ChoLon - Downtown — Restaurant in Denver

We had a reservation and was given the option of immediate bench seating or waiting for a table near the window. We opted to wait for the window seat. The from desk person was welcoming and friendly and in fact, wished me Happy Birthday upon our leaving.

Our waiter was Garren and he was perfect. It did not hover and did a great job of explaining the menu. He recommended the salad and although we had not planned to have one we took his recommendation and were quite pleased as it was delicious.

Drinks: I had a glass of the Gruner Veltliner and my daughter a glass of the Thai Iced Tea with Persian lime. That tea was so good that I also got a glass.

Small Bites: Pork Belly Buns The buns were soft and fluffy and the pork was thick and covered in a sweet glaze. The dish included slaw to add to the buns and some of the extra glaze on the plate. Taste was fantastic and it was not fatty. The only thing that I would have liked was a bit of mayo on the side to add to the bun.

Soup Dumplings I had read reviews about these and how this is the thing to get. I am a lover of soup dumplings so this was a must try. Well, I knew they were onion and gruyere but when they arrived, my eyes saw soup dumplings. When I tasted it the wonderful salty gruyere hit me and I was momentarily confused (remember my eyes see soup dumplings so my brain thinks traditional) and as I chewed all I could think of was wow… who thought to do this. I need MORE. This was a creative and tasty play on soup dumplings and I am glad that we tried them.

Small Plates: Asparagus Salad, Local Feta, Strawberries, Lotus Chips, Ramp Vinaigrette This salad was recommended by our server and we were glad that we listened. It was crunchy and tangy and the vinaigrette was a nice touch. It was not drenched in the vinaigrette but there was more than enough to ensure that the salad was fully dressed.

Share Plates: Lemongrass Glazed Pork Ribs, Green Papaya Salad, Mango, Toasted Cashews Fall off the bone excellence. The glaze stuck to the ribs and the papaya salad added a nice crunch to the ribs. My daughter tagged the as the part of the meal she loved the most.

From the Wok: Brussels Sprouts, Ground Pork, Kaffir Lime The sprouts were nicely browned and the ground pork crisp. It was not an overwhelming volume of pork, just enough to have the flavor to accompany the brussels sprouts allowing them to be the star. The crispy rice that was also part of the dish added a nice crunch to the dish and the kefir lime leaves added a nice citrus note.

Dessert: We were looking at the dessert menu trying to decide if we would share a dessert (I mean look at all the food above) or get separate ones. As we were deciding, Garren brought over a birthday dessert on the house. The funny part is that this was the one we looked at on the menu and decided AGAINST because it didn’t seem like it made sense. Well, we stuck our spoons into it and oh my goodness we were so very wrong! The Thai Basil & Strawberry-Rhubarb Sorbets, Cucumber Seltzer was refreshing and sweet without being cloying. It was bright and flavorful. You could clearly taste the Thai Basil and the Strawberry flavor. All I could think of when it was finished was how wrong we were for almost passing it over and how much I wanted more.

Cholon, my stomach thanks you for the delicious, well thought out and creative dishes. And thank you Garren for your recommendations and attentive service. The leftovers that we took home will allow additional thanks.

Yes you...

Charging $25 a head, in advance, implies you’re going to get something a a bit special. This concept was reinforced by the snotty and indifferent reception as we arrived. Nothing says quality like pretension from a sneering host who gives you the condescending look, oh you have small children.

The calamari was decent, as was the fried rice. That’s as far as I can honestly go. The food was fried to death, there were no distinction in flavors. No sharp relief between flavors or textures. Cholon makes PF Chang's look like a Michelin starred restaurant.

This restaurant is in the heart of Denver. It feels like the sort of place specifically designed to draw tourists in with the big windows, the fake plants, the horribly lite bathrooms. It's designed as fake high end. It looks the part from the street. The high ceilings, the exposed concrete pillars, the ibiza dance music playing, it looks cool. This place is engineered like a venus fly trap to a fly.

