Bone Kettle — Restaurant in Pasadena

I decided to celebrate my wedding anniversary with my wife at Bone Kettle. It's been a long time since I remember such a disappointment from the place in all components. As a person who has worked in the restaurant business for several years, I know what guests expect from an institution, especially from a restaurant where dishes have considerable cost and a tip of 20% is already included in the bill.

Let's start with the fact that when we first came to the institution and asked to be seated at a table, the girl who met us did not specify where we wanted to sit - on the terrace or in the hall and led us to the very end of the institution, into a windowless hall that resembled a fast food room. Paying such prices for meals, we would like to sit with a view of the street or on the terrace, but of course no one cared. We didn't like the table and left.

Coming the second time, we still sat down at the vacant table and ordered food. 4 people came up to us in turn, who asked something at random, until finally a specific waiter was assigned to us.

When the waiter was finally assigned to us and we ordered the dishes, we waited for them for about an hour. It's sooo long!!! Despite the fact that I ordered soup, and my wife ordered rice. Are these really such complicated dishes that it takes so long to make them? When they brought me my soup, that is, noodles with a few pieces of carrots and a small amount of meat, which was poured with broth in front of me, I was extremely disappointed. I can do better at home, does this dish really cost $40? What is its taste sophistication and what are the unique components in it to have such a price?

Regarding the beer, it seemed strange to me that my beer was in a smaller glass than my wife's, but I did not argue.

My wife had such a hot sauce in her rice that when I tasted it, my tongue just burned. No one warned her or me about this. When you have such a hot sauce for a dish, you must definitely tell the guest about it and there must also be an appropriate note on the menu. By the way, the menu is made very illegible, toppings for all dishes are not highlighted, it is impossible to understand anything. In what configuration do I order the dish and how much it will cost in the end. We also ordered dumplings, and the menu did not say how many there would be in a portion. As a guest, I have the right to know about this, how many will there be 3, 5, 7?

The terrace where we were sitting is a separate problem. It's not blocked, it's just a passageway. We were mimed by homeless people, people with dogs, who were reaching out to eat food from our table. It feels like we were somewhere on a wild beach in India, and not in Pasadena.

According to all the rules of etiquette, the dish is brought to women first, but my wife received the dish 15 minutes later than me, as a result, I had to treat her with my soup while she was waiting for her rice. Also, about the sauce, she asked to make the dish not spicy, but they eventually brought her this terrible sauce, it's good that she didn't pour it all over the dish, otherwise it would have been spoiled. The staff does not hear the wishes of the customers at all.

It is possible to describe for a long time all those negative emotions that we experienced that evening, which was spoiled. We gave away $150 and it wasn't worth it at all. If you are looking for a quality restaurant, good service and fast cooking, never go to...

The restaurant is known for its slow-cooked bone broth. Their menu has a touch of Filipino flavors including the desserts!

::Drinks:: The Calamansi Margarita is tequila-infused sake with lime and salt. Unfortunately, it didn't taste like calamansi. The Passion Fruit Mojito has Yuzu-infused sake, passion fruit, lime, mints, and lemon. We liked the drinks but more alcohol, please.

::Food:: My recommendation is to get the Garlic Prawns! It was so delicious, I would come back just to get this. The prawns are made with garlic sauce, topped with cilantro, Thai basil, and Fresno chili. It was crispy and cooked to perfection! The next dish I liked is the Sisig which is chopped and fried pork belly. It is topped with lime, Thai chili, green onion, egg, and served on a small iron skillet. I'm not a veggie girl but I didn't mind eating the Crispy Brussel Sprouts. The flavor is savory and citrus. Also has pine nuts and pomegranate seeds. The dish I wasn't a fan of is the Clams & Donuts because the clams were too small and most shells were empty. Also, the Gule and Chicken Wings were just "ok".

::Dessert:: The Cassava Cake would have been better if it was sweeter. It was topped with two small scoops of ice cream but it lacked the ube flavor. We didn't enjoy the fancy Turon; preferred the traditional version. The banana pudding was good though but not the mini Turon.

::Customer Service:: The staff was friendly.

::Covid-19 Protocols:: -Staff wears a mask -Hand sanitizer is available

::Overall:: I've dined here a couple of times and the dishes that stood out for me are the SIsig, Brussels Sprouts, and Garlic Prawns. The other dishes were nothing special; in my opinion. Also, I had a disappointing experience regarding a reservation but Eric the Manager explained why it happened and offered complimentary cocktails for the inconvenience. For the price and experience, I give this place 3 stars.

::Tips:: -During Summer or when the weather is hot, I highly suggest not to seat in the terrace area. It's stuffy, warm, and very uncomfortable. -Even if you make a reservation, you may still need to wait for your table.

::M's Notes:: -Indoor and Outdoor Seating -Accommodation for more than a party of 6 is not recommended unless you don't mind having separate tables. -Parking: Garage,...

November 2022: Came here for brunch on a Saturday. My overall impression of the brunch is three star ✨ ☹️.

Here's why. We started with the spicy papaya salad which I thought was tasty but lacked the spiciness. Perhaps it needed some chili 🌶️. This alone wasn't a big deal.

The signature dish that I was excited to try was the broth and ramen. We ordered the chicken. The presentation was very nice. They presented the dish without broth which was nice because you can see the presentation and taste the noodles first. Then the server came and poured their "signature" broth. It looked really tasty.

But here's where it didn't meet expectations: the chicken was chewy and didn't seem fully cooked (you can see some pink in the middle of the breast... Perhaps it wasn't poached long enough because that has happened to me when I have poached a chicken). The broth also was not hot... It was lukewarm which was puzzling. We came at noon so I wasn't sure if the broth was from an earlier batch but it was not like what I would get at a standard ramen restaurant (and I have eaten a lot of ramen 😀). Lastly, for a "signature" dish, the broth was not very tasty. Maybe I am unfairly comparing this to a Japanese miso or shoyu broth... Which may or may not be a fair comparison. But that is my bar when it comes to ramen.

When we pointed out to the worker that the chicken was not fully cooked, he took the chicken and brought back fully sliced chicken that was better. I would have expected them to take the entire dish back and redo it instead of leaving us with the dish that was exposed to undercooked chicken 🐔.

The last dish we tried was the soft shell crab 🦀 and waffle with squid 🦑 ink 🔏. This was overall okay. There wasn't anything wrong with the ingredients. It's just that the salad topped on the waffle didn't really work. It would have been better served on the side so you can decide if you want to eat it with the crab+waffle or separately.

I knew beforehand that they would charge 20% service charge automatically. Which I don't have an issue if I enjoy the meal and the service. The service was attentive and friendly but completely missed on how they handled undercooked chicken 👎. I have an issue with a mandatory service charge for food and service that fell way short of...