I visited Hakka Ren within the first month of its opening. They had a 15% off grand opening special, which was a nice surprise.
The decor inside Hakka Ren was more modern than most Hakka places I've been to. It was quite busy for a Friday evening as well - nearly at full capacity.
We were quickly seated and we glanced through the menu. They are priced about 10% higher than other hakka places in the area - so they already had some ground to make up to catch up to their competitors like Chili Chicken House and Eddie's. There were a lot of interesting menu items that differed from traditional hakka offerings, but I didn't decide to try those out on this visit. I went with the staple hot and sour soup with chili chicken.
Then, we waited.
It was quite busy and still within a month of their opening so I could understand increased wait times, but it took about half an hour to receive our soup. That's pushing it. The chili chicken also took a while to come out. I hope they can improve these times for my next visit as it was much too long of a wait.
However, the food was nearly good enough to make up for the wait. The hot and sour was among the best I've had - you could really taste the broth. The chili chicken had a nice kick to it and was very tender and juicy.
I thoroughly enjoyed my meal, but it was clear that they were experiencing growing pains and seemed unable to accommodate a large volume of customers in timely fashion. However, I'd say that their food would justify their price increase compared to other Hakka places in the area - it's that good.
Look forward to visiting again!