Love Mama — Restaurant in New York

Very disappointing, bizarre experience. I had a craving for pho and found a nearby place, called pho sang, on 2nd avenue near 11th Street. Reviews looked okay

Turns out they closed or changed hands and now serve a variety of Asian foods

Place was nearly deserted when I got there for lunch, around 1:30. Strange all the tables were bare, no place settings. Since I was already there I decided to try it

Ordered the pho; there was only one variety. It was pricier than the places in Chinatown, but of course Chinatown is Chinatown

I also asked for a pork chop on the side, which is common at the other of Vietnamese places I've eaten, and usually it's three or five bucks extra.

Okay the food comes, served by owner. Bowl of pho, plate with little pork chop accompanying. Nothing on the plate but the pork chop.. no rice, nothing else

The pho was okay. Moderately tasty, very little meat in it, but it was okay. Grilled pork chop was just fine also.

Comes the check. $14 for the pho ok but an additional $13 for the little grilled pork chop. I protested. The waiter/owner said I ordered a platter. I looked at the menu, and indeed there was an item with pork chop and rice for $13. (No rice came with a pork chop he set down) I insisted that's not what I ordered. He told me he would not change it, and told me what high rent he had to pay.

Long story. But it's clear customer service is not their top priority... Why would I have ordered two complete lunch specials when I was alone? And why was the full pork with rice lunch platter so tiny and without rice

It was not a tragedy but was very annoying. I'll be surprised if they survive, but whatever happens I'll certainly never go back.

I'll continue to try small Asian places and always hope the owners do well. But sometimes they work, and sometimes they don't.

The two-star...

This place is among the best Asian restaurants I have been to. Rarely do you get an Asian business that has ALL the following wins: amazing authentic food, ultra reasonable prices, quick kitchen service and phenomenal customer service. Often, service is lacking but you don’t care because the prices are great, or you are faced with higher prices if you want more personable service.

Not here. There’s no compromises at Love Mama, unless your priority in dining out is eating on fine china, then this may not be for you. Disposable plates and utensils keep this place low key so they can focus on what they do best - the cooking.

My boyfriend ordered a migoreng noodle dish, and I got the beef rendang. Both blew away our expectations and set a new high bar if we were to bother going anywhere else for these dishes. The rice was exceptionally fragrant yet light, and the accompaniments to the beef rendang were a perfect balance to the main dish. There were so many other dishes including dessert that we wanted to try but we’re too full from the main entrees. That just means we will have to go back :)

What really brightened up the dining experience was the owner’s genuine desire to build connection with his diners and his unparalleled energy for providing us an exceptional experience. You’d think that after many years in business and a long day of serving customers nonstop he would be drained and complacent knowing he has a steady stream of business - but that was not the case. His dedication and true passion shows in all aspects of how this restaurant is run.

Huge kudos and we will be returning again and again -...

Theres no love at lovemama

Ill have to lean with 'the haters' on this one. The only thing impressive about this restaurant is how it has 4.5 stars at over 6k reviews. Presumably the quality must've decreased over covid -- the alternative is that people are extremely generous with handing out 5 stars

My order: honey pork chop + thai dumplings

Pork chop: $14, i had asked for 'broken rice' which is traditional for this kind of dish and was told that they had it. As anyone whose had it would know, they clearly didnt provide broken rice.

Another downside to this particular order is that unlike most other vietnamese porkchops ive had in the past, this one lacks a lot of the mini frills that make it awesome -- like the julienne'd carrots, salty shrimp cake, etc

The only add-on to this dish was literally two slices of cucumber

Dumplings: $8, overcooked (super firm). you can tell that it was essentially reheated from a bag and then had a pinch full of lettuce on it.

If thats what it takes to make an $8 dish in NYC, then ill be switching careers.

Atmosphere: dead, nothing particularly memorable about the interior either.

Service: im inclined to be slightly more forgiving given that they gave me family friend vibes. However, being the only person at a restaurant naturally makes it feel like they dont have anything better to do than watch me eat

Closing thoughts: clearly plating is an indicator of food quality because you'll be getting paper plates. Owners seemed nice so i would prefer to not be the bearer of bad news but this has been the only memorably poor experience ive had...