Asian Court — Restaurant in Ellicott City

After stop visiting AC at old location (the review of which made years ago you'll see down below), we've visited this new location few times also many years ago. And the impression always was lust OK (not the tastiest, not the freshest, not the cleanest, not the most efficient service wise place for dim sum, but the value is quite good). Recently I've read some reviews from this side which in the most were quite positive and mentioned some changes in management and kitchen staff. So, we've decided to give them another try. Didn't want to deal with hectic weekends and came for Friday lunch by 12pm. In spite of only few tables occupied and 3 servers on the job, the impression was almost the same. The only difference was that this time we ordered some other dishes besides dim sum (Duck over rice, Beef with pickled vegetables and Szechuan green beans) and those dishes which were made freshly were really highlights of our lunch. The most of 10 dim sum dishes we ordered (which could taste quite well if... wouldn't be almost cold and looking/tasting not freshly made and in case of Chicken feet spoiled) were just a disappointment. But on the positive side for our big order they gave us lots of free Wonton soup, and portions of the dishes were quite big and made a great value for the quantity of the food. So, there was a bit of frustration with the slow and not very attentive service (which improved somewhat by the end), but some dishes and value points still were attractive to us, which means we probably come back for more tasting of the Authentic Chef's dishes.

To my deep sorrow I have to report that today was the day we visited Asian Court the last time. If you’ve read my two previous reviews you already know that we’ve been very loyal and grateful patrons of this place from the very beginning of their existence. Unfortunately we can’t say it anymore. The main reason for this decision is their unclear and seems to us not honest charges they started to put lately in our bills. We didn’t question their charges to them because it’s hard to prove anything without understanding their marking system on the card at dim sum dining. But we have been noticing for quite a wile that our bills become higher and higher for the same amount of our favorites we order every time. First we thought maybe their prices rose? We checked the menu and the changes were not that significant if any. If before we paid from $35 to $45 for about 10 to 12 dim sum dishes, now it was close to $50/$60 and sometimes $70. We tried to match our orders with their menu and couldn’t find the answers. Some dishes they served we couldn’t even find on the menu. Besides this reason, the quality of the food became inconsistent and we would be paying more for the food that didn’t bring the same satisfaction as it was earlier. So we’ve decided to quit. As for you my friends, if you still enjoy their fare at least...

This is the worst restaurant I have ever been to and I will never eat here again. After having subpar service, my bf and I were forced to increase our tip amount because the server, Wah Keun, was not happy with his tip and called his manager over to talk to us. The manager immediately started explaining why we had to increase the tip instead of asking us why we were unhappy with the service. When she did ask, I gave her several reasons (not attentive, messed up order twice but we chose to ignore it one time, did not check in on us, not considerate) which she seemed to understand but then continued to push that we increase. I explained to her that a person can tip as much or as little as they want and that they were forcing us to do this. I repeated this to her twice. She tried to justify her actions by saying that she checked on us and that Wah Keun needed to pay the busboy (we did not see anyone clearing tables beside the servers themselves). I said that she did but that she was not our server and so the tip was not reflective of her, but him, Wah Keun. It was a Sunday evening and the restaurant was not busy (there were only three other tables and two were finishing up) so, I can't even justify the bad service to a busy day. In addition, the only time Wah Keun was attentive was when he was collecting the check for us to pay. It wasn't even 9pm. They close at 10. It was like he really wanted to hurry us out. Also, for a server to open the payment book right in front of us (the customers) and then say to us (this is word for word), "What? Are you kidding me?" is beyond disrespectful and is the epitome of bad customer service. The manager would not let up and we decided to just pay the extra tip amount even though we did not want to. The manager tried to give us coupons, but we denied them and told her we would never eat there again. Needless to say, my bf and I plan on sticking to our word. This was supposed to be a birthday treat but it turned into a horrible experience. The total bill came to about $82. Because of the service, we initially gave the waiter a $2 tip. After the manager forced us to increase the amount it was $8. The money isn't the main issue, it's the principle, the fact that we did not have a good experience, and that we were forced to do something we did not want to.

P.S. Shouldn't any restaurant be happy for...

I came here for a Chinese New Year's with friends. This is the same Asian court that used to be near the Home Depot on Route 40. During those days the food was great. I was told that the food went downhill when they moved. So my expectations were slightly lower. We come in and seat ourselves relatively quickly. I am Asian so the waiter/manager assumed that I was Chinese and started speaking Mandarin. We did have one friend that understood Chinese so she begins talking to her to see what we like to order. Looking at the reviews it seems like a lot of people have issues with this particular person. I can see how it comes off as rude and impolite but I'm not familiar with the culture. But I'll do a review strictly for the food. A lot of these Asian businesses are spotty with the service do to just cultural differences.

Snow peas - sauteed with garlic and very simple seasoning, it's a dish where you can get your daily greens. I do generally pursue snow peas when they have tons of garlic piled on top.

Sauteed beef - I don't know the exact name of the dish but I had a sauteed beef which was pleasantly surprising. There was a great amount of seasoning and spices to the point where it was almost salty. But being Asian, you generally have to eat these dishes with rice. A lot of reviews saying the dishes were season too much, but rice is an essential in Asian culture

Peking Duck - peking duck is a iconic Chinese dish so I didn't expect a amazing Peking Duck. I have this suspicious feeling deep down inside that some of these Chinese places get their Peking duck from a large distributor because I can't personally tell a difference. The skin is crispy the meat is moist and the buns are soft.

Crispy chicken - this dish was very similar to the duck but the whole chicken was fried. The meat was a little bit drier then the duck but that's expected as the birds are slightly different in fat content. Again the chicken is well seasoned and they have these small bits of fried garlic all over the chicken.

Maybe it's because we were Asian, or maybe it was because we had someone that was Chinese. But the food was above average and service was okay. I hate to say this but this review should be an exception if...