Potsticker — Restaurant in Saint Paul

I think I have written a review probably two times in my life; this will be my third. I want to start with the ambiance of the restaurant; it is cozy, warm, and small, but it feels very homey I loved it. I immediately felt welcomed and knew the food would be delicious. I went with my boyfriend, and we decided to start the night with drinks. I ordered the Strawberry Lychee Martini, and he had the Samurai Apple. Both of these drinks were delightful; his had whiskey, and I don’t like whiskey, but I couldn’t even taste it here, the flavors were well-balanced. Mine tasted like I was biting a strawberry and lychee at the same time, and the alcohol came in at the end. I loved it I could drink 4 of these easily. For food, we decided to order the Potsticker Flight because it comes with all of the Potsticker filling options and their 4 sauces. It also comes with either a salad or entree, and we decided to have the miso chicken. HOLY CRAP. I have been alive for 28 years, and I have had a crap ton of potstickers in my life; these BY FAR were the best ones ever. All four sauces complimented each of the potstickers beautifully. The potstickers themselves were perfectly cooked, the flavoring was delicious, and overall, I just had no complaints. The miso chicken was DELICIOUS. It also came with a side of steamed white rice, and I am looking forward to having it for lunch tomorrow. Truly so good, and the portions are very generous. To end the night, we had the green tea cheesecake with a ginger glaze on top, and WOOOOOW. I am not the biggest fan of cheesecake or green tea, and I wish the crust of the cheesecake was a little bit crunchy, BUT it doesn’t matter because I would eat an entire one of those cheesecakes alone. It was so so good, especially the ginger glaze I was hesitant when the waitress told us about it, but it was a beautiful pairing. Obviously, this place was a hit for both of us, and I would recommend it to everyone (I already told four people about it). If I could rate it 1000/10 I would. OH!! We also ordered 24 frozen potstickers that we will be having later on, which we are very excited to have. There was also a sign inside for their lunch special that is $13 for an entree meal (it includes a drink as well and a salad/soup, but double check) anyways, I am from California, so the fact that you can get an entire meal, that is delicious for $13 is a win.

Basically, you need the food of this restaurant in your stomach and you’re...

Potstickers are sub-par for being the namesake of this place. Very thick chewy wrapper (that sticks to your teeth), dry interior, and meh flavor profile. I think any steamed potsticker from the freezer aisle is better. I prefer delicate, thinner wrappers with juicy interiors. I think they’re using the wrong flour. Not worth $1.75 per sticker. Then to only get 1 small shallow cup of sauce per order (or pay $1.50 per each additional one?!?). Sharing a platter with a group of 4, the table quickly becomes a sticky mess whrn pouring the sauce onto one’s plate - the sauce cup is not designed for pouring. No waitstaff volunteered to wipe it down. AND: 3ml of soy sauce and seasoning is not worth $1.50. Did not taste kimchi with pork+kimchi stickers.

The entrees were equally unimpressive. Mushu pork comes with literal store-bought mexican tortillas (NOT scallion pancakes). Ribeye noodles were just ramen noodles with butter and some veg - VERY under-seasoned. Was I supposed to buy a $1.50 sauce for seasoning? Pork belly fried rice had good flavor, but it was so oily that the rice did not stick together at all. Only offered a chop-stick, it’s nearly impossible to eat. Even difficult with a fork (we asked for spoons, they said they only had forks. 15min later, the table NEXT TO US had SPOONS.).

Service: sub-par. We did not have any chopsticks or other cutlery when the food came out. Asked for some, did not receive, resorted to raiding vacant tables. Also, metal rounded chop-sticks are the hardest to use - a daunting challenge for people newer to chopsticks. And again, ONLY FORKS, NO SPOONS (offered to US, anyways). Finally, they did not clear the clearly empty appetizer plate before or throughout the course of the main courses. These tables are TINY - that’s highly valuable space, especially if you’re sharing dishes as we did. Were not offered any deserts, and we would’ve enjoyed some (only learned later they have a desert menu!).

Now to the atmosphere: very cramped environment. Small tables (which would not be so irritating if they cleared all the appetizer plates before dinner). The wall booth seats are too high or the tables are too low - I had to hunch over all dinner. And it was very load and hard to hear - felt like you had to yell across the table, nice that they’re busy tho. Finally, takeout boxes are flimsy and keep popping open. They need stickers or tape to secure your load (the slippery rice you couldn’t eat...

Stopped in with a family member after seeing it just opened up earlier in the week, we LOVE anything potsticker so we had to check it out, small interior with lovely decor, a table was open quickly (5 minutes maybe), we sat looked at the menu for ten minutes and put our order in, after we ordered a family of four came in and sat at the bar seating then moved to a table, they ordered, got their food and wa 3/4ths the way done eating before we got our food. Little unsettling as I am a person of color seeing an all white family come in well after us and after we have ordered and get their full meal before we got any of our orders. Even if not intentional it isn’t a good look and had me wondering if we got the plates they sent back. We waited easily. 30+ minutes to their 10-15 minutes, mind you we ordered way less food as well.

On to the food, the wings where fresh out the fryer, had a good size and crunch, flavor seemed to be lacking a little. They also seemed bloody and a little raw (will attach picture) We got an order of angus beef and carrot and a potsticker flight as well, the shrimp and butternut squash seemed underwhelming I have had better from trader joes frozen isle just down the street. ( /: not hating on this restaurant just telling how it was. ) angus beef, shrimp and chive are decent once again nothing extraordinary, all of them where nothing to rave about in my honest opinion the classic was underwhelming as well. I had high hopes for this place as potsticker is the name and I don’t think there is a potsticker place like it in town.

I will be back once more after they have been open longer to give it one more shot as I know they are brand new. Doesn’t feel good when you spend $16 on 6 potstickers when a $6 grocery store frozen pack is better tasting. Both I and my date agreed.

Bathroom was very nice and clean, love how the sink and paper towels are all automatic . Lastly I would add that I think having a few more waiters/staff around would be helpful, had to ask for napkins and for water to be refilled (minor things for me but figured I should mention)

All in all if the wings had been cooked thoroughly and not raw, I think a 3 star would have been fair. And without the service mishap and raw wings I would have rated...