R&D Restaurant

I really wanted to hate this place. I was not a fan of Eric’s while watching Master Chef Canada. His food changed my mind.
We tried several items but the bibimbap stole the show for me. I actually was contemplating offing a second one for take away. It went great with a Sapporo but could have easily worked with 3 AM cold tea or a spicy cesar for Sunday brunch.
Other notable items were the venison spring rolls and cauliflower curry.
I’d definitely be back.

Drinks; Amazing! Had a few of the «Plum & Stormy» (their version of a Dark & Stormy) and could have easily had three more if I could. Best version of a Dark & Stormy thus far!
Food; Amazing! Had the Grandpa’s Fun Guo; Potstickers; Sichuan Scallop Ceviche; Octopus a la Plancha; Fried Chicken & Glazed Cronuts; and the Flat Iron Steak. Each «Small» fostered the next and it was a continuous build of flavors. For the «Large» ensure that you have the Flat Iron Steak before the Fried Chicken & Glazed Cronuts. Both are excellent but the Fried Chicken is much more flavorful and may outshine the Flat Iron Steak if consumed first.
Service; Amazing! Ellen was a wealth of knowledge and literally recommended the entire setting; from drinks to mains. Understood the allergies presented and catered to them when possibly, and steered away when needed. A VERY important part of the trade and she navigated it perfectly; THANK YOU!

Overall pleasant dining experience but if you go in with high expectations of the food, you’ll probably be disappointed. The pluses are attentive service, nice atmosphere and sometimes the owners are around too for the MasterChef. They also have a good amount of beers on taps especially for those who like IPAs.
The CSBs were definitely the highlight! The buns were crispy and flakey and the overall sweet and savoury dynamic worked well. The cronuts and chicken were also worth mentioning. The seafood chow mein was mediocre at best, it was a tad too spicy and there wasn’t much other flavour besides that. The fun guos were also subpar, any proper dimsum restaurant would probably do a better job.

Balls! The friggin dish of fried chicken with mini donuts are the best! The fried chicken is on par with Popeyes and donuts are better than Tims. But you know what I think their seafood chow mien are not as good as those from Manchu Wok :) :) :) :)
And yahhhh they have Jackie Chan’s movie omgggggggg but I wish they have the sound on. :(:(:(
Overall a decent shit place :) :) :)

There is probably no point to read a review on their food since they will just change their menu again in a few weeks.
But it was pretty bad, and the waitresses need to learn how to be better waitresses.

Having read the earlier reviews, I did not walk in with high hopes. I guess that’s probably why I am giving 3 stars instead of something lower.
The CSB (bbq pork buns) are great. The pork filling is wrapped in a pineapple bun like shell. Crispy and flakey on the outside, savoury and tender on the inside. This explains why we got two orders.
Grandpa’s dumplings were above average. I hate to do comparisons with other types of restuarants, but honestly, you could get better tasting (and value) at your local dim sum shop.
The fried chicken and cronut was average. The fried chicken was mediocre and the cronut wasn’t anything special. There was no complexity of flavors. Just an overall bland greasy or sugary taste.
I knew from reading the earlier reviews, we should have stayed away from the seafood chow mein. But alas, we ordered it to see for ourselves. I really have no problem paying higher prices for good food. But the premise is «good» food. The noodles here did not taste fresh. The noodles felt like they were pre-​chilled supermarket noodles. The dish had a spicy taste throughout. It was an easy method to overcompensate for the fact that this dish has no other layers of flavour.
The service was on par with other places at similar price points. There was a selection of local craft brews. It is a convenient location on spadina.
Overall, I guess there will always be places where the hype is bigger than what they can actually deliver. The CSBs were good, but not good enough to even out the score.

