Kay's Table — Restaurant in Sylvania

I went to Kay's Table for the first time today. I moved here from IL and I was excited to try their food because there are not alot of Vietnamese food in this area. I ordered the Pho and Banh Xeo(Vietnamese pancake) The Pho was decent tasting but a very small serving for the price they charged. It was a smaller serving than what you get from cooking a Ramen noodle yourself. However, the Vietnamese pancake I ordered was completely burnt and not edible. I even paid to have shrimp added to my order, which I had no problem paying, but it was a complete waste of money because I couldn't even eat it. I understand the costs of food is going up and I don't mind paying extra money for good food but this was definitely not worth the 40 dollars that I spent. I will never go back to this restaurant again. I've eaten plenty of Vietnamese cuisines, from east to west coast, and Banh Xeo is one of my favorite dishes, but I have never eaten it burnt style before. Save yourself a trip and go down the street to Pho Noodle. Portions are way bigger, taste better, bigger portions for what they charge, and they don't serve you burnt food. I only tried out Kay's Table because Pho Noodle was closed that day I went. The 1st pictures I posted is what I received from Kay's Table. The second picture is what Bahn Xeo is actually suppose to look like.

Update: So today I waited until Kay's Table opened up to speak to the owner. As soon as she got on the phone, I explained I had came in yesterday to order food. Immediately she knew who I was because of the negative review I left her restaurant. She proceeded to tell me since I left a bad review, she refused to do anything to rectify the situation. She was very rude and aggressive when speaking to me. She asked why I didn't call her, and I explained to her that by the time I got home and realized the food was burnt, the restaurant was already closed because I did try to call and saw I called past the closing time. So I called 1 hour before they opened the next day. I told her that the food was burnt and of course she defended that it wasn't. I noticed as I read through the reviews on Google, that if anybody left a bad review, she is quick to dismiss people claims and try to turn it on the customer, like they don't know what they are talking about. She will insult customers online and tell them they don't know what authentic Asian food is. So I wasn't surprised when she then tried to insult me by telling me that I don't know what real authentic Asian food is and that I don't know what I'm talking about. Well guess what, I AM ASIAN LADY! How dare you try to even pull that race card! Take responsibility and swallow your pride, that my food was burnt (as shown in the picture) and that you can't cook as well as you think. Maybe, just maybe, the customers that leave you a bad review, might just be telling the truth. Like I said before, Banh Xeo is one of my favorite dishes. Not only does my family own a restaurant back home in IL, I have a host of friends that owns Vietnamese restaurants, and never ever have I eaten burnt Banh Xeo. I've eaten this dish enough to know it is not suppose to be blackened. When I cook banh xeo at home, I dont burn it. So because I left a bad review, the owner refuses to give me a refund or do anything to fix the situation. She is really hurt about my first review so guess what? Here goes another one on this terrible establishment. Customers beware! If you have any type of negative comment (even if it is true) she will deny it. Again Pho Noodle down the street food is way better and you get your money's worth. So customers, if you read this review, you can make your own judgment whether or not my food was burnt because the owner is in obvious denial. She has nothing but excuses after excuses. Horrible customer service and unprofessional. So before she gets on here and try to blast me, yes, I most definitely cussed her out on the phone and rightfully so! So since she won't refund me my $20, I will say it was worth losing that $20 to be able to write this review....

Full review on Yelp. Exceeded character limit here.

$16.99 - Bun Cha w/ Lemon Grass Pork (Rating: 0/10) The other review regarding the terrible Bun Cha is pretty much spot on. The “grilled” pork was definitely not grilled, it tasted and looked like it has been boiled. The pork was terribly dry and there was absolutely no lemongrass flavor.

