Toren's Resto Rants 12: Mein Mao

At least they’re open late?

Mein Mao

Their blurb: “Discover authentic Chinese cuisine in the heart of Vancouver!”

ONLINE MENU NOT FOUND

Address:
Phone:
Open 11am to midnight, later on weekends
Booths? No
When I dined: 8pm on a Sunday
Noisy? Very
Candies with your bill? no
Lives up to it’s name? Mein apparently means ‘noodles.’ Mao was leader of the Chinese Communist revolution and president of the People’s Republic of China (1949-1959). I saw noodles but I did not see Mao.

MY REVIEW: This new restaurant popped up so my friend and I went to check it out. A very small restaurant with small tables set close together. Large TVs everywhere playing hockey and some triathlon that was distracting and out of place.

Not much on the menu appealed to me so I ordered the chicken skewers. It seemed expensive but when it came it was 8 skewers, which is too much for an appetizer. I would have preferred three or four. The chicken was fatty and oily and not terribly pleasant and the sauces were also lackluster. One of the sauces was a dark grey/green color and a bit too spicy for me and the other one resembled the black goo from X-Files and made me want to barf. Luckily our meal came with three tiny spring rolls that came with other sauces I could dip my chicken in to try to squeeze some enjoyment out of my food. One of the sauces was a nice chili sauce and the other was …Worcestershire sauce. Apparently the server claimed that the Worcestershire sauce was soy sauce. It was not soy sauce. I have had both.

I tasted my dining partner’s noodle soup and it was bland.

The service was attentive and very pleasant and when they came by to ask if everything was alright I didn’t have the heart to tell them their food needs a lot of work. For that, I feel shame. The good news is that Ninja Bubble Tea was just a block away so I wiped away that shame with a different kind of shame of having too much sugar.

Biggest Rave: Great logo!

Biggest Rant: The music was pretentious modern jazz with swirling piano and saxophone that made me feel like I was falling up/down an M. C. Escher staircase. It was distractingly loud, and I have hearing damage so I know of which I speak.

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