This meal made me question the integrity of the Food Network and Masterchef Canada.
R&D was one of the worst meals I’ve ever had.
When you first walk into the restaurant, they lure you in with a false sense of hope that the night will be decent. The décor is certainly well designed, and the semi-​open kitchen is modern looking. The menu is also interesting, and broke down all of their «famous dishes» with red and blue labels that tells you which Chef came up with it. Brimming with false promise.
What we ordered:
Pork buns — Was actually really good. This was $ 8 for two small CSB. It wasn’t worth the price I guess, but can’t complain because it really was delicious. I strongly recommend this dish as this only thing to try. (take out order only)
Grandpa fun guo — Had a really strong smell of truffle oil in these. It was a bit overpowering but it’s truffle oil so I guess it was acceptable. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t terrible.
Masterchef winning Seafood and Lobster chow mein — Okay this is where s**t really hit the fan. This dish is stunningly bad. The taste was just bland, contained very minimal seafood and was just a dish of chittara noodles in light soya sauce topped with a small piece of frozen lobster claw. The dish served to us wasn’t even warm. I had 2 bites of it, and just couldn’t eat it any longer. Stunned at how bad this was.
Chicken and Waffles — So the only redeeming «fusion» factor of this dish is with HK waffles. They took out the HK waffles and gave us regular Belgium waffles with fried chicken.
??? How hard is it to make HK waffles instead of Belgium waffles? Why would you take away the only appeal to this dish? The chicken isn’t even good. Like everyone else mentioned, they loaded the chicken and sauce with a lot of strong spices. I’ve never EVER turned away fried chicken before. Congratulation R&D, you somehow managed to eff up fried chicken with waffles.
Do not come here.
Look… here’s the deal. Masterchef Canada takes a bunch of amateur «chefs» and puts them in a competition on TV. If you look at the competitors, none of these guys had any actual restaurant kitchen experience. Even this Eric Chong person was an engineer before he won the show. You can imagine the talent level in the competition. This is like taking your group of friends to have a food competition, picking a winner, and calling him Master Chef of your group of friends. Then you go and open an effing restaurant with the title «Winner of Master Chef of my group of friends» to fool people thinking your restaurant is any good.
I do not condone such shady practices. Avoid this place.

Went to R&D for Valentines Day and it was the best! Great food and atmosphere. Staff was super nice A++ Also got to watch Master chef Eric Chong in action! Got to take home a small box filled with candy. CSB is a must try they only make limited amounts per night! #getonthis

