Oh my, how long have I waited for this place to open? Well, it’s here now and I’m disappointed.
I used to frequent the other location (on Biscayne blvd), until it became too much trouble for me to make the drive, and I absolutely loved it. The red curry crispy duck, noodle roasted crispy duck, red curry pork belly and prawn pad thai were fantastic… and all but the prawn pad thai are now missing from the menu. Where’s the duck?! I asked myself, then it dawned on me: Cake has been sterilized. It’s clear to me that the Wynwood location is designed to become a trendy/hip spot; from the venue, menu, location it’s all designed for the masses, gone are the “specialty” (less appealing?) ingredients like duck.
So Prawn Pad Thai (RN05) it was, the remaining option from my list of favorites. I’m sorry to say that while I appreciate that they are using proper (larger) prawns now, it’s nowhere near as good as I remembered. As another reviewer mentioned it is kind of difficult to mix the components (nuts, bean sprouts) together with the noodles as it is served on a plate which is not as comfortable as a bowl would’ve been. The flavors were not all there, but this could be to due the kitchen staff still trying to work out the dishes. The chef was overlooking the cooks as they prepared most of our meals.
Service was mediocre even when there were only two other tables at the time (around lunch time). Each person in our party of five, the largest at the time, received their dish at different points in time… and three of the dishes were the exact same thing: prawn pad thai. Heck, the first dish to arrive was a pad thai, and the person was done by the time the last dish arrived… the same exact pad thai. I think it’s acceptable for dishes to arrive in different order at casual restaurants, but when it’s the same exact dish I expect them to arrive together or within a reasonable amount time from each other. A member of the party ordered one of the beer suggestions, 5 minutes later he asked for it again only to be told a few minutes later they didn’t have any to begin with. Again, it’s acceptable to not have/run out of a suggestion, but nearly 10 minutes to find out?
Venue is nice, as I mentioned earlier it’s designed to become a hip place and they sure will become trendy. I will come back in a few months and give it another shot, but for now I’ll get my Thai fix somewhere else.
