Blossom | Chinese Cuisine — Restaurant in Poulsbo

Thought we would try this new restaurant this past Wednesday (1/22 @at around 530PM)). Things seemed a bit harried when we arrived (folks rushing around and lots of take out bags on the bar counter) but we were given a table & menus by a female waiter... waited awhile and then finally caught the eye of a male waiter (possibly owner?) who asked us if we were ready to order... we informed him that we would like to order a glass of wine first, but didn't have a listing to refer with. After being provided one we asked for 2 glasses of Chardonnay. After this was served we made eye contact with a 3rd waiter, who then asked if we wanted to order. We ordered a small soup each (one hot and sour and the other eggdrop) a curry beef and sweet and sour chicken with fried rice each (small portion) rather than white rice. Soup came and we both liked it, standard fare but good and commented that maybe this might be an OK place. Oh, but when the main dishes arrived .... Yuk!!! the Curry beef was TERRIBLE: tasteless, too much meat all of which was thick and very chewy .. the sauce was a thick paste and the vegetables were simply frozen peas and carrots.. I had a couple of bites and pushed back the dish... the Chicken sweet and sour was just a bowl of breaded meat, so-so with little flavoring sauce and even less vegetables and the side rices were one white and one fried, - so half right and the fried was old and simply had more of those frozen peas and carrots. We had a few pieces of the chicken and picked out vegetables but left over 3/4 of what was originally brought. Not once did anyone swing by to ask if we wanted condiments, more wine, was everything satisfactory, etc. Finally, again, making eye contact of one person, I held out my CC and and asked her for the bill to be brought. This was done and then after settling it, I was asked if we would like boxes for all the food still sitting on the table. As I said no thank you, while the person that appeared to be the owner was close by and looked at us and the food and seemed poised to ask something (like maybe: "was everything OK?"), but then turned away. Nobody came to discuss the obvious that we simply did not eat any of the entrees. I wish them well... for it will be a long time before our returning, if at all..... and we would not recommend this place at all... much better off up the road with...

After trying every Chinese restaurant in Poulsbo and not being impressed, someone recommended Blossom as being the best. Ordered Carryout for four of us on 10 Sept. We ordered our favorite - Honey Glazed Walnut Prawns. Our friends had Sizzling Seafood Delight and Nine Flavors Beef. Together we shared Dry-wok tossed green beans. There was barely any glaze on the prawns, and only 4 and a half walnuts to be shared, but it tasted ok. The biggest disappointment was Nine Flavors of Beef! So bad in fact, we all shared a few bites and then threw most of this slimy mess away, together with the not so delightful seafood. The beans were overcooked and greasy for “dry-wok” style but tasted ok.

The next shock was the price of those green beans at $26 for 2 portions, and the price of all meals in general adding up to a total of $88.37! But we could have saved ourselves $1.50 had we phoned in the order instead of paying the online fee. One should think that it takes less time for someone to process that than taking an order by phone and writing it down so there should be a discount – not a charge! Maybe we’re spoiled by more authentic Chinese food and more generous amounts of honey glaze and walnuts in California, but not enough to go back there. So we give up and will stick to delicious local cuisine...

We ordered 4 dishes for take out, so we could really taste the dishes and review the food, instead of the service. The General Tso chicken was good (the best of the four), a little bit saucy but the broccoli wasn't overcooked. Next best was the pork fried rice, although they cooked it with chicken instead of pork. I can over look that, although the rice wasn't mixed very thoroughly so some spots had lots of flavor while other spots still had white rice. Third place goes to the sweet and sour pork, although I ate this without the sauce (since the sauce seemed to be very watered down and did not look or taste like sweet and sour sauce). Some of the pork was older than the rest, maybe from this morning (but more than likely from yesterday). It was clearly two different batches of pork in the dish. The beef low mein lacked flavor all together and I had no appetite to eat more than a few bites. I had high hopes...maybe I'll try again in a few months and things will have improved. And the ultimate let down...soft fortune cookies to...