Sigh* Where do I start…
I’ve heard so much about this place in the past year but never really looked into it. Decided to check it out this past weekend and as I did a bit more research, I realized it’s helmed by 2 highly popular chefs. It piqued my interest but from the mixed reviews, I kept my expectations low. Somehow, R&D still managed to fall below that.
The décor is really trendy but not what you would imagine for a place that serves asian fusion. In fact, there wasn’t anything Asian about the restaurant at all except for a ginormous picture of Mao Zedong on the wall. Gave me more of a pizzeria or taco vibe.
For 2, we ordered:
CSB BBQ Pork Buns ($ 8) — These were fantastic and really the only item I found to be worth it. The sauce and cha siu is delicious and perfectly in proportion to the amount of dough. I loved the texture of the exterior which is crispy like the top of a pineapple bun. $ 4 for a medium-​sized bun isn’t exactly a steal deal but I highly enjoyed it. ⁵⁄₅
Grandpa’s Fun Guo ($ 8) — Not bad. Served as 3 dumplings in a dimsum basket. Had me wondering where the soy sauce was but after biting into it, I realized I didn’t need it. That’s because the truffle gives a very strong aroma and flavor that really hits you. The dumpling skin was a bit too sticky for my tastes but it was pretty good. One of the better items but had me searching for water immediately after having it. 3.5÷5
Eric’s Seafood & Lobster Chow Mein ($ 25) — I was iffy about paying this much for chow mein but decided to go for it anyways since it seemed like a popular item and was featured on the show. HUGE mistake. I still don’t understand how this dish is $ 25. I second guess myself wondering if my taste buds lack the sophistication to fully appreciate this or if I’ve always had really bad chow mein my entire life. My boyfriend and I took a bite each and couldn’t be bothered to take another. I’m not sure how adding a few shrimps and a piece or two of lobster hikes up the price to about three times the amount it’s usually offered at. Or was it the chitarra as noodles? Either way, this dish was definitely memorable… because I never had such a lacking and ridiculously overpriced «chow mein» before. This is an example of what asian fusion should not be. It’s so light in flavor that it’s border-​lined tasteless and it was just so underwhelming in all aspects. Not to mention the noodles were cold. We asked our server to take it back which she asked why. We told her our reasons, she simply said ok and left with it. Not sure if it was conveyed to the kitchen but I had already mentally checked out of this place at this point.1/5
Colonel Tso’s Chicken & Waffles ($ 25) — Let me clarify that they no longer serve HK egg waffles but just a Belgian waffle with chicken. I didn’t know this when I ordered so I couldn’t help but ask the server to which he seemed genuinely surprised himself that HK egg waffles were a thing at the restaurant. He came back and informed us that they NO LONGER serve the HK egg waffles. My utter disappointment aside, I have to ask… how is this fusion? I really despise it when restaurants sprinkle some asian ingredients on a western dish and call it fusion. One, it’s never cheap and two, it’s a cop out of the entire term. Chicken was drizzled with kung pao sauce and seasoned with 5-​spice. Overseasoned and overpowering. The breading was very thick with almost a burnt flavor to it and although it was crispy, way too heavy. Meat was dark so it made it less dry but the accompanying sauce to dip, Sichuan Maple Syrup was a disaster. It didn’t complement the dish in any way so I was not a fan. Smh. 1.5÷5
Service was subpar. I have to agree with some reviews here that it just didn’t seem like they cared. We didn’t find out that they comp’d the Chow Mein til the very end which yes, made me less bitter but it would’ve been nice if they informed us during the meal. You know, so I could be a little less miserable and not cry for my wallet the whole time. Or perhaps a manager should’ve come out to speak to us since we literally ate 10% of our chow mein and we gave up halfway through the chicken & waffles. Our concerns were never addressed in a proper manner. I know a bad experience can be overlooked if the restaurant does something to alleviate it but their attempt was so half-​assed that it didn’t do much in terms of redemption.
My advice? Get the CSB to go.

