually)... But where it ultimately left a bad taste in my mouth was the service.
The overall vibe was that they wanted to take your money. I mean, it's a business - obviously making revenue is the goal, but the restaurant staff so blatantly doesn't care for your experience compared to your wallet that it gets outrageous.
You get seated soon enough, and they take your order - but never have I seen them bother to welcome you, explain the specials, offer to refill your water/tea, or outline how it works. It's rude compared to other noodle-customization restaurants and other restaurants in the area, which don't have a super high standard to start with.
The specials go for $2 less during downtime (I think it's 3 - 6 pm, and 9 - 11 pm). If you get there at 5:45 and put in your order at 5:59, odds are they will charge you the higher price. It's that kind of mentality I feel flabbergasted by.
Once, right after ordering, we got a call that was urgent and had to leave. I asked to change my meal to takeout. There is a 50 cent charge for packing your drink in a takeout cup, on top of the 50 cents for a cold drink, plus 50 cents for honey.
The food itself is fairly decent. I enjoyed the rice specials - deliciously grilled chicken - but the noodles are a tad overpriced for what they offer. I think their broth is solid, and the laksay is quite tasty, but they also lack options for vegetarians (Lucky Noodle is superior in variety, quantity and quality, while Chef Papa has more variety in drinks).
The decor is nice though, and it's spacious and well-lit.
I come back from time to time in hopes that the magic of its initial opening will come back. Not yet though, not yet.
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