Mao Mao — Restaurant in New York

This establishment just happened to be the only thing open late night. I later on came to find out there was a better place that i have had in the past before 3 blocks away and i was angry after that i did not listen to my intuition just based on how the place looked and smelled. I decided to give it a chance, the curry was edible enough but not satisfying, the shrimp tempura was bland, soggy and didn't have taste, the shrimp dumpling did not taste like shrimp it gave a beef flavor in which threw me off because i dont eat red meat. My fried ordered a wonton soup and said it was kind of bland so theres that. I also noticed the plastic disposable utensils, plates and cups to drink and eat which culturally is very disrespectful and not welcoming at all. If I knew and seen all of this beforehand I would’ve never even attempted to step foot inside the establishment, I should’ve known cause there isn’t even a proper door or awning to even represent the business either. Long story short, the reason I chose to write this and I have never wrote a review before because I felt totally disrespected not just from the food and experience but the manner the way the server in which wasn’t really even the original server that was serving us went about the situation of me not leaving a TIP. This server goes on to insist a tip after I was already unpleased and paid my bill and I did not feel the place was deserving of any extra other than what I ordered, the first time she asked I kindly placed the book right back down and closed it, the second time she came back as I was getting dressed to leave and asked me again and then goes to say “ it’s the law, you have to leave a tip because I worked for it” last time I checked tips are suggested, or also voluntary. As mentioned I did not enjoy anything! I paid for only my food that I received nothing extra. The server then goes on to say “Next time I think it’s better you don’t come here and go to McDonald’s” If I ate McDonald’s I sure would’ve if I knew this was gonna be the type of food you guys served. I don’t recommend this place at all, save your money and as she said go to McDonald’s, even a deli sandwich would do better justice if your hungry and want to be satisfied because...

Was so excited to try this place because of the awesome reviews online. I was incredibly disappointed by the experience. We got there promptly for our 7pm reservations and we were seated in these weird side by side seats all the way in the corner in the back of the downstairs area, where we literally had no room to move. It looked like a little storage corner even though there were so many seats available in the downstairs area at that time. We politely asked if we can please be moved from this Shame Corner and they moved us to these other seats, where we were essentially perpendicular to a group of 4 people. We were separated by some plexiglass but, still uncomfortably close. It was also directly next to the bathroom, so that wasn't fun. Once again, the seating is akin to a movie theater experience so we had to sit next to each other, with a literal wooden bench serving as an ad hoc table. The cocktail menu is very confusing, with nary any helpful descriptions of the drinks available. I got the lychee cocktail, which was essentially lychee juice mixed with lychee beer, very heavy on the lychee juice. I definitely didn't expect to pay $14 for a tiny plastic glass of lychee juice that barely had any alcohol. We got the shrimp tempura appetizer, which was good but pretty expensive since you only get 4 small shrimps to an order. For dinner, I got the spicy fried chicken larb and my friend got the chicken massamun. The massamun was decent but Nothing to rave about. The chicken larb was good for the first few bites. But, the overwhelming usage of fish sauce and lime juice got to be too much for the palate after a few bites. I ordered a side of white rice to eat with it to try to cut down the saltiness and the acidity. It didn't help. I was shocked to see on the bill later that a tiny side order of rice is $4. The waitress never came back to give us refills on our water. I understand they may have been under staffed but water refills are a basic need for any dining experience. Overall, I was pretty disappointed in the experience and don't expect to come back. There are so many great restaurants in Bushwick and unfortunately, Mao Mao is not...

I loved the vibe and could tell a lot went into the overall feel of this place, but could not hear a thing when trying to sit and have dinner. I would have been happy hanging here for drinks since it felt more like a bar with a great DJ.

The food was really just okay and felt a little pricey for what it was. I would say compared to some other great Thai Restaurants in Queens like Pye Boat Noodle, Pochana, and Makin this was more of a Chinese/Thai Fusion restaurant. I am going to be a little harsh here and say the $10 plate of bar snacks needs to be rethought-out. It came out on a plastic plate and was a smorgasbord of strange items that were supposedly authentic snacks in Thai bars. I love that the owners were trying to share some memories with their customers and was excited to try something new, but it felt expensive for what it was. Serving it on 1 plastic plate and not in some bowls that matched the vibe of the place also made it kind of silly feeling. I will also say the wings, the fried dumplings and the curry puffs were all really good and felt there was a lot of love put into making them.

my main concern was the plastic/paper goods used for every single item served... Plastic plates, plastic utensils, plastic cups, plastic sauce containers, paper napkins. Even the wings came out in plastic cups with lids on them. I think the idea was that they were shaken in these containers to coat them in sauce, but like come on with the plastic. Please Please Please change this immediately! Obviously my main concern is the environment, but also after all the decorating and work done into making this place look so good now its being served on plastic plates. I mean here we have every coffee shop in NYC changing their straws from plastic to other materials and in one week of service Mao Mao must use enough plastic to negate all of...