Sen Thai Asian Bistro — Restaurant in St. Louis

Was in the area and decided we were craving Thai so ended up walking in. Ordered Tom yum soup, pork belly bao buns and Thai tea and a Pina colada. Soup was good, Thai tea was delicious, pina colada was just ok but they did warn us they couldn’t make it frozen. The pork belly Bao Buns were bad, the meat was over cooked and flavorless. “Bummer,” I thought, but since the rest of the food wasn’t bad, I remained excited for the main course. After much deliberation we decided for some nigiri and Tonkotsu Ramen and drunken noodles. I’ve had some delicious ramen in my life, we’re as soon as you get it, it looks and smells so delicious you almost satisfied before even trying it. This was the opposite. The ramen lacked live color, it was a gray murky water, where none of its elements protruded the surface to tease you of its taste. I had to start stirring it to bring the egg and noodles to the top to actually get into the dish. I tried the soup first and so strongly lacked flavor that I was taken aback. I continued to mix and stir in hopes to unleash the hidden taste perhaps laying dormant at the depths of this dish, alas, there was no treasure in its trench. The pork belly in this ramen was also over cooked and gray, neglecting of all flavor as well, perhaps from the same cut my bao buns were ripped from. It was such a poor dish, I stopped consuming it after one spoonful of soup, one bite of the pork belly, and one final chopstick(?) of noodles. The plate was visibly untouched. Then we moved on to the drunken noddles since it seemed the pork belly was a strong and evident weakness in their craft. Sadly, the noodles did not escape the unseasoned hands of the who ever is back there that lives every day in his or her life with no fear that Gordon Ramsey might walk in for an impromptu restaurant review. I can make better noodles with butter and salt. They tasted like nothing, the beef tasted like nothing. I was so disappointed at this point that I had to kindly inform the server that we would like to return both of these dishes due to them lacking flavor. If it was a hole in the wall then I wouldn’t mind keeping those comments to myself (even though everyone knows the holes in the walls are the best stops for authentic dishes). In utter disappointment we tried the nigiri which was delicious. The rice was packed and held together well, the fish cut was decent sized and tasted fresh. The wasabi was on the creamy side, which we preferred and the ginger was palate cleansing. I was relieved to know that whoever was keeping up on the quality of fish was doing a good job. I ordered another Thai tea, and then the manager came up to our table. She was visibly irritated, before she spoke I assumed that she might have ordered the same soup or noodles we had over her work break and was so disappointed as well that she wanted to converse and bond with us over our shared let down of the food. I was wrong. She asked if we had sent the dishes back, we nodded. She then adamantly spoke about both dishes being fine and tasty, and asked what the problem was. We let her know both dishes severely lacked flavor and aroma. She refused. Aggravated, she said she will only take one dish off since they were both fine and that we would have to take the other. I don’t understand how they checked the quality of the dish without tasting it, and if they did taste it, was that then the same dish they packed for us to take? After they tried it themselves in the back? Questionable. We weren’t there to argue, so we kindly accepted the offer to take one of the dishes off the tab and get the other packed to take home. I decided to take the noodles since they would be easier to throw in a pan and fix them at home, which we did. I asked for one more Thai tea and hung out for a little longer while I finished it. Tipped the waiter her fair share, even though she apologized profusely I let her know I understood the dish quality was not her responsibility, she was a good server. Went home and fixed the noodles and actually had a...

I found out about this restaurant through a friend via Facebook. He had a friend gathering there and I saw the layout of the place and pictures of the food. I was instantly intrigued and happy to see that it was an Asian Bistro. I hadn't been to one in a while since my favorite one, Tani Sushi Bistro had closed in Clayton a few years ago.

I decided that I needed to check out this place and brought my mother along with me. We arrived around 2:30pm and were immediately seated. It was busy so we got there at a great time. We looked over the menu and decided on the following items:

Drinks: Plum Blossom (Me) Hot tea (Mom)

Appetizers: Thai Spring Rolls Crab Rangoon

Main course: Pineapple Fried Rice with Shrimp Three Kings with Shrimp Tempura Fried JB Roll Oriental Fried Rice with Chicken

Our drinks first came out along with glasses of water. I swirled my drink around before taking the first sip and it was delicious! The Plum Blossom drink consists of Plum Wine mixed with Club Soda and Chambord liqueur. It had the perfect mix of sweet and carbonation. I had to stop myself from drinking it all up so quickly.

My mom informed me that she was pleased with her hot tea.

