Mosa Asian Bistro — Restaurant in Memphis

Really waffled between a 2 star and a 3 star here, but my family in Memphis says they really like this place, so I'll settle on a 3 and just say maybe I missed something or got unlucky.

Came here with my aunt and parents when we stopped overnight in Memphis last Sunday. There's a spacious parking lot and the restaurant itself is quite large, so we had no problems getting in. They weren't especially busy when we visited.

First thing's first: it was COLD in there! I'm perpetually hot and even I was a little chilly; my poor parents and aunt were freezing! The restaurant also feels a little empty and bare decor-wise.

Seating was kind of confusing. My aunt, who's visited before, anticipated ordering at the counter. We received conflicting information from two different staff members on how to proceed. After standing around for a couple minutes in limbo, someone finally told us they'd seat us and take our order at our table.

They did, but disjointed service was kind of the theme for the night. Different people seating us, taking orders, checking in, etc. Our most commonly seen waiter was a bit of an odd duck; he had a slightly off putting sense of humor. It wasn't terrible, but just sort of strange. Lots of young college student types working here, so I guess I'll chalk it up to nerves or inexperience.

We ordered lettuce wraps and potstickers as apps. My parents split Mr. Eddie's favorite noodles, my aunt got the Taiwanese lo mein, and I had chicken pad see ewe. As you can gather from our order, this is a pan-Asian / Asian fusion type of restaurant, and there's probably something for everyone here, considering they have Chinese, Thai, Korean, and Vietnamese dishes on the menu.

I just wasn't very impressed with the food. The chicken lettuce wraps were probably the best thing, about equal to what you'd get at PF Chang's before it went off the rails. The potstickers were a little greasy and didn't have a ton of flavor but the dipping sauce was good. I think the best main dish was probably Mr. Eddie's noodles; I stole a bite of that and it was decent. My pad see ewe that I ordered medium had no heat at all to my palate, and was mostly just noodles. Maybe two or three pieces of broccoli. A decent amount of chicken, I guess, but it was unbearably tough, to the point that I didn't hardly eat any of it. It was pretty disappointing. Lastly, my Thai tea wasn't sweet enough to suit my preferences.

They have a very large menu and I think the prices are reasonable. Service wasn't unpleasant, just a little unorganized and unpolished. Food was a mixed bag, but I do think my folks ordered better than I did. If I wind up coming back with family the next time I'm in town, I'll try...

Their website mentions "fast-casual," but I didn't know what that meant in terms of Asian food. So I decided to try them out based on the positive reviews. This place is kinda like Panera (perhaps the most well known fast-casual place) in the sense that... the food is not going to be authentic, but it'll probably taste good. I noticed they were pretty popular, with a steady stream of customers while I was there.

The service was acceptable if you're used to big city attitudes like I am. They weren't rude in any way, and neither were they hospitable. I expressed that it was my first time in the establishment and received no prompting or guidance. I ordered the pho, which is simply listed as "pho," not beef pho, although it comes with beef. I'd specifically come to try it because I was curious... was it really so cheap, and why?

If you go to other places that sell pho, it's going to be around $18-20. At Mosa, it's $14. Turns out it is exactly like Panera in that the food is an interpretation of the dish and not truly what it is named for.

So the first odd thing to me was that I was asked if I wanted rice or flour noodles. Flour noodles are not an option in any Vietnamese themed restaurant I've ever seen. When my bowl arrived I noticed right away that the broth is the wrong color. It looked like chicken pho, rather than beef, and it tasted similarly mildly. The bean sprouts, Thai basil and cilantro are already included in the dish, instead of coming on the side for you to curate to taste. Condiments on my plate were a sambal-derived hot sauce (like a less smoky sriracha), a milder than usual oyster sauce (maybe it was oyster mixed with hoisin), and a bit of lime.

Usually pho is listed as coming with rice vermicelli, although the noodles will be closer to angel hair in size. Here, the rice noodles were... more like what you would get in lo mein maybe. Like linguine/trenette; wide, flat pasta. The onions were cut very oddly, as if not by a chef at all as they were oversized and uneven bits. The beef came already cooked and in unusual cuts as well. More like what you'd get in a "beef with broccoli," than thin sliced flank.

The portion is a little closer to a kid size pho than a regular one. Which was fine, given the price. I ate almost all of it, but I probably wouldn't order it again.

My table was clean and free of wobble. I don't know if they keep chopsticks in house at all. The atmosphere is somewhat cosy with real candles on the tables. I could see going here if you want to feel a little fancy or maybe doing a low...

0 stars should be an option. Just visited with my husband and we instantly didn’t feel welcome. Our waiter was spaced out our entire stay. As soon as we stepped onto their floor, it felt weird. It was both sticky and slippery. We were ice skating to get to our seats. Instant red flag and a nice lawsuit. Our waiter never introduced himself and he wasn’t audible, so I had to really make sure he got my order right. We ordered the steamed potstickers and a large spring roll. We got fried potstickers and an extra small spring roll. The stick that the potstickers missed must’ve been on the floor. My spring roll tasted weird, so I immediately stopped eating it. Shook that off because one of our entrees arrived, my sesame not sesame southern fried chicken. That was very lukewarm. Had to wait about ten minutes for my husband’s chicken and shrimp curry. When it arrived, they forgot the shrimp. Our food was getting cold waiting to tell our waiter about the error. We informed him of the issue and he honestly didn’t know what to do. We just politely asked him to bring the missing shrimp. We didn’t want to be those people. He didn’t apologize until the check came. He rarely would make eye contact and I caught him numerous times eating while serving food to other customers and handling the register. Someone else came to collect our plates and as I’m helping stack the plates for him to pick up, he noticed my unfinished spring roll. As I’m handing him the plate, he asks if I’m sure in a questionable tone that I didn’t appreciate. Almost as if I was a child. Had I been a decade older, I feel like that wouldn’t have happened. All in all, we finally get the check and dip. One other thing I noticed was the entire staff watching me eat and clearly gossiping. Every time I glanced over, they’d look away from intensely staring at me. My gut feeling told me to ask for a to go box and get out immediately. *Just came back to add that I got food poisoning shortly...