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| - Clever Koi is a solid restaurant that could definitely become stunning with a few changes. Parts of the restaurant were lovely and parts were underwhelming.
I'm going to lead with what went right on our visit. Service was prompt and good, just the right balance of being attentive without being overwhelming.
The ambiance was stellar, I felt like I was somewhere along the California coast. We sat in the patio area which had comfy seats, and well groomed and taken care of plants.
The bao style buns were perfectly executed - we had the soft shell and catfish. They came with a soy like sauce which I felt was unnecessary and didn't add anything to the dish. These pair well with their green house sriracha.
The house hot sauces are delicious, not to spicy but just enough kick with actual flavor. We found the red to be smoky and the green to be sweet.
The bao were pricey, but did at least deliver. They offer three for $12.50 which puts you at $4.17 a piece. The problem is when you have two people, usually you need four and get stuck purchasing the fourth for $4.50. I would recommend any above three be priced at $4.17 so you don't feel overcharged.
The corn dumplings were good and presented nicely, but I just cannot get behind the $10 price tag - $7.50 would be closer to their value. The dumplings were also served in a very large bowl only half full.
The Pad Thai was our least favorite.. it's not that the ingredients chosen weren't fresh and of quality.. it was the execution. Nothing was overcooked, but the sauce did not deliver. The sauce was a muddy mess between a Pad Thai you would expect and a satay sauce that fell into the mix. I much prefer a more classic Pad Thai, which is a perfect balance of heat, sweet and tang. The toasted peanut pieces, strong cilantro and tang of lime were missing here. I wish the menu clarified this dish was more of a satay sauce, because I would have gone another route.
All proteins in the Pad Thai were extra. I didn't feel the 4 medium shrimp were quite enough for a $5 add in. I would like to see 6 shrimp or 4 extra large for this dish.
The dessert selection made it tough to choose. They make their own house mochi and today it was Fruity Pebbles - how creative. There was also a pineapple upside down cake and banana fritters. We opted for the banana fritters.
The banana fritters were coated with sugar and spice like donut holes and served with a salty caramel. I would have liked to have seen less sugar on the outside of the fritters, because I felt it limited my use of the delicious caramel sauce. The ice cream was extra and for $4.50 you got two mini scoops which accounted for about a scant 1/2 cup serving. I would expect to pay no more than $3 for the portion of ice cream which was of average quality.
No drinks were ordered and the bill came to $59.19 with tax. My recommendation is go for the buns, ambience and skip the Pad Thai.
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