CHEWOLOGY — Restaurant in Kansas City

TLDR: Not authentic, price does not equal food quality or qunatity. The dumplings are the only thing worth spending money on.

I was really excited to take my Tawainese family to check this place out. To be totally transparent, I had just heard "good things" about this place and not done my usual research, but I had let those good things misrepresent what I thought this would be, a place for authentic Tawainese food. The service, and atmosphere are fine, the food is not good or authentic and the price you pay for that not good or authentic food is like stabbing one of their metal chopsticks (get some new ones) into your side.

I'm going to pick out the Beef noodle soup, which is such a great dish, and at its core it is simple food for the people, by the people. It's easy to make and is a go to dish in my house. I should have known when I saw it was $23 dollars that we were cooked. I had hopes that it would be a large portion as is typical for beef noodle soup, and that was "confirmed" by our wonderful server (You were the best part of our experience, thank you!) However, size is subjective and when it arrived after, I immediately apologized to my family for bringing them here. I felt so much shame in choosing this place and telling them it was authentic(total Báirén move). The beef noodle soup was small, and it felt like it was made by someone who had been told what beef noodle soup was, and made it just based on that description. If you have read this far and looking for a good rep of this dish, go to 888 market.

We also had some bao buns (buns were good, the meat/filling not so much) but took forever, and then came out cold (I got the pork belly), dumplings were the only thing that came close to anything "authentic", if you want dumplings and just happen to be close, this is not a bad option, but there are many other better places as well.

To the owners, I feel bad writing this review as the staff working there were very nice, but this experience kept me up all night. It feels like another poor excuse and exploitation of good "non-American" food that is all too prevalent in KC (looking at you "ramen shops").

This place is a nice restaurant, with at best ok food, at $150 meal for 4 people, this is just not the way. I just felt like this place is a cash grab and uses "Tawainese street food" as a hook for anyone that hasn't had the wonderful opportunity to try this wonderful cuisine.

I have had this review sitting open for hours, not wanting to post, but I did of course, and I hope this review can lead to some positive outcomes for this place with...

Visited Chewology for the first time and was pleasantly surprised. The restaurant is split into two sides, I had the opportunity to dine on the east side where I was able to view the neat and well run kitchen. Cocktails were delicious, with some unique spins on old classics, well executed. The menu is comprised of sharables, small plates, and full sized entree portions. I opted for more of the shareables so I could sample several different items.

The shitake/taro dumplings were fried, and in such a way to where the wrapper was exquisitely textured from the cook. The filling was a bit one note, both in flavor and texture, and I wish it had a bit more contrast. This was my least favorite, but still a solid option.

The pork/cabbage dumplings were steamed. While I enjoyed the exterior of the fried a bit better, the filling was more flavorful and texturally interesting, personally my favorite of the two dumpling styles.

The fried chicken bao, a stunner and did not disappoint. The chicken had notes of savory five spice and the coating was more of a starch based style compared to the more Americanized flour based coating. A spicy aoli amped up the flavor and the delicate pickles helped balance the fattiness of the each bite. Really delicious and if I had the metabolism of my 20 year old self, i'm sure i'd be eating this weekly.

The dressed eggs were a nice treat as well. Think deviled egg meets Asian flavor profiles. The filling was silky smooth and the fried shallots offered the crunch to balance the softness of the bite. Another great dish.

Overall, the staff was friendly, the head chef/expediter thanked us for visiting, and the design was a nice balance of upscale yet comfortable. I'll definitely return to try some other great looking menu items. Keep up...

Leaving this review has been very difficult. We came to Chewology for my wife's 30th birthday. We made reservations ahead of the date for 530PM. We were there on time and seated promptly. Our server, Natalie I believe, was absolutely amazing. She was prompt, courteous, knowledgeable about the menu, and made us feel welcome. All of the food we ordered was great. Everything from the appetizers, small plates, hot pot, to the drinks had great flavor and truly had us at awe. After a multi-course meal, several rounds of drinks, and paying our bill of several hundreds of dollars, a host or manager came over to our table and made a comment to us about people waiting and becoming impatient and angry. Basically rushing us to leave. It was only about 740PM at this point, we still had plates being taken off of the table and were finishing our drinks. This took what would have been a five star experience and a great night, and turned it into feelings of uneasiness. All four of us left feeling very disappointed and with absolutely no thought of ever coming back. As patrons that made reservations and paid well for our meal and service, we just could not understand why someone would come up and say that to us. This was a staff member as she also grabbed and cleared some things from our table. Unfortunately a great experience and meal can be ruined by poor service. I want to reiterate that our server, was absolutely amazing and giving this a low review does not reflect on her at all as she was a 5...