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| - As of March 2014, 301 Mongolia has reopened. The owner, who also owns near neighbor Dublin O'Neil's, had originally intended to extend the Irish pub into the space, but has now reversed course and reopened this Mongolian grill. We'd eaten at Mongolia 301 several times before the closure, mainly for lunch, and always had a good meal. We like the healthier options and the clean, contemporary decor. I especially like the funky red and white globe pendant lamps.
Today, on a Tuesday, we stopped by the newly reopened 301 Mongolia for an early dinner (around 5 pm). There was only one other couple in the place, one waiter, and one cook. When we went up to select our vegetables, it was clear that many of them were not fresh, both the raw and the blanched. The snap peas had streaks of brownish-gray with depressed marks running down the side. The white slices of the bok choy had browned and shrunk. Half of the green beans were gray. The spinach had browned on the edges and begun to wilt. Even the bottom of the mostly empty chopped peanut container had a hardened mashed peanut residue that had been there awhile -- I scraped at it with a spoon, but it was so hard, the residue remained. I was only able to choose about half of the veggies I normally would have done because of browned, graying, or wilted items.
The bowls for selecting veggies and meat were so small, my husband joked they must have shrunk. I wasn't sure. But dinner is around $14 for a single bowl, and my husband could not get enough to eat. I was fine with my $14 single bowl, but it was far from a value. I didn't see much difference between dinner fare and lunch fare (perhaps the squid or white fish items on the meat bar?), although there is a jump in price. The cook did a decent job preparing our meals on the grill, except that the cubed potatoes in my bowl were actually still crunchy. The one high note was the very good waiter; he was a professional who apologized for things beyond his control and did what he could to make the meal a good experience.
We also believe the food has declined in quality at Dublin O'Neil's. We've complained there after our last three meals, and have now decided not to return. Unfortunately, we have decided we won't be back to 301 Mongolia, either. It's too bad. We'd love to love new styles of restaurants in Urbana-Champaign. They are something this town desperately needs. Like most people, we can't afford to eat out as often as we used to. It's really disappointing when we spend our hard-earned dollars for a treat that isn't such a treat after all.
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