Sesame Inn Mt. Lebanon — Restaurant in Mt. Lebanon

Decent sushi, terrible service.

My partner and I came into the restaurant on a date on their birthday. The server was rude the entire time. They were sighing, huffing and puffing, and just had a generally annoyed attitude to be serving us when our requests weren’t absurd.

For example, throwing straws on the table when we asked for them, in annoyance. Being condescending to my date when they tried ordering appetizers when they asked for drinks.

The final straw was when I decided to pay the over $100 bill early while waiting for my date to return. I decided to not leave a tip on the bill and planned on leaving a $20 on the table once the service had concluded and we were prepared to walk out. When my date arrived the server loudly exclaimed and asked why I left no tip in front of my partner and in front of the whole resturaunt. Embarrassed and taken aback I said - “If I decide to leave a tip, i’ll leave it in cash”

At this point my mind is made up that I don’t want to leave a tip due to poor service and their attempt to embarrass me in front of the resturaunt and my partner. After walking out of the resturaunt, a few stores down othe server CHASES us down demanding a tip and proceeds to argue with me IN public where I told her that I was outraged by her demanding a top and her poor service abilities.

It was my partners birthday. We were trying to enjoy a nice quiet lunch together while dealing with a snarky annoyed server who acted like everything we did was wrong. Had this been a first date it would have made me look really bad. And got publicly embarrassed TWICE on a meal I paid...

Bittersweet review here. I LOVE the Sesame Inn. Their North Hills location is amazing in all ways and I order their food often. This location is perhaps more intimate and smaller, but it's bittersweet because some of the recipes are not the same. For example, my beloved sweet potato roll looks totally different and comes with a "yum yum sauce" type of hibachi sauce in the north hills. In Mt. Lebo, it is a smaller roll and comes with some kind of sticky sweet soy glaze (which I hope to God isn't oyster sauce because A. I'm allergic and B. this is supposed to be a vegetarian roll). I was also disappointed that the soup comes with different fried noodles each time. Sometimes large and dark, other times small and light and stale tasting.

All in all, the food is VERY good. I had soup, dumplings and a roll for lunch. Their main entrees are very good too but I've heard to stick to chicken or shrimp and avoid the beef here. I rank the Sesame Inn in North Hills and EASY 5-stars "best in the Burgh" however this locale can only get a 4 star. By all means a great Chinese place but lacking just a little "je ne sais quoi" compared to its northern cousin. This locale is more intimate and elegant than the North Hills one however meaning it would make a good date spot for a gal (or guy) you want to impress. Service staff seems nice. I recommend this place. Just a little disappointed that my favorites were not prepared the same way here. Oh well. Still has GREAT food. Only Osaka has better dumplings but the Sushi here and the main courses are the...

I typically get delivery from them so I don't have much insight into the sit-down experience, but the one time I ate there the food (orange duck) was excellent, the ambiance was classy and relaxing, and the service was great. The rest of this review is about delivery from them.

I gave them 4 stars for being above average 80% of the time, exceptional 10% of the time, and below average 10% of the time. Overall I think that's a pretty good level of consistency so the few minor whoopsies are entirely forgivable. The crab rangoons are exquisite when they're on point, but that's only 1/2 of the time. They're still good the other half of the time they're aren't great. The pork lo mein, amazing chicken, and chicken pad thai are all my favorites and are consistently above average and occasionally incredible. The wife gets the chicken and broccoli religiously. Their delivery is prompt and within 20 minutes 90% of the time, and has never been more than 15 minutes later than expected.

Overall I would recommend trying this place to friends and family as the food is good and the service whether delivery or in restaurant is most often great and the food portions are equal to the...