Yuan Wonton — Restaurant in Denver

After watching via Instagram the development of their brick and mortar over the past month, I was delighted to finally make it in person today. Friday morning is the best time to visit because their partial hours, shared with a bakery and Vietnamese restaurant on the same premises, overlap them with the bakery. (They are only open certain days of the week, so check their hours.)

I was en route to the airport so the owner's husband was kind enough to swiftly seat me and ensure I was attended to. (And despite the place being half full, I got my three dishes and was able to eat some of them and take the rest out -- end to end in 25 minutes). They don't do takeout orders yet.

The YW chili oil wontons were top notch: very thin delicate skin, very flavorful filling, quick fried shallot or garlic slices on top, a homemade chili oil sauce which was hot but not searingly so. The chasu pork on a fresh homemade milk bun slider was good, with a super fresh salad of organic greens that was a standout. The pineapple bun with chasu pork was the only disappointment: the new staff at this soft opening needs to work on the dough mixture so it isn't so dense, and a bit more pork filling would be nice.

Service was attentive with 3-4 people swinging by during my 25 minutes to make sure all was good. I sat at one of the long common tables and had a nice view of the open kitchen where you can watch the owner and her Instagram famous sous chefs hard at work.

The Asian bakery was disappointing in that it had on display no Asian goods, though the fresh sourdough bread, pecan granola, and lox and bagel were tempting conventional items.

Beautiful clean modern high ceiling interior with large open windows. A really cool vibe with mostly Gen Z diners. Not far from the Denver zoo, museum of science and city park. Parking on street is a little tight.

Definitely worth returning to...I look forward to exploring more of the...

We heard a lot about the hype back when Yuan Wonton was a still food truck and always wanted to give it a try. Finally we made the reservation in the brick and mortar location and were super excited about it. Overall, it was a good experience and glad we tried it but I don't think I will go back again.

First off, it was way overpriced. All the dishes are around $16-18 per item and the portion was small. We order 4 dishes and no drink, the total price was $85 incl. 15% tip.

Secondly, we were NOT blown away by the flavor. Of the 4 dishes, 1) the OG wonton were the best amongst our order. The meat (pork and shrimp) tasted fresh and the balance of the salt and chili was superb. Highly recommend. 👌 2) The ginger Chicken wonton was good too, but the balance on of the gingery and vinegary flavor was bit off and the ginger came off bit too strong. 3) The Fried Chicken sandwich (which came first is the name on the menu) was quite innovative and has a very unique flavor from the five spice, the chives and the egg aioli. BUT the fried chicken itself tasted like "old oil" and it was over cooked (as you can see from the photo). I'd recommend to give it a try for the novelty of it. 4) The garlic fried noodles. It was the most disappointing dish, it was salty, there's no protein in it, literally just a few strings of noodles with onion and leek. No prominent garlic flavor and there's nothing to write home about and definitely not worth the 16 bucks price.

Lastly, the restaurant has more communal bar tables than the private tables. It was very awkward to sit so close to people on the bar table and we can hear everything that they talk about and we pretty much stayed silent during this meal due to privacy. 😳

Net net - it's worth a try but not a "go to"...

I think a more accurate rating would be 3.5 - slightly above average for the price range. Honestly my expectations were so high for this place given that I had an incredible experience with their food truck a couple years back. I think that given the price of the food and the experience in detail below, I left feeling disappointed and wishing for more.

I ordered their OG Chili wontons, the Taiwanese style nuggets and fries, and the passion fruit tart for dessert. The wontons were thankfully amazing as I remember. Probably the best wontons I've had in Colorado and worth the price. Seriously their wontons cannot fail. They're clearly made with a lot of thought and intention.

The nuggets and fries was where I was horribly disappointed. The chicken nuggets were flavorful and tender, but they were somehow filled with oil. Getting a mouthful of oil every time I bit into a nugget left me feeling nauseous and I couldn't finish or enjoy this dish. The best part of this dish was the cucumber salad on the side as it was lighter and refreshing.

The passion fruit tart was good. The flavor of the filing was tart and sweet and well balanced. The crust was also tasty and was pleasant to eat. Good but not amazing.

The service was kind and prompt. I could tell that the people working here enjoy their job and were professional but personable. The atmosphere is really lovely and the patio is such a nice place to relax and enjoy some good food.

I think given the price of what I ordered and the reputation of this place, I was expecting near perfection with the food. It was very disappointing to leave feeling nauseous from the nuggets. I think if I came back, I'd stick to the wontons. It's definitely...