| rev:text
| - I have this horrible affliction where I have to go to new restaurants when they open, I'm very impatient. And I do this even though I know that newly opened restaurants inevitably have kinks to be worked out. I have been walking by Sens for months now and I've watched them put it together piece by piece and have been waiting for it to open. And what do you know, it opens the night of the Yelp party. Since I couldn't go to the opening, my husband and I decided to go on the second night. In reality this turned out much better because it was intimate and we were able to take a nice leisurely pace with the meal. Even the servers were saying it was better we came in when we did rather than for the opening since it was crazy and nobody really knew what was going on.
I'm giving Sens 4 stars because yes, there are kinks to be worked out. I know that I will be there often given its proximity to my place and I fully anticipate giving it that 5th star once said kinks have been worked out.
The Space- Think Asian diner/lounge. Yes, it is small, and the tables for two are not large enough to fit more than one plate at a time (slightly problematic for a place that serves small plates). There is a small lounge area off to the side which would make a really nice space for a semi private party. (They do take reservations, just call ahead). The bar and bar seating are definitely right in the main dining room.
The Drinks- They sure know how to appeal to customers. We were offered complimentary shots of their infused drinks of blood orange sake (pass), pineapple sake (good), and lychee shochu (very good). My husband ordered a spicy mama, which had Thai chili infused shochu. My husband adores spicy drinks and this one really made him happy... reminded him exactly of the Thai chili martini that he gets at our favorite Thai place of all time in our hometown.
The Food- There is nothing subtle about the food. Flavor is strong and very present. We chose four small plates, as we do in all small plate/tapas restaurants. We find four is always the perfect number. The first dish that arrived at the table was the clay pot lemongrass clams, which I would pass on in the future. The second dish was the volcano flamed beef which I would have to say was the best dish that we ordered, mainly because the flavors were the most subtle here- a little bit of peanut, a dash of mint. We did have 4 strips of steak and 2 lettuce wraps though, putting 2 strips of steak into one wrap was a bit much for me. The third dish was the seseme tofu which was very well cooked. Finally we finished with the ginger fish. When fish is cooked in a banana leaf it should absorb all the flavor from the cooking method, there was no reason for heaps of ginger to be placed on top of the fish. It was incredibly overwhelming. Our side of soba noodles were standard, even if they were delivered to our table after all of the other plates had arrived. They do not offer dessert so don't plan on having it there.
The Service- All the servers were very friendly and engaging. They did feel the need to tell us how to eat every dish we ordered which I found annoying. I know there are a lot of people out there who have no clue but its best to ask us if we know how to cook our meat on the hot rock (sort of shabu shabu style).
All in all I can see myself here often. The price is just right- the four small plates were more than enough to satisfy my husband and I for dinner and they came to $32 total. They do have kinks to be worked out and the food is not the best I've had but I am positive it will be part of our regular rotation.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)