Yuan Su Vegetarian — Restaurant in Portland

I came here on Chinese New Year and I’m very confused by all the good reviews. We ordered pineapple fried rice and a seaweed mushroom soup but both were completely flavorless- not exaggerating. The pineapple in the rice tasted like water, the rice wasn’t seasoned at all and even the soup was barely salted. We attempted to add chili oil to the soup but that couldn’t save it either. We ate a little bit just out of pure hunger and then packed up the rest to fix it at home so it wasn’t a waste of money. The atmosphere is very weird and uncomfortable, there’s a stage at the front that makes it feel almost church-like. There was only one waitress working and we waited about 20 minutes to have our order taken, we considered leaving due to the delay. The other tables were also sitting for a while with dishes on their table and no check. Another staff member eventually came in and was very apologetic but nothing could make up for how bad our food was. It was a bit busy for the holiday, especially for only one waitress working, so I’m giving some leeway for that. It did seem that the numerous phone calls they received took precedent before all the people who were seated and waiting though. I’m not sure if we came on an off day or ordered the wrong dishes but we’ll...

The staff are kind and accommodating but the menu isn't very helpful and might be too expensive. The language barrier makes it hard to ask questions about things on the menu. A plate of some grilled asparagus is over $12. I tried to ask what else might be included but the waiter's body language read to me that she only felt more comfortable affirming my assumption than explaining it. I just picked something that seemed to have to most variety for a dinner item and went with it, and added rice because it wasn't included. Just "vegan beef and vegetable". No pictures.

The food was okay, but the veggies were kind of soggy, and the vegan "beef"'s flavor and texture didn't quite make up for that. I might go back but ideally, i wouldn't have to keep returning to know for sure i wouldn't be spending so much on repeat visits to find out what I like because of the language barrier. It adds pressure to be overly thankful to the staff for putting up with you as a potentially difficult customer and tip more for food that doesn't meet the quality they are charging for.

On the plus side, this restaurant is vegan only and I 100% love their values and support their...

If I could give zero stars I would. I understand it's Christmas and it's one of the few vegan options open. But I called 5:15PM, ordered, and was told it would take 45 mins - 1hr. I show up at 6:20pm and there's a long line of people 45 mins long waiting to pay for their orders. I find out 15 mins into this line that they haven't even started my order because their system is you show up, wait in line, pay for your food, then wait for your order to be made. I would have come much earlier (or just paid on the phone which I had no objections to) if they were upfront about this. When you tell someone the wait is 45-60 mins, and they show up 60 mins later, the expectation should not be for them to wait another 45 mins to pay for their order then another 20-30 mins for the order to be made. I made my family sitting at home wait 2 hrs for Christmas dinner. This was the worst take out experience of my life. I understand it's a tough night for any restaurant, but between the absolute chaos of having absolutely no system, to the awful misleading communication, I will never...