2nd Language — Restaurant in Evansville

Wow where do I even begin with this review. First of all I do NOT recommend this place. The one review saying Gordan Ramsey would be impressed must be talking about another Gordan is all I will say. I came here to celebrate my birthday. Once you enter, the atmosphere is relaxed with a hipster/hippy vibe. The wait staff dresses exactly like you'd expect someone working at Trader Joe's to be dressed. This is neither good nor bad - just an observation. We (party of 4) were seated quickly enough, facing the kitchen. Everyone working back there had big, thick beards with NO beard nets or hair nets. All I could think of was a thick beard hair falling into one of the dishes. This must be some sort of health code violation. Luckily for me there was no hair in my food, but the thought of it made me lose my appetite before the food even arrived. The food was grossly overpriced. The spring roll appetizer had spring rolls the size of my pinky finger. The fried tofu had a coating that was like chewing a booger; I had to spit it out. For good fried tofu try Wasabi's. The ramen dishes were bland. I will say my vegetarian ramen dish tasted amazing hence the two stars. I swapped out ramen for rice noodles. They were overcooked as I could not pick a single strand up without them breaking into little tiny pieces. So no way could I eat them with a fork. The portion size was OK for the noodles if you were to eat those AND drink all the broth which is what I had to do as I could not pick up any rice noodles with my fork. My entree was advertised as containing TWO eggs. I received two HALF boiled eggs which equate to ONE whole egg. I felt ripped off there and deceived. If I wanted to add another "egg" that would have been an additional $5. That's a joke for a half egg. My mother ordered the karaage rice bowl and that was so salty, like eating a pillar of salt other than the rice. For desert, the creme brulee was cold and grainy. I was expecting for that price at least smooth and silky. It was not good. Do not order that. The japanese cheesecake was delicious with a steep price of $14. Which is OK since it was good, but not good enough to come back. The French toast was HUGE and rich. This was the one dish that was actually worth the price. It was buttery and delicious. Good but again, I don't know if it was good enough to drive 2-4hrs back for. Overall, way overhyped, unhygienic, and way overpriced. I am FINE with spending money, I spent 10K on my dog's two knee replacements but I will not be ripped off. You can charge a lot and deliver but this place was NOT it. My server never once checked on me to ask me how everything tasted, etc. They even do this at Applebee's. Spend your money elsewhere. Wasabi is my go to for sushi and fried tofu. My final bill including tip was $170. This is the first and last time I will be eating here. Unacceptable for that price, not in...

Unfortunately I've had the opportunity to experience this restaurant twice and was disappointed both times. Although, I've had a few take-out meals from the other restaurant, and I enjoyed majority of what I've ordered. However, this particular restaurant it was NOT the same. I will say the 1st time I had the Japanese chicken and it was really good, actually it was the only thing from the 1st order that I enjoyed. The pork buns were awful. The buns themselves were nice, but the pork was too fatty and the meat was actually dry, chewy, and bland. (Now I've seen other reviews, and noticed the owner does ALWAYS want a complete explanation of what was wrong..so I'm giving my views. PLEASE DO NOT Hassel me about my thoughts on the food. I actually find it a bit unprofessional to respond the way you've done to other reviewers. I spent my money in support of your business, as the consumer I am entitled to share my thoughts with those who may be considering patronizing your establishment. My review is meant to enlighten, it's their choice to try it for themselves! I'm saying all of this to hopefully discourage the owner from doing the same to me. ) I also had the Ramen in the 1st order, it was bland and just didn't deliver on taste. I can't put my finger on what exactly it was specifically because the overall Ramen just wasn't to my prefered desire. I've had Ramen at different Asian restaurants and this didn't quite stand up to any of those. On this visit (I do believe if your going to try a new restaurant to give it 2 valiant tries before making a final decision. It could be a new chef, new recipe, or just a bad day.) I only ordered 2 items, the Japanese chicken & the fried rice. Upon recieving my order, I opened the bag and the very 1st thing was ALL THE GREASE on BOTH take-out containers. Whomever boxed the order used the same gloves as they'd used to fill the order. That was not the only place that was grease filled, the Japanese chicken was greasy and there was grease (a thin layer) in the bottom of the box! The fried rice box was also greasy (not as much as the Japanese chicken container), but the flavor/taste was overwhelmingly the taste of bell peppers! Literally, every bite was the strongest, overpowering taste of bell peppers and really nothing else! In truth I didn't even feel like I was tasting authentic fried rice! As I said, I do believe everyone deserves a chance to win you over, so to all who read this, go try for yourself, I hope you have a wonderful experience, but as for me... I doubt...

Well, I'm now spoiled for life. We went to 2nd Language to celebrate a family member's birthday on a 103F degree day in lovely Evansville. Thankfully there is plentiful parking across the street. The decor hit us first. It's industrial meets boho and we all loved it.

We started off with the pork gyoza and they were the best any of us had ever had and we have a few decades under our belts. The chicken chashu and pork chashu ramen were both wonderful with rich broth, perfectly cooked noodles, and so many toppings we could barely see the liquid underneath. The spicy Asian chicken sandwich was, well, a sandwich. That is all that can be said. The Korean rice, however, was spot on perfect. We really wanted the chicken katsu curry but found out it had been discontinued. That was actually the main thing that had (at first) attracted us. Que sera sera.

Then there were the desserts. We had the Japanese cheesecake and the honey toast. The former was proper fluffy if not a tad on the dry side. Having never had it I'm not sure that's how it should be; but, it was definitely not our favorite. That being said, we were all raised on thick New York style cheesecake so that certainly factors in. So about that honey toast. That stuff is life changing. I'm not joking. I've had hand made Belgian chocolates. Lovely tidbits from boutique patisseries, and gelatos in several states across this country. The honey toast was perfectly toasted along the edges and the miso butterscotch drizzled over it was, while quite sweet, delicate and complex. The umami from the miso differentiates it from any other sauce we'd ever had. The gelato wasn't even necessary but was still dense, lightly sweet (which didn't compete with or overpower the rest of the dessert) and also gave a contrasting but still complementary base to that butterscotch.

2nd Language is also SUPER reasonable on their pricing. For a family of four you can spend more at a fast food restaurant than we spent there and the quality was so far beyond even fast casual it would be like comparing an MRE with a Michelin starred restaurant. If you have a date night you may want to given them a try. Oh, did I mention they have vegan selections? (We really wanted to try the vegan creme brulee but that wasn't on the menu, nor was the chai creme brulee that we had seen on their online menus.) We are definitely going to go back and next time for the dinner service.

*I would recommend making reservations which can be done through...