HakkaChow - Asian Eats — Restaurant in Winston-Salem

Unfortunately, often times we do not write praises of businesses and services in a positive light. Sometimes it seems we only shine a light on a business when we have had a bad experience with them. Maybe it is human nature that rather than offer positive critiques we tend to feel the need to warn others about something negative.

I am guilty of this practice as well and unfortunately, I feel I need to at least offer a warning of sorts regarding the restaurant known as Hakkachow - Asian Eats in Winston-Salem, NC.

I have only had two experiences with this restaurant, and I would like to start this off with something positive.

The one time I DID get food here, the food was AMAZING. I have zero complaints about the quality of the food. It IS excellent.

That out of the way, let me tell you why I will never attempt to eat here ever again.

The first time I experienced this restaurant I was working in Winston-Salem at an Ad Agency and we had recently moved into Innovation Quarter and a few of us wanted to get out of the office for lunch and everyone wanted to go to Hakkachow, and I was excited to try it.

The food was amazing as I stated previously, however, our service took almost 2 hours, so we were gone from work on an hour lunch for 2 and a half hours, but the food was great, so I’ve told many people about the place.

My wife wanted to try it so while we were in Winston-Salem this past Saturday (November 28th, 2020) we decided to go there over many other restaurant options that we would normally eat at.

It was around 12:45 when we arrived, and we were seated immediately. A waiter took our drink order as we were sitting down. He came back with the waters fairly quickly and we had already decided on what we were going to order.

This is where our visit took a bizarre turn, while taking our order, we had told him what appetizer we wanted, we had decided on the Kobe Beef Dumplings. He asked if we would like them steamed or fried, I stated we would like them fried and he just… walked away. He didn’t finish taking our order… he did not go “put our order in”. Within moments, he was refilling drinks at the table behind us. A moment later he was assisting another table. He never took another look at us. Another waiter never came over to us. So, we sat in awe for about 5 minutes. We discussed what had just happened, both of us a little perplexed as to what had transpired.

We then decided we would leave to eat somewhere else and never return to Hakkachow.

As we were walking out, I told the three employees at the front desk what had transpired, and they were as shocked as we were. They offered to give me the number to the manager, but with how this took place, I’ll never go there again so I don’t need to speak...

We had previously been here 10+ times over the years. I recognize Valentines Day is busy, but we had the worst experience on year 4 of enjoying Hakkachow for our v-day dinner.

I made the reservation about 3 months in advance (for 5:45, so on the early side) and we arrived to be seated in a booth at the bar. Not what we were hoping for, but oh well. We were shown to a table that wasn't cleaned so it was rush cleaned before we sat down to a wet table and wet booths. No big deal either.

5 minutes pass, 10 minutes passes, at the 15 minute mark and nobody having come over, I flagged a lady who looked to be the manager. She was apologetic that it had been 15 minutes and took our drink and apps order. She later came back and took our main course order-- we asked about the drinks (2 Moscow mules). Drinks took another 15 minutes until we received, which then the bartender apologized that we had to wait earlier and let us know he was the one taking care of us. The bartender should not have solely been responsible for the bar, 5 tables and all the drinks of the restaurant. Although the bar was never full of more than 5-6 people, he never paid attention to our table (or the others-- who we noticed has to constantly ask other wait staff for things).

The food? Apps (crab rangoon and sushi roll) were great, meal came out 75 minutes after we sat down (shrimp lo mein and pad Thai) All very tasty, but at this point, we were so mad at the level of service and extreme wait times. We had to be told by the manager at least twice that it was 'coming out in a minute'.

Back to the overall service throughout eating, we had to walk up to the bar to order a second round of drinks (2 beers), that he forgot until we asked again 10 minutes later and he recalled, walk up to the bar for water refills, retrieve our own to-go boxes, and walk back to the bar to ask for the check. Ready to pay, we walked to the hostess stand to see if maybe someone else could run the card so we wouldn't have to wait any longer, which he saw and came and got it from us.

The manager did come over once more to apologize for the wait, which I appreciate, but for this kind of place, and what we've experience before, we expected better. We paid in full over $85 for two adults and were there for 1 hr 45 minutes, with only 30 minutes of that with our entrees.

There are too many other good places that would not let that level of service slide, so unfortunately, we...

One of our favorite places to go eat since moving to Winston-Salem. The food here is amazing, the atmosphere is nice, and the experience is top notch. As mentioned in a previous review, dining here is at a more relaxed pace. They give you plenty of time between courses to take it in and talk. Love the service we've received which has been the perfect blend of attentive, yet not overbearing. I have yet to have something I disliked, but I also don't have a favorite either. There's so much to choose from that I keep trying something new each time. My wife absolutely loves their sweet-and-sour pork though. She has it the majority of the time we come here. At the same time, this is one of the few places that more basic dishes like that really still shine on their own. There are some really nice, unique dishes, but the simple ones aren't overlooked and underwhelming as I often find at many places. The meats are cooked really juicy and tender. The rice is soft. The vegetables are just the right amount of crisp.

Sunday half-price sushi specials are a wonderful deal. It's hard for me, as this is one of the few places I don't just jump to sushi immediately. The other dishes are just so good! Don't get me wrong. The sushi is great as well. It's just that much more of a struggle. Still, you know if I'm here on a Sunday what I'll be eating.

The interior is surprisingly upscale and trendy. You won't tell for sure from the outside how nice it will be once you're in. The classy, romantic atmosphere is a nice touch to add to the flavor of the food as well. There are a few tables that might feel a bit more small and "intimate", but other than peak times it shouldn't ever be an issue. They do have some semi-private areas for bigger groups. My wife decided to go here for her birthday last year and they had reserved one of these spaces for us. Not a private room for large groups, but rather kind of like a nook with walls on 3 sides. It made for a nice touch, and if you're interested in any small gathering, it could make for a great location to do so. I'm sure once my wife's clinic gets a little larger, that space would make for a great area to have a...