Sia Fusion Eatery — Restaurant in Newark

Ate here on Sunday, and it was our most disappointing experience with this place. It really tasted like they hadn't changed their fryer oil in ages. We got the Chicken Katsu, Kimchi Fried Rice with Spicy Pork, and Andy's fries.

The Chicken Katsu came out black, like it was burned. We sent it back and the next one came out just slightly less black, but still black. It tasted pretty bad.

The Spicy Pork Kimchi Fried Rice was ok, but I barely got any meat with it, it was basically just rice and an egg with a couple strips of pork.

The Andy's fries are always what we crave and bring us back, however, again, it tasted like it was fried in dirty old oil. The fries were barely tolerable but the bulgogi and cheese were ok. The sauce was delicious as always though.

I'm pretty sure the dirty old oil is what also gave me some diarrhea shortly after eating here.

We would eat here regularly and love this place. It pains us to see it go downhill. I want to give it another shot and give a good review. I'll give Sia one more chance, but please, management/owners, please fix this!

Update 10/26/2024: We gave Sia the another chance, and it was just as bad. Again, the food that went in the frier tasted like the oil was super old and dirty. I had the Seoul Burger and Andy's fries this time. This place has always been known for its delicious Seoul Burger and Andy's fries. Whatever is going on there, be it a new owner, a new manager, a new supplier, or something else, they have ruined it. Every ingredient in their burger has been replaced by the cheapest possible ingredient they could find. The burger bun was bland, the bulgogi was lacking, the tiniest poorest quality slice of a different cheese was on there, and the patty was replaced from being a great burger patty to one of those super cheap patties made with beef hearts and other beef bi products. It was seriously a good burger, probably one of the best that you could get in Newark and Fremont. Now it is one of the worst burgers I have ever had.

I have so many good memories of Sia with all the good food you could get late at night. I've got memories of friends and coworkers come through and experienced this place. Whatever happened here has killed it with their cheapness. They have killed their business. They have killed Sia and it looks like they have driven a lot of their customers away. It was prime time for restaurants, 6:30 PM on a Saturday, and we were the only customers in there the whole time.

RIP Sia, we actually shed a tear of how a place we loved has died. It feels like a break up or a death in the family. We, and many others, will...

[updated] Still a good late night spot, particularly for burgers and sides, good service that checks up on you to make sure things are OK. But when I come back, I'm probably not going to get the donkatsu again.

Donkatsu itself was fine, but small issues with the sides added up to a disappointing dish.

Came with 3 small sides, japchae (plain japchae, no veggies mixed in), chilled daikon and carrot slices, and beansprouts. A little disappointed that the japchae was plain as it's the small things like the green onions and chopped onions that make it more than just plain carbs. Chilled daikon and carrot slices go well with donkatsu since it can cleanse your palate.

The bean sprouts were entirely disappointing. It was plain chilled bean sprouts, just taken from a container. As such, it was watery; the plate was in a concave form, so the water from the flavorless bean sprouts flowed down and met the bottom crumbs of the donkatsu, leaving a soggy texture and watered down flavor. The beansprouts themselves could've been easily improved with a drizzle of sesame oil and pepper.

Last small note would be that I was only given a fork, no accompanying knife. Minor issue as I could've just asked or gotten one myself, just odd that they didn't include it. Obviously, one of the donkatsu slices wasn't cut through, and eating the last bits of the side dishes was troublesome as there isn't a utensil to stabilize the side dishes.

I'll come back at some point, but the donkatsu is a decent dish that's held down by the side dishes and I cannot recommend it for anyone who has an itch for it. [/updated]

Solid sweet potato fries

Bulgogi rice entree was large and easily fills you up. The sauce is lighter than most other Korean places, but the flavors are there and works well.

Seoul burger is 50% of the reason I come here. It's a mess to eat, but it's got everything I want in a burger from the egg...

The receptionist was awful and very rude. The food was mediocre and on top of that they charge you for drinking water at a RESTAURANT. Before we were leaving we asked to buy another water after ordering over 60 dollars worth of food and she said that she was going to charge us double the price for water if we don’t drink ALL of the water in the restaurant because drinking water out of the restaurant was considered ”Togo” to her and therefore she charged more. At first we thought she was joking about it in a sarcastic way but then quickly realized that she was talk in an extremely rude tone and was serious. This is unacceptable behavior for a restaurant and one of the only restaurants that I haven’t left a tip for because of the horrible service. We came in with a jolly mood and ready to eat and left with a sour taste in our mouths. I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone even if it is open late I would recommend getting fast food. If there was an option I would give this...