Then our appetizers came out. I tried a Thai Spring Roll and it was so light and fluffy! When I bit into the roll it felt like crispy paper. Yet the flavor was definitely there. It didn't feel oily like I'm used to getting an egg roll from a Chop Suey restaurant. The Sweet and Sour dipping sauce also complimented the rolls perfectly.

The other appetizer was Crab Rangoon. The texture was a bit more crispy on these but I'm used to that when it comes to this dish. What really sold me though was the cream cheese mixture of crab, green onion, and bell pepper. The seasoning for this had just the right amount of sweetness without being overpowering.

Finally our main courses came out and I immediately tried a piece of my JB Roll. In other sushi bistro restaurants in Saint Louis normally this dish is called a Philly Roll. It consists of Salmon, cream cheese and avocado. Normally when I order this roll I have them hold the avocado and I request for it to be tempura-fried. I also ask for extra eel sauce to dip my roll.

On my first bite I knew I had found my new favorite place to enjoy sushi. The size of the ingredients in the roll were just right. It didn't feel mushy and it didn't look rushed. It was absolutely perfect. I enjoyed a few more pieces before moving on to my Pineapple Fried Rice.

Now onto my Pineapple Fried Rice with Shrimp......when I took my first bite I feel as though I should have been enjoying this on a beach. This did not have the greasy taste that one might find from a Chop Suey joint. This rice was so fresh. It reminds me of the Japanese styled steakhouses that prepare the food in front of you. It just tasted that fresh. The Pineapples in the dish were complimented with raisins, cashews, egg, green onion, white onion, and carrots and garlic. When I tell you this is by far the BEST fried rice I have ever encountered...I am not saying that lightly.

My mother was very please with her Three Kings dish. She said the seasoning was perfect and she did like snapping the fried noodles into her dish.

I also decided to get a dish to go for my father which was Oriental Fried Rice with Chicken. He let me know that he thought the dish was amazing.

The only negative I have about the experience was about parking. Yet that is not a reflection on the restaurant at all. For myself I was able to find a parking spot right across from the restaurant which I count as a blessing. Because normally parking downtown sucks.

Overall the food here was excellent and I definitely will be...

My total was $74.01 for 2 bowls of Shrimp Tom Yum Soups, order of Shrimp Drunken Noodles, and 1 order of Gyoza for deliveryNEITHER of my 2 orders of Shrimp Tom Yum had NO SHRIMP, both bowls are HALF EMPTY, One bowl had 3 pieces of mushroom the rest was ONLY broth, the other bowl had a NO SHRIMP and 4 pieces of mushroom the rest was ONLY broth!!! The order of Drunken Noodles was 1/4 of the size that it is when I order it in the restaurant. I called the restaurant the person who answered the phone said there was no manager and she could help me, I asked what her job title was and she responded with another question when asking again she again responded with another question when asked her again she finally responded she was an assistant manager on duty. Why she didn't start with that I don't understand why she wouldn't. After explaining why I was calling about my order she asked my name and number and said "we will call you tomorrow!" When I asked who"we" was referring to she repeated this cycle again repeated several times until the OWNER SURPRISINGLY came on the phone when I told him that his assistant manager said there was no manager above her in the building. Yet he was close enough to her to intercept the conversation... He told they were closed without asking why I called, and then said to call Uber Eats for a refund! I explained to him that Uber Eats delivered my food on time and my problem was not with the delivery but with the quality and size of the servings of my orders were not what I ordered with missing ingredients, the 2 bowls of soups were missing shrimp in the shrimp Tom Yum and only half full and the order of Drunken Noodles was a 1/4 of the size than what I get in the restaurant. I have pictures but couldn't find away to upload them here. The owner said he was off tomorrow and would ask to see of the cooks tonight remembered my order and would have someone call me if they did!!! I said I was willing to wait until he was in again for him to call me back himself after he talk to his cooks. He HUNG UP ON ME!!! I called back got the voicemail as I was leaving my message I was AGAIN HUNG UP ON!!! This happened THREE MORE TIMES!!! I was self employed for 13 years my parents were self employed for over 30 years. I've NEVER spoke to or met an owner of a business that didn't want the opportunity to listen to his customers! I also never met the owner of a business who wants a delivery service to refund an order when the delivery arrived before the estimated time when that was not the problem with my order it was the quality of the food that was the issue/problem!!! A food service quality problem turned into A DISTURBING customer service and food quality issues that the owner didn't want to listen to our care about!!! My advice is save yourself the ULTIMATE DISAPPOINTMENT with the food as well three EVEN MORE IMPORTANTLY DISAPPOINTMENT WITH THERE OWNER, STAFF and how NETHER cared to help there once loyal...