Read full review
2014-10-31
961 views
After finishing yoga and was heading to lunch before work, a Japanese woman was passing out flyers. Odd to find someone Japanese passing out flyers on the street, I stopped to get one. She eagerly explained in English that a new restaurant opened that served burgers, donburi, curry and sandwiches featuring wagyu beef. She even flipped out her iPhone and showed me photos of the food. So, I thought ... why not give it a try.The location is across from Coffee Academics. It was actually the locatio
The location is across from Coffee Academics. It was actually the location of the now closed Daruma Ramen. The place is small and simply laid out with basic tables and chairs. There was a open kitchen with a blackboard for their menu. Nothing special about the decor. I noted the chef was actually Japanese though the two waiters were Chinese. I was presented with a menu that was written in both English, Chinese and Japanese. They do have a lunch set that said to check the menu board. However, due to the place being very new, they didn't have this worked out and nothing was written on the menu board. When asked what was today's lunch set, the waiters didn't know and had to ask the chef who said it was wagyu hamburger with prawn. Lunch set, one should note, does not include any extras. It's just the plate of the day. Not interested in eating, that I opted for a minced cutlet sandwich with tomato salad forf $88. I mean ... come on! I just finished yoga and wanted something light. The staff told me that due to new opening, drinks (except for alcoholic drinks) were $10. Drinks, I noted, were not that interesting and a bit steep in price. I mean ... WHO PAYS FOR GREEN TEA AT A JAPANESE RESTAURANT? Anyways, I chose a regular ice tea. While waiting, they gave me bottles of mustard and ketchup. I noticed they were made in Japan! My ice tea came after a bit of confusion as the staff asked me twice if I ordered hot tea or cold tea. Then if I ordered ice green tea or hot green tea. I had to repeat each time "ice tea". Ice tea, I later realized was just that. Cold oolong tea with a straw thrown in. I think they should have stated that in their menu. Also, the tea was the type of tea you get from a bottle. It didn't taste like actual fresh brewed tea. As it was $10, I let it slide. If I paid the actual price of $24, I would have scowled. Minced cutlet sandwich was a big minced cutlet between two pieces of white bread. I start with the pro: the mince cutlet was pretty good. Nice and juicy with a crispy exterior. Size was pretty decent. Now here's the cons: the white bread used was pretty thin. Crusts were not cut off. Bread was not toasted. It also tasted like Garden bread. Tomato salad was actually 3 cherry tomatoes, sliced in half. Taste was fine though a bit tart. But seriously ... 3 cherry tomatoes? Sliced in half to make it look like I got 6 pieces of tomatoes? Yes, the taste was pretty good but seriously ...$88 for a sandwich and 3 cherry tomatoes was a bit sad to look at. There was also a 10% service charge to all this, so I paid $100 for this. Yeah, I expected more. Service was a bit choppy but they are still new and working things out. Food tasted pretty good. But for the price they charge with what was given, I think was a bit over priced. As the food is good, I will give them another chance and return again. Perhaps next time I will try another item like a burger or a don and when I didn't finish doing exercise.
Post