The East Asian Cuisine — Restaurant in Great Barrington

I made reservations for a table of six, weeks before we planned on arriving (two of them being children, 6 and 4) I was expecting it to be busy because it was Christmas Day. We got there on time, which was about 6:30pm. We were seated quickly but taking our seat was the only thing done in a timely manner. First, we sat at our table for 20 minutes before I finally said something to one of the waitresses walking by. Our waitress came over and we ordered our drinks, 1 app, some sushi and 2 different kinds of Lo Mein. We received our drinks, 10 minutes later after we ordered them and were never approached again. My husband went over to the front desk because it was well over an hour and all we had were our drinks (which were empty). We got excuses from both the front desk and our waitress when she came over. She brought over the sushi(no plates) and was rudely telling us that our order was lost. About 5 minutes later we received our plates and then soon after my daughter who is 4, received her Lo Mein. At this point my almost 70yr old father started eating her food because his wasn’t out yet. Then lastly my father received his Lo Mein and the waitress asked if we wanted any more drinks. You would think we would have known better but we asked for a couple more which we didn’t receive util we were done with our food, and wanted our check. My husband already went up to the counter and asked for boxes because we would have never gotten out of there waiting on our waitress. Our bill was close to $200, my husband went up to the desk 3x during our meal which took well over 2hrs total. It was the worst service I have ever received and I wish I was exaggerating, We spoke to 2 other tables that night who had the same experience, it was a joke. Our last take out experience was a nightmare as well and you would think we would have learned. The food is good but again we spent $200 for a headache and it’s not the first time. We are locals, who live less than a mile down the road, so it is...

From the outside, I thought cheap knockoff Americanized epicurean destaster ..WAS I EVER WRONG. Sam our waiter was a very nice young man proper and from an inner provence close to where the first Eastern Temple was erected. I knew after seeing a five or six page menu filled with sushis and sushimi , vegan, vegaterian , and authentic cuisine straight from actual provence that I personally have only seen in Temples. Intrigued , proper service, beautiful decor , A giant Buddah , great authentic olong tea not bittered by over steeping... What gives??? Nothing and everything, I ordered tempora bean curd with a classic brown sauce. Figured safe and the way a Chinese chef treats tofu is a statement of the chefs ability. Having tofu prepared for me in similar style in many temples and fine restaurants, this was surprisingly one of the best. This Chef that was on shift was a master. The Tofu was very impressive and stacked beautifully in a tower reminiscent of the peaks of China itself. But the sauce..never , except maybe at Chef Eric Riperts' of La Bernardin ,NYC Micheline three star, (and fellow Buddhist) ,have I tasted such a complexity of a simple ingredients. It starts as a warm deep complexity of this brown delicately harth broth, then a hint of plum ,an essence of ginger ,a taste of pepper then hits maybe white ,maybe chili..the sauce will keep you guessing . Delicious absolutely, in all sense of the word. The Sushimi and Sushi my companion had was delicate and was told very superb. Thin and fresh with a beautiful plating. Yes ,yes ,yes TRY THIS PLACE ,TAKE IT IN ,AND ENJOY IT . Try the Tofu with a side (s ) the sauces are worth the extra, maybe some correctly cooked bok choy and you will...

I have been to The East 4 times in the last year. Only one of which did I get good service. The only reason I am giving them 3 stars is because their food is very good and they have a large menu to choose from. The service, however, is the exact opposite. The three times we saw our waitor in the hour we were there seemed very rushed. He kinda tossed things at us like he was trying to do it quickly so he could walk away. We asked for drink refills and after 15 minutes of waiting for them had to go up to the counter and ask for them. There was another table that was a party of 2 (we being a party of 5 that was there 10 minutes prior) that got waited on immediately after us, and got their food and drinks faster than we did. They got their main dishes before we got our appetizers. He was the only person waiting in the whole restaurant but there were only 3 tables to wait on. I dont typically like leaving bad reviews. Their food is very good. If you do go here I highly recommend their honey walnut shrimp, although I substitute their normal sauce for their general tso's sauce. The teriyaki beef is amazing. The food in general always comes out good. I just wish the service...