Owner (Rating: 0.1/10) Allow me to explain the rating. I was born and spent the first half of my life in Vietnam and have NEVER seen Bun Cha that looked like this, not in the States, not back in Vietnam. The owner came around to ask us how everything was. I mentioned that the Bun Cha was so-so (instead of terrible, just to be polite), and she (the owner) got VERY defensive. She talked for a good 10-15 minutes non-stop. These were some of the things that the owner mentioned after my ONE comment that my Bun Cha was “so-so”:

That she knows that Bun Cha is usually pork meat balls, but she decided to use thinly sliced grilled pork because that’s the way she has always made it. She makes the Bun Cha the way she makes it because that’s the way her husband (who is an ER Doctor, she had to make sure EVERYONE knew that) asked her to make it. That’s why she didn’t call this place “Pho of Vietnam,” instead she called it “Kay’s Table” because this is HER table and this is her creation, and this is her twist on food (which is fine, but it seems in her response to other reviews, she thinks her food is authentic and that others don’t know what they’re talking about). She doesn’t use pork meat balls, instead uses thinly sliced pork because there’s a lot of muslims in the area, and they will call asking her what the meat is and how it is prepared. (Why was this even mentioned? Whether it is a pork meatball or thinly sliced pork.. a person of muslim religion would not order this dish no matter how the pork is prepared) She cooks for husband’s family (which she AGAIN had to make sure that we know that they’re all physicians) all the time and they all love her food. She does not use bonemarrow and oxtail in her pho broth and msg in her broth because she wants to make it less fatty and healthier (but when I got home.. I see that she replied to another reviewer that she does indeed uses “high quality bone broth from the freshest beef femur bones,” which one is it, mam? Do you use bone marrow or do you not?) She cooks for husbands friends (which are all physicians — again she had to make sure it was known) and they all love her food, like to eat healthy and they don’t like all the fats and oils, and that’s why she makes her food the way she does.

She had to spend 10-15 minutes at our table explaining herself and rambling on and on. Then came back later and offered a refund for the Bun Cha, to which I said it was okay, and is not necessary (because my biggest issue is not her food, I can deal with bad food, but it was the way she responded). She still however left the cash on our table to refund us for the bun cha and came back to say “she doesn’t want us to leave unhappy and leave a bad review).

The owner CANNOT take feedback, so I don’t understand why she would walk around and ask for feedback. Relax a little bit, take feedback and move on — there’s no need to spend 10-15 minutes at a customers table rambling on to try to justify bland terrible food.

Ability to take feedback — 0/10 Arrogance — 10/10 Owner’s customer service skills — 0/10 Chance that I will remember that her family, all their friends, etc., are doctors. Would have given this a 10/10 if only she mentioned it 2-3 times more. — 9/10

Bad food can be overlooked, the way the owner carried herself cannot be. Would definitely think twice if you were thinking about eating here. If you do decide to eat here, make sure you praise her food, because anything less than praise would have her at your table for 10+ minutes because her pride is just so high.

Edit: You did spend 15 minutes rambling. The Bun Cha was nearly untouched, NOT finished. You're either delusional or a compulsive liar. Would type more but at...

A response to the owner's response under the user "Jay T" review. I'm the other person that was there with that reviewer that night.

You absolutely were rude AND defensive. You asked for feedback, but the way you took the feedback was rather embarrassing. After asking for feedback, we were able to get one sentence in before you started your whole life story of how your ER doctor husband likes it that way, muslims don't like grounded pork meatballs, physician friends and family like it that way, you've always made it that way, etc. At no point did you actually try to listen to feedback nor give the customer a chance to voice what they wanted to say. I'm not sure what you were trying to get at, almost as if you were trying to convince us to like the "Bun Cha." Try taking feedback as feedback.

Stop mimicing bun cha. You can make whatever dish you want, but that was definitely not “Bun Cha.” No time to talk to us for 15 minutes? You even mentioned it yourself in other reviews that you talk too much so your staff has to keep you in the back. Sadly your staff did not keep you in the back that day. You seem to contradict yourself all over the place. I hate to say it, but you're either delusional or just a pathological liar.

Also -- the food was NOT finished. The instant ramen-grade pho was NOT refunded and was finished but the Bun Cha was almost completely untouched. Straight to the trash rack in the corner. We never asked for a refund, YOU kept insisting to give the refund so you wouldn't get a bad review. This review is more for your personality and the way you handled...