Just came here for dinner last night for the first time. To be quite honest, I didn’t watch the first season of Masterchef, but I’ve heard enough about Eric Chong and quite frankly I just love to eat, so I’ve had this restaurant on my «to try» list for a while.
We made a reservation for 5:30 and when we arrived closer to 6 the place was pretty empty (only like 2 other groups) but filled up completely by the time we left around 8. The main dining area is dimly lit, but open concept with high ceilings and trendy, modern, political (I’m looking at you, Mao Zhedong) décor and artwork. It was a nice environment to dine in, very casual but not overly loud.
The best way to tackle this menu is probably to just order a bunch of things to share, kind of like dim sum/​tapas style. As a group of 3, we ordered:
CSB BBQ Pork Buns ($ 8 for 2): This was my favourite dish of the night. Rather than the soft, fluffy white BBQ pork buns that you normally get in dim sum, the bun here was harder and crunchier in texture, almost like a pineapple bun. We found out later from talking to Eric that apparently it is actually based on a Mexican sweet bun (I think called a concha?) Anyway, I really enjoyed the bun/​pastry, which was sweeter than a normal BBQ pork bun but mixed well with the sour sauce on the BBQ pork. I would order this again.
Grandpa’s Fun Guo ($ 8 for 3): These are like dumplings filled with chicken and black truffle. I enjoyed the filling, which was very flavourful and delicious. I wasn’t as crazy about the dumpling skin however, because I thought it was too thick and sticky. Worth trying.
Shrimp Toast ($ 12): We got this because it sounded interesting. It’s not like a whole piece of bread, instead it’s like 6 cubes of bread topped with black truffle, cauliflower, and preserved duck egg. It was a good mesh of pretty distinctive flavours and the presentation was lovely. I enjoyed this and was glad I tried it, but I personally don’t think this is something I would order more than once.
Eric’s Lobster & Seafood Chow Mein ($ 25): Ok, this dish kind of confused me for a number of reasons. Firstly, the noodles weren’t like the Cantonese chow mein noodles that I expected — instead they were quite a bit thicker, more like egg noodles. Secondly, the dish was quite a lot smaller than I expected. Then the flavour… it wasn’t bad, but it was definitely quite light, one could even say bland. My friend who normally likes heavier flavours didn’t like it, but my other friend who prefers lighter flavours enjoyed it, so I suppose it is really a matter of personal preference. There was a slight bitter aftertaste which I think might have been due to the lime that was used (I think we saw some chunks of lime?), and I thought I tasted a bit of lime-​iness, so it was interesting, but I can see how it might not be for anyone.
At this point we were all still kind of hungry, so added a few more things to our order:
Shiitake Polenta Fries ($ 8): Not much to say about them, they were pretty good and I liked the mushroomy flavour, which was just right in terms of heaviness (not too overpowering, but definitely noticeable.)
Sweet & Sour Pork Ribs ($ 25): After seeing the lobster & seafood chow mein we were expecting this to be of a similar size, but it was actually surprisingly big, enough for 2 ribs per person (6 in total.) They’re different from like American smoked ribs or whatever, in that the meat is tougher and doesn’t really fall off the bone, but is not dry at all. This was definitely more sour than sweet, and assaulted all our noses with a strong vinegar-​y smell. It was pretty decent though, and definitely very very filling.
Our bill after tax came to $ 97, and we were all totally stuffed, which was actually disappointing because we had originally wanted to try the dessert platter. I think we were all pretty satisfied with what we ate, although things were a bit hit or miss. Overall I would rate the food a 3.5, and take a ½ star off for the service… I don’t know, I thought all the wait staff were nice, but for some reason I found them all awkward to talk to. They would all talk kind of fast and in this way that came off as flippant. It was nice though of our waitress to ask Eric to stop by our table because my friend was fangirling so hard, although he must have been busy because we sat around waiting for him for a good while after our meal was done. He seemed super nice, but unfortunately we didn’t get to really talk to him much because we were all too starstruck and tongue tied.

We went on a Friday night and were seated at the bar because we didn’t make a reservation. The atmosphere in the restaurant was quiet and the interior design was very modern. The staff was very friendly and gave us good recommendations.
We tried the pork belly bao, the tacos, soft shell crab bibimbap and the steak with cheese hollandaise sauce. I would definitely recommend these items and I look forward to trying this restaurant again!

Very nice décor in the restaurant.
Food was good.
Shrimp Toast — my favourite dish here. decadent and rich. ⁵⁄₅
8z flat iron steak — medium rare — very good, my second favourite dish. ⁵⁄₅
Laksa Seafood Chawanmushi — unique and interesting, so I’d recommend trying it. ⁴⁄₅
Lobster & Seafood Chow Mein — tastes good and quite filling too. ⁴⁄₅
Grandpa’s Fun Guo — pretty good. 3.5÷5
Dragon Soup Dumplings — it was ok. 2.5÷5
Chicken Pesto Egg Rolls — it was ok. 2.5÷5
We usually go to Lai Wah Heen for Chinese food. This was a nice change as the dishes were different. I’m not entirely sure I’d go back though, I just wasn’t blown away by anything, but if I happened to find my self there again, I’m sure I’d be happy.

