Wild Rice — Restaurant in Norwalk

Up until about three years ago, we used to go to lunch at Wild Rice in Norwalk about twice a week. Stopped by there today, 1st time in a year, and it is still no longer what it used to be. Three years ago, they got rid of the old manager, after a patron called the cops on him after he repeatedly asked them to stop their child from banging silverware against a glass, afraid that the child might break it and get hurt. Instead of taking responsibility for the safety of their own child, when a manager has to step in, they call the cops. Good parenting, Ninorah.

They first put out stale chips and off tasting duck sauce. Sent that back, brought out another plate of the same. The miso soup used to be worth a 20 mile drive, by itself. Now it's over salted and ingredients taste stale. I got the Shrimp and Veggie Tempura Lunch Bento Box for lunch. My co-worker got the Chicken with Spicy Mango sauce. I had the Shrimp Shumai first, just ok. Three California roll pieces, were good. Started the ginger salad, ok, mostly lettuce, the ginger dressing was good. My co-worker interrupted as she wanted me to taste a mango piece, as it tasted "different", not bad she said, but different. Great, what is she trying to do to me, I thought. I really couldn't tell the taste of the mango, as I was eating my own lunch, but she said she wouldn't go back. I told her maybe we'll try again next year. By starting off with stale chips, off tasting duck sauce, and overly salty miso probably affected my taste, but if the first few items affect the rest of your meal, I think they should make sure that those items are made of the freshest ingredients. That is...

A most surprising experience - we pulled in late on a Monday night with bottom of the barrel expectations given how the building and sign looked from the road, and it was deserted, our group was the only table there.

The first surprise was how massive the menu was - typical Chinese American stuff but also Thai, Vietnamese, and a full Sushi bar? How can one place serve so many different things while keeping their ingredients fresh?

We ordered Chicken Pad Thai, Egg Drop soup, and Udon, safe stuff - and we were shocked by the speed they made it, the quality of the food and the particularly the freshness of the ingredients. Rice noodles in particular are tricky since they do stale and dry quickly, but these were soft and elastic, it didn't make sense with how few customers they seemed to have.

The explanation we eventually came up with is that this place seems to be a ghost kitchen for half a dozen or so food delivery apps - every few minutes a car would pull in the otherwise empty parking lot, come in and pick up a bag, and then drive off right after. That explains the huge selection on the menu, the speed of service, and how they can manage to stock fresh and good quality ingredients despite having so few dine-in customers.

TLDR - Surprisingly good food with fresh ingredients despite appearances. Probably a ghost kitchen for the delivery-only Asian restaurants on UberEasts near Norwalk and Wilton. Try out going in person sometime!

--- UPDATE --- I went back for sushi a few months later, and that was quite good too, particularly the...

Visited August of 2016 I ordered the mandarin chicken, and shared some steamed pork dumplings with my friend, who ordered sushi. Service for food was pretty fast, but I would have been surprised if it were not (as we came at 3:30pm, and the restaurant was empty except 4+ employees).

The chicken was pretty, and decently good, and deserved a 4/5 rating - about as good as expected. I was disappointed that the breading was very thick and too crunchy (thick and soft or thin and crunchy would be better).

My main complaints are that (a) the server didn't pay attention to our waters even though we were the only customers in the restaurant, and once it took 8-10 minutes for him to refill them (2/5) and (b) the food was about 20-30% more expensive than it probably should have been, which I guess isn't too surprising given the area. I don't count this against the restaurant, given the circumstances.

The main redeeming factor was that the dumplings were amazing. Had I tasted them before ordering my other food, I would have just ordered more dumplings instead. I very highly suggest them (6/5).

An additional thing to note: there was really nice looking outside seating on the sidewalk. We didn't sit outside because it was 85º and humid, but I would consider it next time. Overall, I...