Chengdu 7 — Restaurant in Cary

After living in South Korea for 2.5 years, falling in love with the food there, and trying every Korean restaurant I have seen in the Triangle, this is undoubtedly the most authentic Korean dining experience you can get without going to a place with a major Korea-town like Atlanta. Definitely the best in Raleigh, probably the best in the state.

The food is a perfect replication of the flavors to be found in galbi and samgyeopsal restaurants in Seoul. Having tried five different dishes so far, each is served piping hot, perfectly prepared, and with a full complement of authentic sides (called panchan). All of the sides, including the bowl of kimchi, are bottomless; you can request refills on anything you finish, so you never leave hungry. I have not tried anything outside the Korean portion of the menu, but my favorites (galbi, kimchi jiggae, doenjang jiggae, samgyeopsal...) are executed flawlessly.

The decor is also a perfect example of the odd mix old old and new, fancy and simple, high tech and low tech found in family owned restaurants throughout Korea. Soups are served in traditional stoneware bowls that keep them boiling hot all the way to the table. Several tables have tabletop grills and vent hoods for customers to cook their meat to taste. Two small flat screen tvs (Samsung, of course) are always set to SBS or KBS America, playing Korean dramas or game shows (this was true in literally every family owned restaurant in Seoul). My favorite touch, personally, is the red, brass riveted chairs that look like they came from the 70s. This style of chair was everywhere in Korea, and seldom seen in the US; it is as though the lady who cooks the food brought them with her when she came.

Service is one of the few points that are less authentic. In Korea, servers will leave you completely alone unless you yell across the restaurant for them to come over and do something. For Korean customers (the restaurant is pretty popular with the local Korean community) the servers will sometimes still do this. But for American customers, they will come by periodically and ask if you need anything. It is still pretty low-touch service, and some people find the servers to be rather aloof compared to southern warmth found at other eateries in the area. For me, I don't like being bothered by servers anyway, and would rather just call them when I actually need something, so I wish they did it the Korean way. But, their US clientele would mostly find that very uncomfortable, so I understand the change.

Last point is price. Prices for most meals are a bit high (10-30% higher than Seoul prices for the same food), but to offer true authenticity and endless sides in the US where kimchi is expensive, this is far from unreasonable. Expect to pay $10-$20 per person. The only thing that is really too expensive there is soju, which is traditional Korean rice liquor, usually about 40 proof. It is not listed on the menu, but they have it if you ask. Unfortunately, it costs about $30 for a bottle. In the US, this is a fairly standard price, and one bottle is probably enough for two people. But it is still about 8-10 times what you would pay for the same bottle in a convenience store in Seoul.

On the whole, this is easily the best Korean dining experience in town. Not only the food, but the culture and aesthetics seem to have been directly transported from a small, family owned traditional restaurant in Seoul. ...

My wife wanted to order takeout for Christmas dinner but Taipei 101 wasn't open. She found this place based on Google/Reddit reviews and the website said orders would be ready in about 20 minutes so she put in the online order at 5:30 PM through their website for pickup. I arrived at 6PM and walked in. The restaurant had about 25% of the tables occupied with customers eating in but mostly crowded at the front with people standing around everywhere (I'd estimate there were at least 20 people, much worse than when the photo was taken which I'll go into detail later). I don't know what's going on, being my first time here, and people are just scattered everywhere with no signs or directions. I ask some of the other waiting patrons and they tell me they're just calling out names as orders are ready. Cool, doesn't seem like it should take long. Boy was I wrong.

Thirty minutes in, so at 6:30 PM, orders are coming out very slowly and it's gotten more crowded. A lot of people are getting upset which is understandable. Some people are fed up that their orders haven't been started yet despite waiting for at least an hour so they cancel and leave, I'm beginning to wonder if they're losing orders. People that are coming in to dine-in are being turned away because they're scrambling to get the pickup orders completed. There is a party of five that had reservations that was also turned away. There's this poor elderly lady that is doing DoorDash/Uber eats that's been waiting just as long as I have and finally got her order completed. This is the point where I took the photo, after about half of the waiting room has left due to frustration.