It has all the atmosphere and passion of a revolving restaurant. You go to a rotating restaurant for the view, once. No one ever goes twice, no one ever discusses the food, they go for the experience.Because it's cool, it's something to talk about once you go home. This is like that, but with a view of a homeless man digging through the bins.

Folks will come in excited with a load of work colleagues, the food with be bland, inspide, everyone will drink to much (oh the profit selling some shuck a bottle of chateau de obscure), no one will kick up a fuss. After all who wants to be that guy during a work event? No one is local, we're only here because of the convention down the street. the corporate credit card is taking care of it. So who really cares right?

But this sort of place is the absolute antithesis of good food. Not because it's flaccid nothing is barely edible, but because they rob clients of a potentially wonderful meal, made with passion and love somewhere else.

This cynical money extracting machine also robs another restaurant that cares about food, and less about how they look from the street, of the business. It is an anti restaurant. Cooked up as a concept by an accountant. It is cooking by spreadsheet. The entire experience can be equated to slowly eating drywall, old dry wall, from an abandoned house where no one loved each other and resentment filled the air.

We had 5 in our party, two of them under five. We had lunch, no alcohol, no desserts, nothing fancy, $280 later we left, angry.

Just imagine what a restaurant that actually cared about food could have done with that money.

I like good food, but I'm not a food snob. Chick-Fil-A is considered great in my family. But the cynicism of this "restaurant" really stuck in my throat.

If you’re wondering why I gave it two stars? Simple, you’re more likely to read reviews...

On the first day in Denver, the Missus (bless ‘er) and I had the opportunity to visit ChoLon- and what a great start to our visit! We dropped in around 2:30, just in time to avail ourselves of the ‘Happy Hour’ menu of small plates. As we were pretty bagged after our flight, this seemed to be the best way to eat some food, but without loading up on too much and feeling even more wasted. We were seated in the dining room and promptly greeted by our server, Jung. The food and drink menus were presented, and Jung brought a bottle of water to the table without our having to ask. This, by the way, was a preview of the quality of water service we experienced dining out in Denver. Other cities could take a cue. We ordered a bottle of bubbly rose for the Missus (bless ‘er), while I enjoyed a ‘mocktail.’ Having seen the menu online, we ordered all of the items offered under the “$7 Dim Sum,” including the French Onion and “General Cho’s,” Chili-soy Chicken soup dumplings, the Vegetable Shanghai Dumplings, Crispy Chicken Spring Roll, Pork Potstickers, and the Grilled Beef Skewers with Hong Kong Steak Sauce. Additionally, the Missus (bless ‘er) insisted on adding the Salt and Pepper Calamari with Wok-Hay Aromatics and Dynamite Dip. To start, a pappadam with a spicy “salsa” was brought as our a) bread service, or b) chips and dip. Take yer pick. The crisp was delicious and the dip lively. The French onion soup dumpling I found to be somewhat bland, with the gruyere cheese not really adding any punch of flavor. General Cho’s dumpling, however, packed a flavorful punch, but not so spicy as to distract from the overall quality of the soup. The Vegetable Shanghai dumplings themselves were tasty and fresh, but it was the ‘Ginger Jiang’ sauce that really made this dish pop. The Crispy Chicken Spring Rolls and Pork Potstickers were solid, but they paled next to the Grilled Beef Skewers and the Salt and Pepper Calamari. Both the steak and calamari were first-rate standouts: the beef tender, with that wonderful char on the meat balanced against the spices. The calamari served in strips (rather than the usual rings), on a bed of grilled jalapeño peppers and onions that neither the Missus (bless ‘er) or I could stop eating. Our server was personable and professional, as was the floor manager who informed us that the Rose Prosecco we ordered was not available. In its place, he brought a Rose Cava which was delicious and an excellent alternative. Considering how much we ate and drank (despite not wanting to over do it), the cost was reasonable and (more importantly) worth it. All in all, our experience at ChoLon was very pleasant, and we will be returning on our next visit to the mile-high city.

See: Jeff Bredt Google...