Similar to others, I was super excited to come after season 1 and it was also super tough to get reservations. We had a group 6 people for dinner on a Sat. I was excited to see Eric working in the kitchen!
Décor:
— Very nice interior with a sorta industrial look/​feel to it
— comfy seat with a view of the kitchen
Food:
— We decided to order several dishes and share among the table
— Apps: we got grandpa’s fun guo, spring rolls (recently changed). These were a bit so-​so as the fun guo was not that special as could get similar ones at dim sum. The spring rolls (no longer there) was actually not bad as they were more like shrimp rolls.
— Mains: Duck Duck bao, General Sanders Chicken, Chili Crab BiBimnap, Brussel Sprouts. The duck was good but it didn’t seem to live up to the expectation. Presentation was great and steamed baos were good but the flavour was missing something. We also noticed that it was kind of cold when it was served. The general sanders chicken and brussel sprouts were a hit. Bibimbap was also good but didn’t surprise us.
Generally, it was hit and miss for the mains but as a group we found the portions to be quite small (we had to stop for more food afterwards). Perhaps if we had ordered more but it seemed like alot of food already. I will try it again to see if things change.

Came here with a coworker for a very early dinner.
We decided to take seat in the lounge area as we just wanted a quick bite.
The dining room is perfect for a date night tho.
I started things off with a silk road spritz which was nice and refreshing.
We had the fanny bay oyster wrap (2pc), the little dragon lamb buns (3pc), grilled octopus and chop suey.
The dish that stood out the most to us was the oyster wrap which was also the least expensive of them all.
Loved the décor, ambiance and the service was also great.

R&D is an Asian fusion restaurant opened by Masterchef Canada winner Eric Chong! Just this fact alone, I was already super excited to come to this restaurant to try it out. Unfortunately, although the atmosphere is fantastic, the food is not as good as I had expected.
I came to this place twice, once with a group of 5 people and another time with a colleague. The first thing that caught my eyes in this restaurant is the wall painting of Mr. Mao at the back, although interesting, I wasn’t feeling for having Mr. Mao staring down at me while I eat. If you know some Chinese history, you may know why.
Food wise, in my two visits, I tired the Shrimp Toast, CSB, Little Dragon Buns (both flavours), poutine, octopus, shiitake polenta fries, chili crab bibimbap, general sanders’ chicken, palm sugar crème brûlée and the piña colada bubble tea. I have to say, most of the food I tried only tasted so-​so and I will highlight a few that really impressed me and disappointed me.
First off the good stuff,
CSB — This is by far the BEST CSB (cha siu bao) I ever had in my life, CSB are made fresh every batch and you MUST eat it as soon as it comes out. The bread was so soft and the fillings inside were so good. I also like that fact they baked the top of the CSB similar to how typical Chinese bakery would baked their «Mexico Buns».
Octopus — This was also another dish that impressed me, it’s the fact the octopus tentacles were grilled to perfection and easy to chew on that really impressed me. The two sauces pairing were also very interesting.
Now the so-​so,
General sanders’ chicken — Hong Kong style egg waffle with fried chicken is an interesting concept, unfortunately, the HK style egg waffle lacks the texture and the fried chicken didn’t taste that special.
Little Dragon Buns — The fillings were good, but the dough that wraps it was WAY too thick.
Would I come back again? Properly not unless I am really feeling for another round of CSB which I think is the best item on their menu.

it’s really not all that.
I had received a lot of hype around it when i told friends I was going here and they really set my expectations high.
we were here for a birthday– a group of 20 I want to say, and they were accommodating.
but as you can imagine with a group so large, service is at times compromised.
what I didn’t like: the shared bathrooms. I do not appreciate touching a toilet seat in between meals. especially when the conditions of the bathrooms aren’t clean. it really grossed me out.
also, there weren’t many vegetarian options. especially for one of the guests who was pregnant, they couldn’t even make an exception and whip something for her.
onto the pictures I posted of my meals: 1) the servings were incredibly small that even after my apps and main course I was still hungry. the lobster linguini was good but nothing amazing to rave about.
we had asked for separate bills from the beginning, yet somehow incorrect items were still added to bills and it took longer then necessary to pay.