My order is finally ready at 7:15PM and I'm elated I can finally go home and feed the kids. The food tasted average and 2 out of 6 dishes were cold. This establishment might be great any other time of the year, but I'm not sure I'd give it another chance after this experience.

Let me be clear, I do not blame any of the staff that were working. I'm sure the kitchen staff were working the best they could. The Hispanic ladies running the front of the house were literally running around trying to get things done. The one chef behind the glass panel making noodles/dumplings seemed to be having the best time, working at his own pace with what seems like AirPods in his ears.

I put the blame on the owner/management. They were clearly short staffed for Christmas dinner and could not keep up with demand. They should have stopped accepting online and phone orders, only doing in person ordering and pickups so there wouldn't have been such a large backlog. They should have put up a sign at the front door saying they were not taking in any more dine-in customers so that they wouldn't come in and wait, only to have wasted their time to be told they weren't seating any more customers. They should have put up a sign inside to explain pick-up procedures, so that customers wouldn't come in and be confused as I was thinking there was a crazy long line to get to the...

|Overview: Authentic spicy Szechuan cuisine Big bowl of beef noodle soup for affordable price Fairly good customer service Overall food quality is great 91% Sanitation Score Dull ambiance with old-looking seats and bad lighting Amount of beef in noodle soup is little Some appetizers like beef tripe are pricey

|Full Review:

My girl & I went here around 9PM, and our first impressions of Chengdu 7 weren't good. The 91% Sanitation Score was concerning; my girl asked if we were sure if we wanted to eat here. I told her that not a lot of restaurants were open after 9 so we decided to give it a shot. We were the only customers dining in, and a young waitress took us to our cheap-looking seats illuminated by dull fluorescent lights. Ambiance is clearly not ideal for a romantic date night.

Chengdu 7's photo-filled menu offers authentic Chinese -Szechuan dishes, including a wide variety of beef at various spice levels. I ordered the $18+ Sizzling Steak in Hot Iron Plate, which came with strips of steak, bell peppers, scallions & white onions. It also came with a small cup of white rice.

My order lived up to its name as it arrived sizzling on a hot iron plate. It tasted how I expected it to be: not spicy but tasty. Wish I had the option to get fried rice instead & amount of rice was not much (waitress did not offer to refill rice). Overall, it was good but not great.

My girl ordered the Beef Noodle Soup, which was served in a large bowl. She was surprised to see the large amount for a $12+ bowl. It was much bigger than the $16+ bowl of beef noodle soup we got from Wheat in Chapel Hill just a few days ago. She said she wouldn't be able to finish it despite having to share with me so she asked for 2 smaller bowls for us because she knew that there'll be leftover for take out.

A Chinese gentleman whom we assumed to be the owner came to help cut the long rice noodles with scissors, so my girl can transfer some of the contents of the soup to the smaller bowls. We were thankful for his caring customer service.

The beef inside the noodle soup was well-cooked and tender but the amount of beef chunks was lacking; my girl wished it had less noodles and more beef. The broth was fine. Overall, not bad for $12+, which was about the same price as the beef tripe appetizer that we wanted to order but decided not to because of its price.

Instead, we ordered a $12 Chili Oil Dumpling. The pork inside tasted amazing with the chili oil, and the texture of the dumplings was perfect. There's a good amount so we ended up taking out about 1/3 of it.

Overall, I have mixed feelings about Chengdu 7. Despite the dull ambiance, low Grade "A" Sanitation Score, and some shortcomings in the food we ordered, it's still not a bad option if you enjoy authentic Szechuan cuisine at a semi-affordable price. Might return here to order for take out.

| Overall Score: 3.9/5

| Recommended Alternative: Shanghai...