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| - The service here was great, the ambiance was lovely, and it has all the makings of a really solid restaurant. I went here with a large group from work, and we had a sort of family style tasting. A few of the dishes were done very well. Fantastic lemon chicken, and I'm not normally a lemon chicken fan. It was very light, flavorful, and not so sweet as it often is. However, in several cases, the food just doesn't live up to the potential, and what can and should be a 4-4.5 star restaurant is stalling out for me at 3 stars. Please note, I didn't comment on any dishes that were fine, but not standouts to the positive or negative. We tried a lot of food.
The yellowtail sashimi w/ cerrano follows the time tested formula, but the cerrano chile is cut too thick for the delicate yellowtail, and makes it difficult to appreciate the fish. The Peking Duck profiterole is misnamed. There was no crispy skin, and didn't get the true flavors of Peking Duck. The dish was dry, and lacking in flavor. The tempura calamari with salt and pepper was very tasty, and had a very good balance. The pan seared rare tuna with wasabi soy was disturbing. It tasted butter poached, and the butter was so overpowering, the fish taste disappeared. The wasabi soy dipping sauce some how was very flat in flavor, and even something that should be potent like wasabi soy was completely missing punch. The cod with lemon garlic was also a very odd flavor profile, though the fish was well cooked. I'm not sure if I had issues with the naming constructs as the dishes didn't match the flavors that should be connected to the names, or that it tasted like the restaurant was catering so much to the western palate that it actually lost the Asian flavors. It feels like it needs an adjustment to get where it needs to be.
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