We love Asian food, so we wanted to give this place a try. People have mentioned the decor - a great touch was a shelf under the table where you can put your bags or purses and have them safe as well as out of the way. There's an open kitchen along one wall, and each station has a big monitor where they receive the orders from the wireless handhelds used by the wait staff. As we were seated, we were warned that all of the food was made fresh to order, so things would not all arrive at the same time or in a specific order. It was pretty clear that what this meant was each station was working independently, so if you ordered something everyone else wanted too, you were going to wait longer than you would if ""your"" cook wasn't busy. The menu clearly labels all of the ingredients, including shrimp paste, which is useful for people with allergies or kosher issues.\r
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In looking at the menu before choosing the place, we thought ""plain chicken and noodles or rice, apple juice - that will be an easy sell to the kids"". It wasn't quite: the mini chicken katsu (grilled chicken with a sauce on the side) was dry without the sauce, the corn on the side was unexpectly chilled, and the noodles were gummy. The kids hated the apple juice, which seemed to be foamed from some sort of base.\r
Gyoza - the veggie ones were bland, and the chicken ones tasteless. Even the dipping sauce didn't help.\r
I started with the ginger chicken udon - fine, not fabulous. I was already nearly half done by the time my husband's chicken chili men arrived, so we swapped and he started on the udon. He found a flavor in it that he really didn't like, so we swapped back. The chicken chili men came across as spicy chicken cacciatore.\r
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Dinner took over an hour, mostly due to time spent waiting for the check and then waiting for someone to take payment. The food is not worth returning for, and the service was erratic - bad when you're there with three kids 6 and under. Look elsewhere for umami.
Pros: funky room design, shelf under table for bags and purses
Cons: bland food, spotty service, distant bathrooms
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