I was a huge fan of Masterchef Canada and to see Eric win and follow a career that he was passionate about. I can see him loving every minute of it too behind the restaurant’s open concept kitchen.
The atmosphere and décor of this restaurant was very dim and relaxing (it was funny to see an older woman read the menu with her phone flash on though!). The barreling lights and mosaic walls made the place very upbeat and contemporary. Good vibes overall. I came with 2 friends and we each got a few dishes to share.
We started with the bbq pork buns that was fresh baked on the hour every hour. No regrets it was delicious and totally would have wanted more but there was more on the menu that we wanted to taste. We ordered a side of black bean brussel sprouts too and that was great! The sauce wasn’t overwhelming and you can still taste the brussel sprouts.
I ordered the lobster chow mein, it was the dish i got super jelly over when the judges got to try it during a pressure test. Hands down would have it again it was flavourful and the lobster was done just right. Other dishes had were crab bimbimbap and General Sanders Chicken. Note: General Sanders Chicken is to share, way too big for one to eat. It wasn’t a tough lesson to learn as it was very tasty too.
We had smoked milk with malted milk ice cream. It wasn’t overwhelmingly sweet which is why i liked it so much.
I would come back at another special occasion because the price point is quite high.

Take note that most of these dishes are tapa styles, meaning the portions are smaller. I really, really wanted to like this place as Eric was my favourite on Master Chef Canada, but my expectation felt short. The menu is definitely unique, but it was too overhyped and the majority of dishes didn’t deliver. Also, the pricing is higher compared to other restaurants in the area, so I expected the quality of food to be reflect the premium paid. The service and ambience was nice, but I would suggest R&D as a restaurant for late-​night snacks and drinks, as for dinner you might leave with a high bill and an ok-​full stomach.
–Pina De Nada $ 7: tasted a bit watery, not much flavour going on. The tapiocas were stale and had no flavour, I think it would have been nice if they were soaked in syrup, giving it a little sweet taste.
–Lychee Cactus Pear Juice $ 6: I couldn’t taste the cactus nor pear flavour, and this drink reminded me of the Lychee Aloe drink that you can buy at Asian grocery stores.
–CSB (BBQ pork buns) $ 8: instead of the steamed CSB, these were baked. This CSB has a perfectly crispy pastry encasing the delicious and tender BBQ pork. My complaint is that my server served the last fresh batch of the buns to the table next to me, whom ordered after. Also, I didn’t know these took 1 hour to be made so she should have let me know in advance. Don’t tell me it will take 10−20minutes when it supposed to take 1 hour. In the end I waited 2 HOURS for the CSB… Although these were delicious, it was $ 8 for only 2 buns… If they were cheaper, I would have definitely come back just for these.
–grandpa’s fun guo $ 9: Really good, the fillings were seasoned nicely with a hint of earthiness from the truffles.
–octopus $ 16: octopus pieces were grilled to perfection and wonderfully soft. The asian take on the chimichurri sauce was really good as well! It was refreshing and tangy with a hint of citrus, which brighten up the dish. By the way, I swear baked chicken skin is the new «bacon», you can just eat it on its own as a snack. While the octopus has little flavour, paired with the salty chicken skin and the chimichurri, it was just plain amazing. I normally don’t like eggplant and for some reason I enjoyed it with this dish! The texture was almost like a mash, provided a hint of bitterness with all the components of the dish.
–beef tongue $ 16:I didn’t enjoy this dish. For me the oysters and beef tongue didn’t go well together and this dish lacked flavors. Albeit it is a bit spicy and the pickles were amazing, but the beef tongue were too dry and there wasn’t enough sauce to rescue it.
–ceviche $ 18: I really like ceviche, but this dish didn’t have that bright and refreshing taste of a ceviche. There was too much vinegar and the sauce was too creamy to enjoy.
–salmon belly $ 18: The salmon was really tender and flavorful, with a slight crispy skin. The rice was undercooked and cold, not warm, just stone cold… But the sauce was a bit sweet and not too salty, almost like a teriyaki sauce?
–crispy smoked milk $ 8: didn’t enjoy it. I understand since it is smoked milk, you will definitely taste… the smoke… if you know what I mean. The smoke «scent» or «taste» was really strong that it lingers in my mouth in an unpleasant way, which gave the pastry a very bitter taste. In my opinion, if the chef used apple or other type of woods, it would have been better. The smoke will be more light and delicate, which wouldn’t have overpowered the dish. The malted ice-​cream and lemon zest left a refreshing aftertaste and helped to balance that bitter taste of the smoked milk.

