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| - I went on a Sunday afternoon with two other people. I had looked at pictures online and expected to walk into a restaurant that looked like a club. However, I thought the ambience was great. They have some very original light fixtures, a sushi bar, a regular bar, and great details on the walls. The sushi bar is the focus and center of the restaurant. It's surrounded by one side with tables and booths, price rooms on another, the bar, and then some floor seating on the far wall, near the entrance.
They have 2 menus, Japanese and Chinese. Both were big and interesting, but we stuck with the Chinese for our first shot. The other two in my group ordered the hand pulled noodles, one beef and one vegetarian. The beef was plentiful but fatty. It was perfectly cooked and had great flavor though. The book choy, broccoli, and pea pods in the vegetarian were crisp and fit perfectly in the clear broth. We had decided to try the place for the noodles and they were worth it. They were tasty and fresh, much better then Hong Kong Station's street noodles.
I ordered the crispy duck. I've had horrible luck with duck in Madison. This changed that! It wason par with what I've had in Chicago and London's China Towns. The only complaint I have for the dish was that it came with a spice rub instead of a plum or other sauce. The rub was good, I think it was salt and Szechuan pepper, but I'd prefer a dark sweet sauce.
The main complaint I had was service. We were seated properly and staff was kind and reasonably attentive. The complaint was timing. Right as we ordered another group was getting their food. They sent back a thing of noodles that they said they didn't order. It was brought in back and about a minute later our first noodle order comes out, coincidence? Then we waited 5-8 minutes for the next noodle order to come out. My duck followed this about 5 minutes later. I watched other tables, and they didn't appear to have the same issue though.
Overall great experience. $38 for three large meals and two teas. I will be back soon. I want to say to try the Japanese, but the Chinese was so good who knows. 5 stars if it weren't for the service issue.
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