Mei Li Cuisine — Restaurant in Eureka Springs

So we thought we’d give Mei Li another try tonight after the awfully botched visit back in 2020 (I left a review for that visit). In 2019, we thoroughly enjoyed eating lunch and dinner at this establishment. It had fallen far from that original proverbial tree by 2020. Well, for tonight’s visit, the food had improved, slightly, over the last visit. Bringing a resounding Meh from our crowd of six ordering everything from General’s Chicken, Orange Chicken, shrimp fried rice and specialty sushi rolls with sashimi. One person in our group had to wait at least 10 minutes for his dish while the rest of us felt guilty eating and holding off on ours, letting them get cold. The “complimentary” soup (miso) was so salty, most at the table couldn’t stomach it. Service was with a very curt quip-y attitude and with an inattentive waitress that even delivered the wrong dish to the table. Although she made up for it realizing her faux pas and brought out the right dish at no extra cost allowing several of us to taste test the Orange chicken. Which was surprisingly good, by the way. The General’s chicken was said to be good. Not the best they’d had but good. Plate presentation had also improved from the 2020 visit. I was surprised that it appeared there was a waiter or waitress for just about each table in the place, but none were wearing attire that I would say made me realize they actually worked there. One young gentleman was wearing a “Champion” sports tshirt. Another just in black, another man wearing a blue t-shirt and our waitress, most colorful of them all and a little more appropriately was dressed in a rainbow shirt with a servers apron. Branded attire or at the very least, standardized attire would be more appropriate. The sushi roll, The Caterpillar, one of our favorites elsewhere, was anemic and loose with very little meat. It approximated the taste of other rolls we’ve had but for $15, not quite up to par. Sad to see such little artistry in it’s presentation as well. Lackluster would be a way to put it. The Sashimi was the most pitiful display I’ve ever seen in a restaurant charging this much. The fish selection was thin slivers of medium quality and tasting meats. Nowhere near the “melt in your mouth” buttery sensation that a good yellowtail can produce elsewhere. Cleanliness was an improvement over last visit, by 3, but the floors were still quite slippery with whatever cleaning solution they use. Although I realize it’s been hot, even by Arkansas standards, in the summer, me and my guests found ourselves sweating through our dinner. At the end, when the check arrived and because we had a table of 6, they added the 18% gratuity. Their loss, as I routinely, even with mediocre service as we had, routinely tip 25% these days – because I know how hard that job can be and I want people to stay in the job. I’m sorry I can’t give more than 3 stars, overall the entire evening was mediocre and left all that attended wishing we’d chosen to stick with our original plan to go to Thai House or Amigos where we all regularly get 5 star service and food for a much more affordable price. Our bill came to $80 for two people. Yes, in a tourist town, you’d expect that…. But you’d also expect a WOW for that… no so here at Mei Li. They either still have their work cut out for them to improve service, cleanliness, quality and value… or they won’t be around next season. I know I won’t be recommending them anytime in the near future, nor will any of our other 5 guests that were at the table tonight. Do better, and if I hear about it, I’ll maybe give it a try again… maybe but those chances for spending this much $$ each time is...

Amazing little surprise we found on our road trip today! We just happened upon this wonderful little place randomly while out enjoying a Saturday drive through the colorful Arkansas hills to see the fall colors. It was a bit chilly today and maybe 60 degrees outside when we arrived but the new outdoor deck seating looked so inviting with the afternoon sun in just the right angle to have warmth while enjoying the fresh air and mountain breeze. We couldn't resist. The owner personally looked after us and even set up a warmer by our table incase we got cool. The food was very very fresh and creative. My wife and I eat a lot of seafood, sushi, asian dishes and we were both very impressed by everything we ordered.

We even got lucky and ended up with an amazing off menu appetizer that they whipped up just because of a random comment my wife made. This is the first time in years I've had more than one completely new types of sushi rolls or dishes that were original and brilliantly executed by a chef that clearly cares about more than making money. I could taste the pride of his craft and commitment to the customers experience in everything. Even the simple complementary miso soup was head and shoulders above what we are used to.

TLDR... Fresh ingredients, friendly caring owner and staff, clean environment, incredible food... they could charge much more for this food and it would still be...

This was our first visit back to Mei Li since last year when we decided the restaurant was too poorly sanitized and the service was very spotty. The food was usually good enough to justify the visit. Unfortunately, this trip, the place was still very dirty, service was still confusing and spotty all around. The sushi was tasty although very small rolls and servings. The entrees were more akin to frozen Chinese food that was just heated up, not actually made there. The waitress asked us if we wanted soup, we ordered miso - it never arrived. Food came to the table in an odd order. We asked for the sushi first but two entrees were delivered with it, then the third arrived. My dinner was forgotten and came after everyone else was done. My lomein was drowned in a weird brown sauce, tiny bits of chicken, overcooked noodles and spring rolls were mushy inside like they were frozen and cooked too quickly. Drinks were never refreshed. If I go back, I’ll only order sushi or sashimi to go, but I’ll never go back for dine in or recommending this place to any of our guests. What’s sad is if they would just have better trained servers, better cleaning protocols, And act more like a professional restaurant, they’d have more business for not only tourists but locals as well. My money can easily be spent in many other...