Aqua Penny's — Restaurant in Leawood

I will prefaces this review by saying I love their sister restaurant Bamboo Penny’s and wanted to give Aqua Penny’s a try for our anniversary. The atmosphere and restroom deserves a 5 star. Our reservation was at 5:45. We arrived on times and we were seated promptly. Staff also wished us a happy anniversary and gave us a complimentary single rose and vase. A nice gesture. Our appetizer the Baked Shrimp and Crab Dip was excellent full of flavor, creamy, warm, and a generous portion of shrimp and crab. For our entrees we ordered the Jumbo Garlic Shrimp that I ordered medium spicy. My wife ordered a fish, chicken dish Pak that she ordered no spice/mild spice. We waited longer than we anticipated for our meal approximately 30min. Once served we immediately discovered our meals were prepared wrong. My wife’s dish that was supposed to be mild spicy was medium and my entree had no spice. No big deal we thought because we had another engagement to get to. Our waitress returned to our table to inquire if our meals were satisfactory and we explained to her what had happened. She offered to take our meals back to have them prepared as we had ordered. We declined because the initial preparation was long and we had another engagement planned for our anniversary that was time specific 7:30p. She asked if I was okay with my wife’s meal and I informed her it was not what I wanted nor to my taste but we where under a time constraint. I did not consume much of my meal but my wife enjoyed the shrimp, we both had leftovers. The manager came by and asked if the remainder of our meals required boxing to carry out. She boxed the remainder of our meal and we waited and waited for oud bill. Twenty-five minutes later, our waitress finally returned to our table with our bill. She informed us she took 10% ($2.70) off our lowest cost entree and gave us a $10 coupon for our next visit. I asked if the coupon was good at their other locations and she stated it was. Because we had to wait beyond a reasonable time to get our bill, we did not have time to make our next engagement. The time we left the restaurant was 7:30, it would take at least 20 minutes to get to Union Station to view the Big Boy locomotive. Some might say poor planning on our part, I don’t think so. The service at Aqua Penny’s is subpar compared to their sister restaurant Bamboo Penny’s. I will never be a patron of Aqua Penny’s again. I would have preferred giving a homeless person the cost of our dinner than wasting it at Aqua Penny’s. I am sure others have had more pleasant experiences at Aqua Penny’s ours was not. Our disappointment was greater because it was our anniversary.and the poor service caused us to miss our other planned activity. We expressed our concerns to the hostess and told him we would not be back and he offered us a hug that was better than the service...

My wife and I had a wonderful time at Aqua Penny's on May 28. We have young children and came in late after getting them to sleep. We arrived around 8:30 and they close the kitchen at 9:00, so we were hesitant and wanted to be sure they were okay seating us late. Rather than be annoyed or begrudging, they welcomed us graciously and reassured us several times that they were happy to have us.

The restaurant was not too crowded, especially inside, as it was pretty late on a Tuesday night after Memorial Day weekend. We felt like we were getting very personalized service. We let the staff know it was our anniversary, and the bar manager Ethan brought us champagne.

Elayne was our bartender and server and was very friendly and helpful, walking us through several drink and menu options and helping us select things we both loved. My wife had a pair of signature cocktails, and I had a Manhattan and glass of sauvignon blanc, all of which was wonderful (the wine in particular).

We got appetizer lobster mac and a few of the dressed oysters on the half shell, which were great. I particularly liked the sweet and spicy oyster, but all were good. For entrees, my wife had a seasonal chili-honey pasta with scallops, and I had a mixed grilled seafood plate. The food was fantastic and filling, again I thought the baked oysters were outstanding.

We were treated to table-side bananas foster for dessert, again late at night and after the kitchen closed. The staff assured us they were happy to have us and made us feel so welcome. To top it off we were given vouchers for discounts the next time we are back.

Overall, this experience was fantastic and exactly what you would hope for from a new restaurant. The staff seemed excited to be there and took pride in their service and product. The food was great and prices not unreasonable for this type of dining. But most of all, the staff went above and beyond to make us feel welcome. We had a great experience and recommend this place to anyone looking for good seafood or just a good atmosphere in the Leawood area. Frankly, the experience was in stark contrast to some of the experiences we have had recently with other nearby restaurants and bars, and it was very refreshing. Both Ethan and Elayne were great and hopefully are recognized for their professionalism and dedication.

Aqua Penny's obviously has the right team in place to succeed in...

The atmosphere has lots of modern flair with a mix of eye popping decors, without much Thai influence. This was our first time dining at this restaurant, especially excited to try the premium seafood on a Thai level. We decided on the softshell crab spring rolls, halibut, and the brazino. We specifically chose these items because we normally don't see them at a Thai restaurant. While the concept of each featured items appears to be excellent seafood inspired dishes, none of the taste had any Thai inspiration. The soft shell rolls came in two pieces, but technically one roll cut into two. As for the crab inside the rolls, there was a thin claw in the roll, and not much of crab meat. The sauces were peanut and mayo based. The halibut was a bit disappointing with flavors none of which is Thai influenced. The light sauce was bland, for a fish that has a bold meaty texture. A lemongrass curry sauce would have made the fish pop with the Thai taste. This was a missed opportunity to make the best piece of fish shine with the most amazing Thai flavors. The fried risotto croquette definitely did not go well with the halibut. Again if there was some spices paired in the ingredients, it would have been more satisfying. The WHOLE branzino fish came out with head to tail fried to perfection. Be especially careful on the bones. It was paired with a side of papaya salad and rice. Without any sauce, it's unclear how you eat a fried fish with plain rice because the papaya salad was not made like the traditional papaya salad with fish sauce, it has more of a lemony citrus flavor. The server told us to pour some of the papaya salad juice on top of the fish. What!!? The branzino would have been tastier with some mango ginger sauce. We went outside the box coming to try premium seafood in a Thai inspired restaurant, these dishes may have fell short of Thai flavors for...