Bo Lings — Restaurant in Kansas City

Extremely negative experience. Partner and I went in and the food was extremely bland. We had ordered Sweet and Sour Chicken, and Honey Walnut chicken, of which neither had much flavor or taste. I know this as I have eaten here quite a few times before and have never had a problem like this. Server came over maybe 3 times in total, once to take our order, once to fill our drinks, and once at the end. Note, it was not busy in the restaurant, and the server kept sitting down on her phone. At the end, we explained to the server that we couldn’t eat either of the chicken dishes we ordered because they were too bland. She then stated that it was “so much food”, to which we again explained that we couldn’t eat it because of the blandness. We had maybe had 3-4 bites each. She then took the plates and threw them away. We once again called her over and explained again that the quality of the food did not match the price and that we would need to speak to a manager. We were then confronted by the manager with, “Is your money alright?” to which my partner and I felt very disrespected by. We explained about the food and the server, to which the manager responded “Why didn’t you say anything sooner?” I explained that the server had only been over AFTER we had tried our food and that we told her it wasn’t quality food during that interaction, and the manager kept blaming us. The manager then told us “Well she filled your drinks so…” I explained that we hadn’t had enough of our food at that point to properly know whether it was good enough to keep eating. We had the appetizer by that point, but not our full meals. She reluctantly took $10 off of our bill, we payed and left very upset. Had the manager not immediately assumed that we couldn’t pay we may have had no problem with paying the full price, but after that interaction we have no respect for this...

Having lived in Kansas City my entire life, I've always known Bo Lings as a purveyor of an upscale dining experience. As I walked in on a busy Monday afternoon, amid the hustle of Christmas shoppers, I was immediately greeted and seated at a booth. The sun beamed in on a beautiful sunny day as I ordered Jasmine tea and perused the menu.

I was in search of something beyond the standard lunch options, like soup, crab rangoon, and the usual ten-dish selection. I ordered the Cantonese pan-fried noodles with chicken and pot stickers. Soon after ordering, the tea arrived, and I spent a few minutes waiting as it steeped. The tea was at a perfect temperature, not too hot, ideal for immediate drinking.

The pan-fried noodle dish arrived first. I noticed how fresh everything looked. Perfectly cooked vegetables on top of noodles, some hard and crispy on the edges, and soft everywhere else. The flavor and texture were outstanding.

Next came the potstickers, notably large, far exceeding the size of those you'd find in the frozen section of a store. I needed to cut each one in half, and that half was a mouthful when drenched with the included sauce. There were eight on the plate, and I devoured them.

My server was attentive and friendly, always wearing a huge smile. There’s really nothing I can criticize. I know the prices may be a few dollars more expensive than at other Chinese restaurants, but you can see and taste the difference at Bo Lings.

I make it a point to visit the bathroom in restaurants, as a clean and fresh restroom often reflects the kitchen's hygiene. I found Bo Lings to have a nice, clean bathroom that smelled fresh when entering.

When you find yourself at Zona Rosa with a craving for Chinese cuisine, I highly recommend Bo Lings. On my next visit, I’m eager to...

Expensive but Fine, just ask good questions.

I'm vegetarian, and have additional dietary restrictions, so I was very excited when I saw the extensive "Vegetable/Vegetarian" section on the dinner menu. I called beforehand to verify that no seafood or animal broths were used, and was told that many of the items marked as vegetarian DO contain either Oyster Sauce, Chicken Stock, or Fish Sauce, but that I would just need to check with my server for accomodations.

When dining, I verified with my server that the Sichuan Green Beans could be made vegan, and that I could add crispy tofu to it. My food came within 10 minutes, I was told they had to remake it because "they messed up on your fried tofu", and when the runner arrived with my dish, the tofu was marinated and steamed instead. I checked with the runner to make sure that the marinated tofu had no animal products, and kept the dish because it was getting late. It was fine, the sauce was a soy sauce, chili, and green onion mixture and the green beans were still a little crispy and very garlicky.

When I checked in with my server at the end of the meal and brought up that I hadn't received what I ordered I got a "oh sorry about that", and was still charged full price. I'm a little disappointed because I was excited to try the crispy tofu, I had high hopes for it being really good.

I really wish the written menu had distinctions for what items contain fish and shellfish in the sauces, because they're such common allergens. This is somewhere that's fine as a group compromise choice if no one can decide where else to eat, but not somewhere I'll end up making part of...