Sago — Restaurant in Cincinnati

Well… I think this restaurant is seriously OVERRATED. I honestly don’t understand how they still manage to get good ratings with this kind of service and food quality. Am I just the unlucky one?

I went with friends for dinner last August. I picked this place because the reviews didn’t look bad and I was missing Asian food. They don’t take reservations — first come, first serve. Fair enough, but it means you’re stuck waiting outside for half an hour or more, in the heat, with zero shade.

First red flag: a lot of items were already sold out, and it wasn’t even late. The staff weren’t exactly “rushed,” but you basically have to spit out your order fast and perfectly, or else they’ll just walk away from your table. Fine, I’m here for food, not for warm and fuzzy service. We ordered pork dumplings as an appetizer — they looked and smelled fine, but when I bit into one, it was still raw inside. The pork was pink and mushy. We flagged it immediately, and the staff’s response was: “The pink color is marinade.”. Honestly, that is the most ridiculous excuse I’ve ever heard in a restaurant. Sure, marinade can change color, but it doesn’t magically make raw meat safe to eat! If the chef had at least come out and said, “Yes, it’s safe, it’s meant to be that way,” I might’ve trusted it and given it another try. But they didn’t even bother or pretend to asking the chef. Just brushed us off.

So I skipped the appetizer. My friends’ entrées (barbecue pork and some beef dish) came out — the Canton-style barbecue pork was actually decent, as a Cantonese standard it was quite good, so they enjoyed their meals. But mine? Completely missing. We reminded the staff more than once, and only few tables there, it’s not like they shouldn’t have noticed. By the time my roast duck noodle finally arrived, my friends were already finished and I had lost all appetite. To be fair, the duck itself was excellent and very authentic, but the noodles were just okay. Overall, a real shame.

Oh, and one more thing: are they supposed to be charging tax during Ohio’s tax...

I got a chicken curry type dish and it was very good (very salty and the broth was too flavorful to drink which is a positive and a negative of the dish). It did have good spice! The dumplings were good, I'd give a them a 4/5. My husband got a fish special and the fish was raw (I don't think it was supposed to be raw, I tried to encourage him to complain but he didn't want to) and it was served over a bowl of fish eggs and curried vegetables (no rice or noodles). It's like they seared the skin on one side of the fish but the other side didn't touch any heat (it wouldn't flake apart and was translucent and raw). Everyone at my table tried and it concluded it was probably the worst thing we have ever tried to eat (even my friend from Taiwan who eats A LOT of seafood). There was also no substance to the dish and eating raw fish + fish eggs was a very unpleasant experience. My husband asked what was in the dish twice before ordering it and no one said fish eggs (unless the word for fish eggs was in a different language). My husband likes ordering specials because they are usually good. For this reason, I'm not sure we will be back. The duck my friends had was good, so if we did come back we would get that. Again, I did really like my curry noodle dish and I would order that again. Also just so everyone knows ITS NOT BYOB. They do have beer for sale. Also, our server was absent for a lot of the time but she was the only one serving in the store unfortunately. We also waited about 45 mins/hour to get a seat which is no one's fault but be prepared to wait if you come on a Friday around 7:30. Oh and the fried chicken is good but it lacked salt, dipped in the curry...

We found this place online while we were planning for our trip to Cincinnati the next day. Did some research and found that the owner/chef, Paul, is from Malaysia, where I hail from, and just had to check this place out. Pre-ordered roast duck to be picked up when we dine in while we were there. We ordered Nasi Lemak with Beef Rendang and Teh Tarik. The presentation was simple, but the taste was delish! The roast duck was cooked to perfection, the aroma, the taste.. just brought me back home to Malaysia. As a Malaysian, when it comes to Malaysian cuisine, we kinda have a certain expectation of the originality of its taste, and I can proudly say, Paul nailed it! Everyone was friendly in this restaurant, and the service was excellent. Paul and I chatted a bit, inspite of his busy schedule whilst in the midst of preparing a big order for pickup, too bad we didn't get the name of the sweetest lady we spoke to, only know I shared her middle name. We will definitely be back, Paul, there are so many other items on the menu I have yet to try! If time allows, we'll make it back for CNY as well, we'll call and let you know. It is only 2 hours drive from our home in IN anyway. It was truly a blessing we were there yesterday as we had just realized you are closed from Sunday to Tuesday. Really really happy to have met you...