I was astonished by how smooth it was, as the mix was shaken and chilled to an absolutely perfect temperature. The aroma of absinthe was subtle, slowing massaging my sensses.

It was beautiful and I was simply touched. The first course choices were the Seafood Hot and Sour Soup , and the Peking Duck Salad , and we ordered them both.

I like the salad dressing of the Peking Duck Salad , and I enjoying eating each component of the salad, including the crispy duck skin and the tender duck meat.

However, as a whole dish, it needs some refinement visually. The breading was a little too thick for my liking. The snappy texture and the sweet flavour were complimented fabulously by a glossy sweet and spicy sauce, with a tinkling sensation of Sichuan peppercorn in the back of your tongue.

It was good but then, it was something you could find in most dessert shops in Richmond. The service was impeccable.

We were constantly taken care by several attentive servers, who check on us and the hot water in the teapot constantly.

A ton of names were jazzed up, either in Chinese or in English, but the results were the same. You'd typically receive fewer pieces of what midrange places serve and pay a higher price.

This is normally a recipe for "meh", but I held on hope for a swing in the atmosphere and level of service.

Inside you'll find extremely high ceilings, an air of classiness, and huge doors leading to private rooms. There's a ton of seating like any good Chinese restaurant should have and a nice change from the usual drab warm lighting and pink or white walls you see far too often at nearly every casual to midrange dim sum restaurant.

There's seating for about guests. Inside At this price point, I was expecting nearly instant table service considering most of the items tasted of a category seen at more casual dim sum restaurants.

That didn't happen, and I was there pouring my table's tea and asking for teapot refills. It was so weird having each dish brought out menu item at a time.

That is, our 2x shrimp dumplings came out first. When those were finished and cleared, the pork buns came out. I'm used to dim sum being served as fast as possible, often with dishes coming simultaneously.

That was not the case during this lunch. Because of this, it took about 30 minutes to get everything out. Our table of 6 would consume a bite of dim sum, wait for the dishes to be removed, and then wait for the next menu item to be served.

It was an awkward process. Outside To be honest, maybe the reason I didn't enjoy any of this was that I normally don't dine at this level of classiness.

I don't get why dim sum was served in sequential order. I don't get why the shu mai was characterized as "caviar" when sturgeon eggs were uninvolved.

Given what I experienced in the menu, the middling service, and the otherwise midrange-tasting dim sum, it's a hard sell for me. COM Areta foodgressing on Oct 10, at pm PDT.

I was highly impressed with the five-star service at Our server was very friendly and the timing of the dishes was on point. Other staff were very on top of refilling our water glasses.

And as we exited the restaurant after our meal, many staff thanked us on our way out. A truly pleasant experience.

While the Peking Duck Tasting Menu was good, I thought the service and the atmosphere stood out to me the most. The meal at was certainly an elevated experience and a far-cry away from a noisy, crowded Chinese restaurant.

Prices are at a bit of a premium due to their setup, but I found the experience enjoyable and I would return again. Your email address will not be published.

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