Veekoo — Restaurant in Lower Merion Township

Overall quality of the food was very good, but a couple of items came out lukewarm (Mapo Tofu & General Tso’s - which makes sense considering the below experience but I was too hungry to say anything and cause a fuss).

When we arrived, half our party was already seated and hadn’t been attended to yet with beverages - took an additional 10-ish minutes after we were seated to flag down our designated server for assistance. I want to preface that the server did seem to have tried their best and was in no way entirely responsible for their performance, she was a trooper and pleasant the entire evening. The restaurant had only 2 active servers working the dining room, with 9-12 tables consistently occupied throughout our time there. Splitting 5-6 tables per server is typically very advanced in such a setting, server sections are normally a little smaller so they can properly attend to each table. To balance this out, there were seemingly 4 active managers on the floor, 3 towards the end of our meal as it seemed like they joined a neighboring group. The managers were definitely working, however seemed way more focused on tending to a special group of guests, rather than supporting the servers who were clearly struggling to keep up their tables.

We ordered the Lettuce wraps, Chili Dumplings, Edamame, Tuna Sundae, Sushi Sashimi Combo, Mayo Tofu, General Tso’s, and an Eel Roll for our apps/entrees. The Sushi was very clean/fresh, and well prepped to be very enjoyable. All other items were delicious and loved the option to keep the Mayo Tofu on the more mild side as it’s traditionally very spicy. I was surprised to see in a nice restaurant presenting quality sushi to have “White Tuna” aka Escolar which isn’t even in the Tuna family. There’s not such thing as “White Tuna”, commonly Escolar is a cheap fish that your digestive system cannot properly process so people can often become ill after consuming - not going to deep dive but def do your research before eating “White Tuna”.

Now, not that I believe it matters, but currently pregnant & was starving so I did not share my feedback directly with the female manager. I just wanted to enjoy the evening with our family and eat. It unfortunately wasn’t towards the end of the meal, where I was full and now tired to go home, when the female manager table touched to check in where we’ve been waiting for our server to peer at the dessert options/just grab the check. She was very kind and apologized for the wait and did offer a dessert on the house for the inconvenience of waiting, but we were too tired after eating well and they didn’t really have much Asian inspired desserts - more geared towards American options except the mochi ice cream.

Ultimately I would not hesitate to return, the food itself was very good and definitely well prepared. Everyone is entitled to some “off days” and I will not hold that against their performance on our experience, especially given the circumstances of staffing difficulties across the board, but if it is a consistent issue that does become a concern that would alter our...

We had a 9:00 PM reservation, and I understand there was a 15-minute grace period, so we arrived at 9:15 PM because my partner had a phone call before arriving. We walked in at 9:15, just as the clock hit 9:16. We were promptly told we could not be seated because it was "beyond the grace period."

I explained to the hostess that we were literally walking in as the time passed by one minute and that there was still plenty of time before the restaurant closed at 10:00 PM. However, the hostess was adamant that we wouldn’t be seated, saying it was because he wanted us to have the "full dining experience" since the kitchen would stop taking orders soon. I offered a simple solution — that he could have just informed us that the kitchen was closing soon, and we would have ordered immediately once seated. Instead, we were given a series of excuses that felt increasingly unnecessary, and I began to feel that our situation was being handled poorly. We expressed this and the hostess, who also said he was the manager, said he would need to ask us to leave if we continued to push back.

After some back and forth, the hostess reluctantly agreed to seat us. We quickly placed our order, ate swiftly, and left long before closing time, but the experience had already been tainted.

The hostess later returned to our table with the General Manager on the phone to apologize, but my partner refused the call. The hostess then returned a bit later with a $20 gift card and a free dessert, but we left both on the table. We didn’t need compensation; we simply wanted to enjoy our meal in a stress-free environment. Looking back, I wish we had just left when we were initially turned away, as the whole ordeal completely ruined the experience for us.

While the food itself was decent, the service and the unnecessary drama over a one-minute difference left us feeling uncomfortable and unwelcome. I can’t help but feel that the way we were treated wasn’t representative of the restaurant’s true potential. It’s a shame because we had looked forward to dining here, but unfortunately, we left with a sour taste that no dessert or gift card could fix.

EDIT: In response to owners response -

We did NOT return recently after this experience... that was a lie and I'm unsure why that was said. The hostess admitted he handled the situation wrong and admitted management has been putting pressure on them to get staff out at a reasonable time at the end of the night and that's why the technicality of ONE minute made a difference. I stated that we were late. Denying a customer for a ONE minute technicality...

I recently went to this restaurant for a birthday dinner with a friend. The first thing I want to point out is that the space was very tight. We were seated right in the middle of two tables, and all the tables were small and square, which meant that you could hear everyone's conversation, and they could hear yours. Just be mindful of that when you dine here. However, other than that, it was fine. We ordered a few items, and they were all good. I didn't have a problem with anything that arrived except for the crab wontons. We had a few of them that had no filling at all. We informed our waiter, and they had no problem replacing it, which I really appreciated. My main dish was General Tso’s chicken with white rice, and it was good but really big. I noticed that most orders were large enough to share a plate or definitely have enough for leftovers. It is BYOB, which was a new experience for me, but it was great. They provided us with wine glasses, and if you want, they have ice buckets to keep drinks cold as well. Lastly, I was given a mochi dessert for my birthday, which I appreciated, although I didn't really like it. Overall, I had a positive experience at this restaurant and recommend it to others. The service was attentive, and the atmosphere was welcoming, making it a great choice for special occasions or casual dining. This place is definitely great whether you want to dress up or dress down, as the ambiance is versatile and can cater to different preferences. The menu also offers a variety of options to suit different tastes, ensuring that everyone can find...