Vivienne's Bistro — Restaurant in Seattle

Tony was a great server and Irene a very friendly hostess even making small talk with us at the table. Came here after watching the Demon Slayer movie in 4DX at Regal (so good and so fun!!) This space used to be Loulays which was near and dear to my heart but happy to say Vivienne's Bistro (this is their second location, first being on Mercer Island back in 2022) can proudly occupy it as all the food we had was very good!

We did 3 appetizers: Lobster Rangoons, Kolbi, and Wontons in Szechuan Chili Oil. Had the General Tso's chicken with a side of white rice and finished with the Pumpkin Donuts with Blueberry Couli Jam.

Lobster Rangoons: I'll be honest, I am not crazy about rangoons crab or otherwise, but these were quite good. Perfectly fried with flavors that lasted and had a good amount of lobster meat. I recommend it. 7/10

Kolbi Steak: Very well seasoned and a good portion size. It was cooked at the right temperature too. Not much to add, just a quality product. 7/10.

Wontons in Szechuan Chili Oil: Mixed with minced garlic and cilantro it had good flavor and the szechuan wasn't super spicy if that puts you off. Personally I hate cilantro so I'd ask for this without next time but the dish works well. 7/10.

General Tso's Chicken: Ah, the classic made for Americans dish that isn't actually Chinese but kinda almost has become it from osmosis of the cultures now. Well this was good. Cooked the way you'd hope it would be if the idea for it actually originated from China. The glaze is sweet, the fry is to the amount it needs. No nasty aftertaste like cheap Chinese food joints. 7/10.

Pumpkin Donuts with Blueberry Couli Jam: It's mochi based so if that is off putting for you -- not my favorite -- you might want to skip it. Even so I can respect it's integrity and rate accordingly as if it was a texture I like. They are piping hot so you might want to mix it with the jam and break it open. The pumpkin is there but not overpowering. Solid. 7/10 here too.

The ambiance is great. Lively for downtown and Sunday and it wasn't a wait at all without a reservation to get in. The food came out exceedingly quick and you can hear the chef in the back working with a massive flame from the wok. By far though, Tony being open to great service made this very enjoyable. He recommended movies to us -- and we talked about Demon Slayer -- and overall just a good server to customer interactions. Would have already returned for the food but the service makes it that much better. For that reason I'm happy to rate it higher because this is the extra piece that's missing from most restaurants these days and what separates a good experience from a great one! And for all this food we got it was less than $100 for two...

Located inside the Sheraton Grand Seattle Hotel, Vivienne's Bistro is an Asian-esque restaurant that can be accessed from the street or within the hotel. The primary reason for low rating was due to the service. The server, Tony, was insulting, arrogant, and showed no concern or respect for customers. I was absolutely floored how he was so blatantly rude. The food in general was just good. The portion size is small. One main dish is really just enough for one person. We ordered the Grilled Tofu, Crispy Brussel Sprouts, Szechuan Style Green Beans, Steamed BBQ Pork Buns, Orange Peel Chicken, Kung Pao Surf & Turf, Mapo Tofu Fish. Most of the dishes were good (not great), with the exception of the Steamed BBQ Pork buns. They were NOT good. Very little filling and it was over-steamed as the bread was mushy. I would not order this again. The Grilled Tofu was just ok. Also note that it is soft tofu that they grill, not the firm tofu. The Mapo Tofu Fish was disappointing in that you cannot tell if there is any actual fish in the dish. If you pay real close attention and sift through the sauce, you may find a "big" enough piece to actually identify it as fish. The flavor itself was fine but I wouldn't call it Mapo Tofu FISH if it's that hard to find the fish. This is where Tony's true personality and arrogance showed up. After our meal, he asked how everything was. I expressed to him that the Mapo Tofu Fish was disappointing in the you couldn't really tell there was any fish. Tony then proceeds to tell me that maybe in the future, instead of ordering Mapo Tofu Fish, I should order FISH Mapo Tofu. Really??? He's saying that I ordered incorrectly? Mind you, there is no such dish available. So he's not only being rude, he's throwing shade at me?!! I could not believe it. First, do NOT ask the customer how everything was if you do not want to hear their answer. Second, if you do receive an answer you do not like, how about saying something like, "I'll pass that thought along, or I'm sorry it wasn't to your liking, sorry to hear that, I hope you like the other dishes." Instead Tony decides to be upset at my opinion, be rude, and then give me an attitude? HORRIBLE customer service. Truly unbelievable. Never again will I come here because of...

This place is good but not good enough to justify the price... especially for their signature duck. The flavor from it was inconsistent with rare bites having strong citrus but most of them just being a normal roasted duck. I didn't care for the sauce it came with and 6 buns is not enough for a whole duck. It's good duck, don't get me wrong but I can go to almost any other Asian restaurant and get close to the same duck for $48 on average compared to their whopping $75. At this price I expect to be blown away. Their duck fat old fashioned is way out of balance with the main flavor being simple syrup. I didn't feel like the duck fat wash changed anything from mouthfeel or even flavor which was drowned out by sweetness. The sweetness also masked the smoke they used which is a very hard thing to do. The orange beef does not hold back on flavor and I would recommend it. The pork belly confused me and my Asian friends as it had a kind of breading on it which masked all the character of the pork belly. Usually pork belly is seared to render the fat down and create a crispy outside, no batter or breading. My husband (Thai) described it as an abomination. The 9 flavor beef was ok but nothing to write home about. I got the pork bao appetizer which was doughy and didn't have much pork sauce flavor on the inside (or maybe I couldn't taste it past the uncooked texture of the dough). My husband sent back some brown rice which had obviously been scraped off the bottom of the rice cooker as it was dried out and overcooked which had the expo been paying attention it should never have made it to the table. Don't get me wrong, I don't regret going here at all and my being this critical is a matter of price vs what you get. At what they charge (on our bill roughly $90 per person) I expect much better service and mind blowing dishes and we got...