Wooden Bar — Restaurant in Worcester

I am usually pretty good at finding the right places to eat for. So much so that people frequently turn to me for recommendations when they need a place for a particular occasion. So while my husband trusts me to find great places, I have to admit, he gave me the side-eye when we drove in. It’s not exactly the area or building that you would expect to find a great place to eat. However sometimes the hole in the wall type of joints turn out to be the best finds. Wooden Bar is such a place. While to some the menu may look limited and the ingredients somewhat intimidating, that is actually it’s strength. The best chefs usually understand quality over quantity: you can’t offer 20 or 30 entrees and expect to deliver high quality on them all. So limiting the offerings mean you can focus on those and ensure they are of the highest quality and that is what this place does. And in terms of the ingredients, though some of them might make some people a bit nervous, especially if they have a more limited palette, again a good chef knows how to pair and balance flavors that makes a dish sing in a way that frequently a flavor one doesn’t typically like, nonetheless enjoys the dish. For example, I have a pretty broad palette and there isn’t much I don’t eat, however one of the few things I really dislike is uni. However I had it at the Eiffel Tower and actually loved the dish. It was the one and only time I have enjoyed eating it either prior to after that experience. So I encourage people to give this place a try. I mean really, you can get a good burger anywhere, and even a great burger relatively easily. But to find food that is this unique and inspired is much harder to find, and well worth the effort to do so. We chose a few different plates to get a decent sampling. We started with the potato salad, then had the pork slider, and of course as they specialize in noodles, we had to try a spicy noodle dish, and finally the chicken confit. I won’t get into details for each one, but they were all really good, excellent even. The noodle dish was complex with a depth of flavor that made it quite compelling. It was listed as a spicy noodle dish, and it was spicy, but not so much that it blows out ones palette. I never appreciate a dish labeled as spicy coming out bland, or so spicy that it overwhelms all the flavor so this one was right in the sweet spot: spicy and flavorful. And the chicken came with pickled celtuce and I have to say, that was sublime and alone made the chicken dish worth getting. To drink, I had a pandan milk punch that was unlike any cocktail I have ever had: extremely unique and more importantly, delicious. And finally, while many places have great food, the desserts seem to be an afterthought. They frequently don’t live up to the main meal and it’s a bit of a letdown. Not so here. The lemon and lavender crème brulee was simply the best crème brulee I’ve ever had. The chocolate ice cream had a deep chocolate flavor while still not being too heavy or rich and the sesame ice cream sandwich was very unexpected. While the place is a bit quirky in terms of the set up and service, they neverthess ensured good service and rapid delivery of food so it added to the charm of the place. They were all very pleasant and worked hard to ensure we had a great experience. Overall this chef knows what he’s doing in the kitchen and it truly elevates the food scene in Worcester. We will...

What a delightful experience! We walked in shortly after they opened on a Friday. Staff met us with big smiles and warming welcome. They were very helpful in selecting the food. We ended up going with the pulled pork sliders for an appetizer, the spicy tantanmen and beef stir no fry for entrees and wrapped it up with the peach creme brulee.

Food came out very quickly and was very hot and fresh. The pork sliders? The bread is made in house and you can tell. Super fresh, soft, delicious. The pork sliders are an absolute must, though there's two, so if you have a larger party I would order 2 orders. The spicy tantanmen was incredibly rich and had a very good spice level. It was too spicy for my wife but if you like spice, I would totally recommend it. The pork belly was soft and delicious, and the egg and noodles were cooked to perfection. The beef stir no fry is brothless, so make note of that if it's your play. The noodles are so incredibly fresh and delicious. Beef was well seasoned and tasty. We ended the meal with a small peach creme brulee, which was a very interesting take. Crunchy top combined with the rich peach custard was unfamiliar but absolutely divine.

Portions on the food were generous. We definitely did not go hungry and felt meals were very fairly priced for the quality of ingredients and preparation that must go into the dishes.

The staff were incredibly friendly, accomodating, and checked in on us frequently.

Overall, highly recommended 5 stars across the board, we will definitely be going back to check the rotating...

Food: we got the lamb wonton, spicy tantanmen, crème brûlée beet ice cream, honey ice cream, good boy treat, and espresso martini drinks. I love how different in ingredients that they involve as well as the flavors that come forth with these dishes. The lamb wonton was rather filling with a soup base that helped balance. What was inside making a great salty blend. The Ramen has spices that’s not spicy that burns your tongue but spicy like it’s got a kick. The honey ice cream really does taste like honey and goes well with the little croissant crisp and the bee crème brûlée is interesting because it’s not really an ice cream. It’s more kinda like a purée, but the taste was muted enough to balance with the crème brûlée, being sweet. The drinks were great they carefully handcrafted well the good boy treat drink kind of reminds me of like a frozen Paloma.

Service: the bartenders were great. They’re right up front for you to ask anything that you need.

Ambiance: it’s a lot bigger than I had anticipated with a bar and good amount of seatings that is spread across the building. You can sit wherever you like and make sure to grab a little number tag so that the person that you’re getting food from at the front nose, where to place the order

Location accommodation: it’s kind of hidden in a little alley street but once you get there, there’s a parking lot with some lights. They usually do have outdoor seating when it’s warmer, but there’s a little curtain to kind of cover the entrance and once you’re inside, it really does give a...