湘辣楼 — Restaurant in Alhambra

“A Rather Disappointing Dining Experience”

Excited to try a new restaurant, we ordered the signature pickled fish dish. After a long wait—during which we finished three vegetarian dishes and a cold appetizer—the main course finally arrived. It looked decent at first glance, but the first bite revealed an overpowering fishy taste. The ingredients were clearly not fresh, failing to mask the unpleasant odor. When we asked our friends for their opinions, they all agreed: the fish was unpleasantly fishy and stale.

We called over the staff, and two servers arrived. Instead of apologizing, their immediate response was defensive: “This dish couldn’t possibly be stale because we use frozen fish, not fresh fish!"* I was baffled. First，how could they dismiss our feedback without even tasting it? Second，shouldn’t they apologize first instead of shifting blame? Third，since when does frozen fish guarantee freshness or eliminate fishiness? What kind of flawed logic is that?

The two servers stared at us and asked, “So, what do you want us to do?"We requested a replacement dish—stir-fried lamb. Another 20-minute wait later, it arrived. The first bite: overwhelmingly salty. The second bite: **still unbearably salty. Was the salt shaker accidentally dumped into the wok? Or was this some kind of spiteful seasoning retaliation?

The most frustrating part? No apologies, no follow-up, and zero concern for our experience.** From start to finish, the service was indifferent, leaving us completely neglected.

Key Issues Highlighted: Poor ingredient quality (unfresh fish despite excuses). Defensive service attitude (blame-shifting over accountability). Execution failure (over-salted replacement dish). Zero customer care (no apologies...

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