1^st time writing as an Elite member. So glad to have tried and sample R&D during its first week of opening. This is not an ordinary Chinese food restaurant, you really need to love the creativity and concept behind the menu. Both Demon Chef (Alvin Leung 3 stars Michelin Chef) and Eric Chong (winner of MasterChef Canada season one) has a passion in merging Cantonese cuisine with Canadian food. The General Sanders’ Chicken is a must! Serve with HK favourite egg waffle, maple syrup and Kung Pao sauce. The CSB (BBQ pork bun) is baked with flaky top and tender pork, only available after 6pm. Definitely not as affordable as restaurants down the street but is an unforgettable meal that the extreme taste stays in your mind. Chef du Cuisine Nelson Tsai is also a great addition to the restaurant!
PS-​amazing cocktail list with Peking Duck infused whisky & black garlic + Chinese mushroom vodka & oolong gin… what a great idea for east meets west!

After watching Masterchef Canada Season One and seeing Eric Chong win, I just had to jump on the opportunity to try out his restaurant. Thanks to the mentorship of Alvin Leung, he’s definitely build a great career for himself.
R&D, a nice modern style/​hipster-​ish restaurant represents a new look and fresh start to Chinatown Toronto. Located in the place of the once Strada 241, you’ll really need to look carefully for the place. The restaurant exterior is dark and with a small R&D sign so you’ll really need to look twice to find it. Once you enter the restaurant you get a great feel of openness and hospitality. You see an awesome bar with a few beer taps and wall display. The kitchen is open so you can see what everyone is doing… including Chef Eric Chong and Nelson Tsai themselves. A little further in you’ll see the really nice dining display. The floors and ceiling are laid with old wood giving a very cool hipster feel.
The menu is very simple with a great selection of appetizers, plates and platters. The appetizers consist of his famous dumplings (or in otherwords his grand dad’s dumplings), skewers and independent sides. The plates consist of entrée dishes such as Lobster Chow Mein, Crab Bimbimbap and Sweetbreads. The platters from looking at other tables are massive with 76hour Peking Duck, General Sanders’ Chicken which was oddly fried chicken with HK egg waffles. Definitely something different.
I had ordered the following:
1) CSB — Cha Siu Bao — instead of the typical steamed bun served at dim sum. It was a fresh baked bun stuffed with delicious bbq pork. This is made every hour and we were lucky to get a fresh batch. The waitress reserved them for us. it comes in 2 pieces and cost $ 8.
2) Grandpa’s Fun Guo — chicken and black truffle steamed dumplings — 3 piece dish at $ 9 was definitely the highlight of the night for me. This was made by the hands of Eric himself as he came to our table to tell us that. Great dish and wish they served more. I’d get a large order of it.
3) Sweetbreads — Oyster sauce, crispy seaweed, mushroom, sweet potato — a nice entrée dish with fried sweetbread chunks missed in oyster sauce and topped with large portions of crispy seaweed. It was tasty but not something I’d order much of. $ 18.
4) Crab Bimbimbap — R&D chili sauce, kimchi egg — a typical bimbimbap dish with small chunks of crab and egg. The server comes with a typical korean stew dish, stuffed with rice and kimchi, and with a small side dish of hot sauce which gets poured into the main burning hot dish with the rice. He mixes it thoroughly and leaves it to sit for a few mins. You get the nice crispy rice at the end. Definitely goes well with the Sweetbread if you have any left. $ 18.
If you’re lucky Eric will come by your table and check on how your meal was. He has no problem taking photos and talking to you. Had a great 10 minute chat with him, explaining his experience with Alvin and trips around the world. Great inspiration and definitely worth going.
I give 4 out of 5 only because it was not easy to find and the sign was small. But if this was on food only, i’d give a perfect score.