Kwei Fei at Charleston Pour House — Restaurant in Charleston

I recently had the misfortune of dining at the so-called "American Chinese" restaurant, and let me tell you, it was an absolute disaster. I have never been so disappointed with a dining experience in my life. From start to finish, this place managed to disappoint in every possible way.

Let's start with their so-called Szechuan Beef dish. It was an abomination. Not only was it drenched in an excessive amount of chili oil, to the point where it overpowered any other flavors, but the meat was practically nonexistent. I swear, I had to search through a sea of vegetables just to find a few sad, overcooked and rubbery pieces of beef. It was an insult to the Szechuan cuisine I know and love.

But wait, it gets worse. The serving size of the dish was laughably small. I could have finished it in two bites if I hadn't been so disgusted by the taste. And the price they charged for this pitiful excuse of a meal was outrageous. I've had better Chinese food from a takeout container at half the price.

This restaurant claims to be "American Chinese," but what it really means is that they've taken authentic Chinese cuisine and completely butchered it to cater to an uneducated American palate. It's nothing but a sad imitation of the real thing. I couldn't find a single dish on the menu that felt remotely authentic or had any resemblance to what you would find in a genuine Chinese restaurant.

Overall, this fake American Chinese restaurant is a prime example of everything that's wrong with the food industry. They overuse chili oil to mask the lack of flavor and meat in their dishes, serve ridiculously small portions, and charge exorbitant prices. It's clear that they have no respect for the authentic flavors and traditions of Chinese cuisine.

If this place wants to salvage its reputation, they need to seriously rethink their entire menu. They should focus on providing quality ingredients, generous portions, and dishes that are true to the rich heritage of Chinese cuisine. Until then, I wouldn't recommend this restaurant to anyone who values their taste buds or their...

First I will cover the good. The host was very nice upon arrival and dining area has a good vibe and is decorated well. The lamb dumplings appetizer was very tasty. I particularly liked the “Surely not everybody was kung fu fighting” sign.

Now I will address the bad. We had La Zi Ji which is a chicken dish and beef Sichuan. Both dishes had so much chili oil in them we could not taste anything else. I love hot food, I add spice to almost everything I eat so the heat was not the issue, all of the oil ruined any chance of actually tasting the food. In addition it didn’t sit well with either of us and we are still feeling the effects the next day.

The wait staff was very aloof and not very friendly or attentive despite appearing to have enough staff to cover the amount of people dining. The interactions we had were very rushed. The table next to us has to get up and find someone to take their payment because they had been waiting so long.

Now to the men’s room. The smell of urine was so strong that it almost made me gag. They had air fresheners but it wasn’t enough to cover it up. They have waterless urinals which I thought may be the issue but right after we left we went to another establishment close by that had the same toilets and there was no smell.

We really wanted to like Kwei Fei but sadly we will not be retiring.

In response to the restaurant. I am a connoisseur of sorts, I have many custom pepper and sauce combinations. My favorite being a mix of Carolina Reaper, Moruga Scorpion, Ghost Pepper, and Habanero. I eat these spices daily with no lingering effects. While I appreciate your feeling as though I need educating however we must agree to disagree. While I understand Sichuan is pepper/oil forward the fact that so much was used that the paraesthesia made it impossible to actually taste the food. In my layman’s point of view the spice should complement the other ingredients as opposed to making them completely disappear. As Stacy Zhang said "If it's just numbing, it’s not that...

Unfortunately, the spicy food is overshadowed by the rude, unprofessional, and disrespectful staff. We had family who were visiting for thanksgiving and my husband and I were so excited to show them this place. We called to make a reservation and the voicemail box message said not to leave a message because they do not check it. From the moment we arrived, the manager/host was clearly annoyed we were there and acted as if we were a burden. We were a party of 13 and they sat us outside at two tables without the hearters on despite the fact that it was a chilly November night. When we said we would quickly get a drink at the bar the host said in a nasty tone “it will take 2 seconds”… so we followed him outside. We asked the waitress of we could add another smaller 2 person table to accommodate our party because there was enough room. She said the host/manger said no they have to leave it open for walk-ins despite the fact that we made a reservation online. I asked the waitress why the manger disliked us and has made everything difficult- mind you we did not even order drinks never mind food. She said “well you don’t have to be ugly about it” and that we were walking badly about her manager. We we’re offended and left. The manager is a disgruntled little man who is completely unwilling to make your experience pleasant; rather, he goes out of his way to make it very unpleasant. Likewise, the purported owner is arrogant and rude and told our party “we don’t need your business”. Indeed, he will never have our business and I strongly encourage anyone who even remotely values being respected as a human being to avoid this restaurant because you will undoubtedly be treated poorly. It’s said because the food is spicy but the service is wholly unacceptable. If I could give it zero...