rev:text
| - (11/10/2014) Was doing a self-guided restaurant crawl of downtown Pittsburgh and stopped in at Grit & Grace. It came highly recommended by some friends in the industry. I'd have to say overall, was disappointed with experience. Place seemed pretty bustling for a Monday night, the only available seats were at the communal tables, which is fine, I don't mind sharing, but they have you packed in pretty tight, like I have to touch elbows with you every time I want a sip of water tight.
I've been to many a traditional dim sum, I was intrigued by the American dim sum. We let our server know we wanted to try the dim sum menu when we sat down and she said "they'll be right out" took our drink order and disappeared. More than a half hour passes and no one comes with any food, nor does our server check back in on us at all. Eventually a guy comes out with a tray (no carts as promised on the menu), we get 3/5 items offered in microscopic portions, the other 2 items were essentially condiments (not sure I'd count kimchi as a "dish"). The Pork Belly Bites were delicious, sweet and savory, some caramelized bits and dressing in a sweet orange and chili mayo based sauce (reminded me of PF Changs, everyone's got a sriracha mayo something or other on the menu now). Smoked Tofu and Soba Noodle Salad had 1 cube of tofu in it, soba touch overdone (or was last night's batch) and mushy, dressing was flavorful and zippy. The Steak Tartare was a fine specimen, enjoyed the green curry flavors and nutty sweetness from peanuts (1 lacy crostini was a pretty skimpy though, what's with every restaurant ever not giving you enough toast, is it the most expensive thing on the plate??).
Overall, a little disappointed in at least the dim sum menu, perhaps will choose off the regular dinner menu next time, it reads interesting enough. Asian food made with American ingredients or mix and match dishes was was Mom did for 50 years after immigrating to the U.S. Guess we'll see what happens next time.
|