Chop Stick Cafe — Restaurant in Winchester

I have been to this place many times and have generally had a positive experience, which is why I haven't changed my original good review. However, yesterday was different. I brought my family of five here to celebrate my wife's birthday. Among the dishes she ordered was a Spider Roll. I noticed that she only ate one piece and then switched to sharing fried rice with one of our daughters. I asked her if everything was alright, and she mentioned that something was seriously wrong with her sushi. To confirm, I gave her multiple pieces of the rolls I ordered and took a few pieces from her Spider Roll. Unfortunately, this turned out to be a huge mistake, as both she and I got sick for the rest of her birthday and this morning. When I dismantled the roll to investigate, I instantly noticed that the softshell crab was bad. It had a strong odor similar to a fish left out in the hot sun for days. We set the roll aside and tried to enjoy the rest of our meal and the company of our children. We didn't plan on saying anything unless specifically asked about the food. We eat sushi multiple times a week and have never left a sushi roll uneaten until now. When the server asked if we needed a box, my wife inquired if there had been any changes in how the spider roll was prepared. The server's reaction and how she handled the situation ultimately led me to change my original good review. Initially, we were going to let it go and move on. However, the server acted as if the possibility of the roll being bad was absurd and even laughed about it. After this exchange, she asked if we needed a box. I replied that we didn't because the sushi was rotten and disgusting. I wanted to make it clear why a box wasn't necessary since she seemed to take it as a joke. Despite the disappointment, my wife was still grateful for my efforts and didn't want to ruin the experience for any of us. As we were leaving, I went to inspect the "fresh cuts" at the sushi station but found that they were far from fresh. The restaurant was not busy at the time, and while I understand that some ingredients may have been sitting for longer than usual due to a slow day or days, it is still important to check the quality of your products to ensure that no one gets sick. Unfortunately, two of us are now ill. I usually enjoy the aftertaste and feeling of a good sushi meal, but we both struggled to get rid of the awful taste in our mouths. I immediately went to a gas station to buy mints in an attempt to mask the taste, but it unfortunately lingered...

This was my third and last Chop Stick experience. The first two were takeout, and we dined in this evening. I've tried something different each time and haven't been tremendously impressed with the food.

More about the experience tonight: We didn't call ahead and had to wait for about 20 minutes. No problem- we expect Saturday night to be busy. We were taken to a table upstairs in a room that felt a little small to have so many people. It was very loud! My date's chair cushion was wet when we arrived (she declined my offer to switch seats). Water, hopefully?

Our waiter finally came over about 15 minutes after we sat down and took our drink order. By that point, we were also ready to order our food! We asked about mixing and matching spring/egg rolls since they're the same price on the menu and were given a firm "no." (By the way, many of the prices have increased slightly from the prices listed on their website, or on the menus available in their waiting area. I know: prices may change without notice, but this sort of thing annoys me!)

Our spring roll appetizers arrived relatively quickly. They were good, but unremarkable. If anything, they felt like they had been made several hours earlier in the day and had been sitting in a refrigerator. Peanut sauce was fine, but is it even possible to screw up peanut sauce?

Entrees also came out pretty quickly. My date had the lemon chicken, which was actually very good. I got the orange chicken, which was not. It wasn't bad - it just wasn't especially flavorful. Unfortunately, the chicken was lukewarm at best, and continued cooling off before I could eat it all! The broccoli was cold. (I've eaten plenty of orange chicken, so I'm certainly familiar with the sauce. Once this stuff had cooled, it had congealed into a weird gel that didn't look very appetizing!)

Our waiter was a nice enough guy, but didn't refill our drinks and wasn't tremendously attentive. Hard to blame him considering how busy it was, but I hate feeling like I'm an inconvenience to my waiter.

If you go, call ahead and go some time when...

Unfortunate dining experience at Chop Stick Café on Kent Street this beautiful Sunday evening. We were interested in grabbing a small bite to eat and then walking around downtown, so at 7:05pm we called one of our favorite restaurants to check on their hours. Chop Stick said they were open till 8:00pm and the kitchen closed at 7:45pm; we said we would be there in 15 minutes.

At 7:20pm we walked in the door and asked for a table. The person at the counter said they were full, even though there was at least one open and clean table in the front of the restaurant. I said there is an open table right over there. The hostess then spent the better part of 10 minutes telling people to check the side room for a table, and to check in the back with the cooks. While we were waiting I mentioned to the hostess that we just called 15 minutes ago and spoke with you, and you told us you were open until 8:00pm and the kitchen closes at 7:45pm; we came in at 7:20pm and there is a table right over there that is open. Why can’t we sit at that open table, we just want 2 bowls of soup and some appetizers. After the hostess looks at the open table she said they were full and couldn’t fit anyone else in the restaurant. She didn’t even ask if we wanted anything to go.

We left and walked to Thai Winchester on the walking mall and enjoyed a wonderful meal. Thai Winchester is open until 10:00pm and even though they were very busy they were able to seat us...