My girlfriend and I met some friends at The Real Chow Baby on 8/21 and I have to give it mixed reviews. The quality of the food and the prices are good, leaning towards excellent. However, the restaurant was very crowded and noisy, between the crowd and the music that they turned up the volume on in an attempt to make it audible over the crowd. This distracted us from the atmosphere, so instead of enjoying the food, we felt claustrophobic and rushed. Instead of a pleasant evening of conversation over food with friends, we ended up having to yell across a small table.
They need better traffic control on the line as well. The first time through the line, it took 20 min before we were able to put our bowls down to be cooked. The second trip was even longer, close to 45 min!!!
We also have a problem with their policy of adding an 18% gratuity based on the number of tables your party occupies, not the number of people in the party. There were 5 of us in our party at two tables (one seating 4 and one seating 2) pushed together. So when they added in the 18% gratuity because we took up 2 tables, none of us gave any additional tips. We did not feel that a party of 5 warranted that kind of policy. The service was acceptable, but not exceptional, warranting an extra tip over and above the 18% we were required to pay.
On another note, the bathrooms were disgusting. I would have rather used the porta-potty down the street at the construction site.
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