We dined here before heading to Marquee and I'm almost positive the outcome would've been more satisfactory had we gone anywhere else. Price and portion aside, the food wasn't that good. The shu mai making skills of the expressionless Chinese women in the open kitchen was extremely robotic, but it was really interesting to watch. They've reached the highest peak of their mastery of dumplings and now they look bored. There was no interaction between the cooks and bar occupants. At least you can confirm the food's authentic.
My bf and I wanted to taste a couple to start so we ordered 3 items and the couple with us went crazy and ordered 10. They gave my plate to them which ended up sitting on the side with their other 5 plates and so mine got cold before they corrected the mistake. That was also realized only after I inquired the whereabouts of my shu mai. The waitress was going to set my food down, then was stopped in her tracks by a manager(?) who ended up swapping the dish with our friend and then I finally ended up with my plate...which was now missing a dumpling. It's not a big deal since it was our friend who ate a shu mai thinking it was hers but I can't believe that's how the staff handled it. Anyway, the dish fell flat for me. I wouldn't have been able to tell the difference eating supermarket frozen shu mai. My bf ordered an expensive taco and ceviche that was pretty good but any slightly positive thought of the food was overshadowed by the bill and my still empty stomach. We could get this food better at any block in Santa Ana. It would be ridiculous to spend a hundred bucks on mediocre food just to get full. At the end, we decided to cut our losses and not order anymore. They did succeed at visual appeal because the place looked incredible.