First timer and came based on other reviews while in the area. Restaurant is in a mall but exterior facing so you don't have to worry about the mall's hours or even enter the mall at all.
Initial service was very speedy. Robot brought water and appetizer, server (person) brought entree and beverage refills. Got food almost immediately after Spring Roll appetizer arrived. All food was fresh and piping hot. Once entree (Hot Clay Pot - which comes plated, not in a pot FYI) food was placed, service was intermittent at best. If you need something, flag the server down as they are buzzing by. Seems like only 1 server for entire floor when I was there during dinner hour but they also were not overly busy.
The above is also true when you want you bill - you'll likely need to grab a server when passing as they likely won't just bring it to you. If they do, you might be waiting quite a while unless you stop them.
Speaking of the bill/checkout... prices are a little high here but the quantity and quality of food really do justify them. If you leave hungry, that's most likely on you, and I can't imagine someone not liking the quality. I left beyond stuffed. Anyway, back to the bill - the 'tip' section on the electronic POS (that's Point Of Sale, not...you know) device, like many places is quite exploitive, with tip suggestions starting at 25% and going up to 35% (I guess those robots are expensive? LOL) COVID is over, but it seems tip milking practices are not. There is an option for "no tip" if you feel so inclined, but I feel like places that start with tips at what is generally associated with exemplary service and go up from there are simply exploiting the customer for a cash grab - esp. when the tip % is calculated after the tax is added in. Unsavory, shameful practice, actually. There is no paper receipt offered, which is a big problem for me and other business travelers like myself. Thanks to having no access to an on-site receipt solution, I now have to wait a month just to get a CC statement to then dig thru all the transactions therein to find and submit yours to my employer, who may not even take that as proof for reimbursement. This is a headache not worth repeating.
Word to the restaurant owner/manager: Servers should have the ability to print receipts and offer such at the time of transaction. If the customer doesn't need it, they can easily refuse; otherwise it makes it difficult to get return/repeat/referral business from any business traveler who would otherwise want to return to or refer your...
Read moreFirstly, my family and I thought it was located outside as a separate restaurant. On the contrary, it was not! It was inside the mall, kind of under the food court. A bit inconvenient, but nothing terrible.
After entering, we noticed it was somewhat busy (being around lunch time) but we were rather promptly seated. We noticed there were no menus and it was a QR code, so we scanned that. It took a second (due to wifi) but it loaded. There was a rather good selection and after a few minutes, we were ready to order. We pressed a service button and waited. Thus, it gave us a chance to look around.
The place was clean and nice! From the stage, tables, decorations, and just general atmosphere. There were also TVs that had a variety of shows airing (though they periodically cut on/off). Not only that, there were interestingly robots being used to serve some people! And it has cute Halloween decorations to fit the time of year as well.
But at that point, we’ve been conversing and relaxing for a good 10-15 minutes and we’ve received absolutely no service. No drinks, no waiter—nothing. We pressed the service button some more and still got nothing. Finally, a waiter came and asked for our drinks and orders. Then it was waiting some more. Thankfully, at least our order was submitted.
Later, some of our dishes came out and we were able to start eating. Halfway through my plate, the “rest” of the orders came. But they were slightly different orders and different sizes. We pointed out the mistake, but that it wasn’t a big deal since we just wanted the food but they took it back to correct it (I think we ordered 2 medium P11 and 1 small P12 pho soups but got 1 medium P11 and 2 small P12 soups).
When the food came back, I guess the owner or a chef took it to us, to make sure it was right… but it was still wrong (I think it was 1 medium P11, 1 medium P12, and 1 small P12 soup). We also received another dish for another person, but they noticed it was not quite hot… just a bit warm or room temperature. But at that point, we just wanted our food, so we didn’t say anything.
It tasted alright though, not the best, but still good.
The waiter later came back and apologized and said the kitchen was likely overwhelmed and offered to compensate us, but we understood their plight. We did notice we hadn’t gotten our drinks yet, so the waiter went and got those for us.
We finished the meal without an issue afterwards.
Overall, good place, people, and food… just maybe a bad day or...
Read moreThe food was good, only complaint about the ramen is you could tell that it was a dried ramen kinda like instant ramen because when I had received it it wasn't soft and it was all bunched up into a ball and I had to try to separate it the best I could with my chopsticks. The service was just okay, they are super short staffed but I do think our server could've had a bit more customer service, he was nice and all but when we had sat down it took him a while to walk over and greet us and when he did he never greeted us he just asked, "ready to order?" We told him no at that point because we had just figured out that the only way to see the menu is to scan, nobody told us that unfortunately. When we were ready I told him I would like the ramen and he immediately started saying that I should get the pho instead. I understand recommendations but that is not how someone should go about it, I told him no I really would like the ramen he eventually said "okay cool". The whole time it was like that, even when we had first walked in, nobody had greeted us. I think they should have it be a seat yourself kind of thing so that no one is having to worry about not being greeted and waiting for someone to seat them. And for the atmosphere, I think it's super cute how they have the inside decorated, it's actually one of the main reasons why I wanted to try them out in the the first place. I also love how they use the robots to deliver water and utensils. The exception to all of this though is the fact they're A/C isn't working, it was a little too hot in there and the ice in our waters had melted within minutes. I think overall this is a okay place, I wouldn't go out of my way to come here again unfortunately, I think they're a little pricey for some of the food quality and I'm sure that there are better...
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