Because eating is such a routine and necessary activity, at times I think of it as a chore. I rarely call restaurant food “exceptional” or even worthy of its price, so I end up eating a lot of sandwiches and cereal. Like so many other restaurants, East/West Bistro didn’t move me. I might be picky, but this restaurant does not even come close to hitting the mark.
Having never been to this east-meets-west eatery, I had high hopes for East/West. Behind the spacious bar area is a beautifully constructed wine display. Warm decor and terracotta walls kept the momentum of my initial impression going, but as soon as we were seated, things began to roll downhill. The restaurant has a laid-back, alternative atmosphere, but perhaps too laid-back with regards to the wait staff; there were a number of servers with very dirty, long dreadlocks that made me fear slightly for my food.
There were very few other people dining on this Tuesday night, so our waitress greeted us quickly. They were out of one of my favorite pinot grigios, so I took extra time to peruse their wine list. East/West gets a lot of business from students, so naturally the wine list is simple and relatively inexpensive.
We started the night with appetizers. Asian pear hazelnut relish and tamarind, and wasabi aioli decorated a plate of buffalo mozzarella-infused crab cakes. Not the most harmonious combination, this quirky interpretation would never be able to challenge my allegiance to a traditional Mary
land crab cake. The other appetizer, the sweet potato chips, was the highlight of our meal. Served with a bleu cheese dressing, the thinly-sliced sweet potato chips were outstanding; I was excited to try and make them for this upcoming Thanksgiving. But before I could even digest the appetizers, our entrees came.My date’s dish tried to embody the East/West fusion theme of the restaurant: not enough sweet and sour pork, with cashews, onions and peppers, over too much yellow-tinted penne. It looked and tasted like a sub-par version of mall favorite Panda Express. He saved a portion, hoping for Wednesday’s lunch, but our waitress mistakenly threw it out. I did not, however, want to take home the rest of my tuna tataki. The eastern-inspired plate was a beautiful presentation, but nothing more. The tuna was tasteless and boring. The only thing I actually enjoyed was the seaweed salad and a disappointingly small spoonful of wasabi relish. It seemed like all the elements on my plate had been taken from a container and not actually made at the restaurant. I undoubtedly should have ordered a different entree from their massive menu.
Because the waitress discarded our leftovers, she offered us a complimentary dessert. I hoped to order a slice of the deep-dish apple pie or the tempting cookies’n’creme cake – but like the wine, the restaurant was out of both. Are Tuesday-night diners not worthy of a fully-stocked wine cellar and dessert tray? We settled for an Oreo cupcake a la mode and a piece of the mysteriously named Asian Dream pie. The first little mockery of a dessert was straight out of a grocery store bakery, a cold little white cupcake with the kind of overly sweet, maddeningly thick icing that sticks to the roof of your mouth. I always thought that “a la mode” implied that the dessert is heated before being served with ice cream, so I was annoyed at its complete lack of gooey-ness. The bizarre Asian Dream pie had a top layer the color of lime sherbet. It is flavored with the Chinese fruit yuzu, tasting something along the lines of fermented pineapple. The presentations were good, but dessert, like the courses before it, left me thinking, “I should have ordered something else.”
East/West has an ambitious, creative concept, but perhaps bites off more than it can chew. The menu is too large, and with the exception of the sweet potato chips, the execution is lackluster. Compared to similarly priced restaurants in Athens, like Last Resort or DePalma’s, East/West is lacking. Maybe we got the wrong things, or came on a bad night. But I do know that I won’t be coming back for more. I should have just stayed home for a sandwich.
VERDICT: Neither Eastern nor Western, this bistro only plummets further south.
EAST/WEST BISTRO
351 Broad St.
Athens, Ga.
www.eastwestbistro.com
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3 comments:
Dana, I completely agree with your take on East/West. I've only been there once, but was not really impressed. I felt like the quality of food wasn't up to the price being charged for it. I don't normally like sweet potatoes, but I have heard great things about East/West's sweet potato chips, so maybe if I ever go back I will give them a try.
Moderators: Great job on your blog. I like the incorporation of the Google maps.
I wish I had read this before I went last week. The restaurant is blah, the food is worse and they NEVER had any of the desserts I'd wanted. So of course, I thought this was a great review, mostly because I couldn't agree with it more.
It may completely depend on what you ordered. I agree with you about the waitstaff, but they have my boyfriend's favorite hamburger in all of Athens with fabulous shoestring fries. Their tortellini are truly great and flavorful and a blackened lobster sandwich special I had for lunch last year was one of the best things I have ever eaten.
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