Redbowl Asian Bistro

Bland Food, HORRIBLE Service. The interior looks nice in a modern way. The circular booth seats were stylish, but horridly uncomfortable. Before even ordering drinks, we asked to change to a table. Food was very bland. Sushi was dry and tasted stale and mass-produced. Eel sauce, which is usually my favorite with sushi, was thick and syrupy, while even lacking the unique "eel sauce" taste. It seemed to have been made of maple syrup mixed with soy sauce and French salad dressing. The fish was dry and almost crumbly, while the avocado had been sitting out for so long that it had turned completely brown. The meat dishes (we ordered two: one steak, one chicken) were dry and overcooked. I asked for my Asian Steak "medium," but it was cooked to "well-done" and then some. I think the sauce for the chicken dish was Thousand Island salad dressing. Overall, all the food tasted very "Americanized," reminiscent of frozen Lean Cuisine meals that you can find at the Harris Teeter down the street.

Much, much, worse, though, was the service. Our waiter hardly spoke any English at all (and would answer our questions with entirely irrelevant incoherent ramblings) and never once refilled our drinks (leaving us without beverages for half our meals). While serving our dishes, he half-dropped one of the plates, spilling some sauce on the table, which he promptly apologized for, but never did clean up. Also, after taking our orders and serving our dishes, we saw him maybe once or twice throughout the entire evening. I was given my steak without any knife, and I eventually had to ask a different waiter for one (once again, our waiter was out of sight for most of the evening...). Similarly, we had to ask that same waiter to hand us our check after 15 minutes of thumb-twiddling, waiting for our waiter to appear. When we noticed an error on our check, we had to speak with the manager who was shockingly condescending and belittling. It is quite an experience when a 20-year old manager, out of his own ignorance, acts that way towards you and your family. Even after realizing his mistake, he stubbornly refused to apologize at all.

With regrettable food and hopelessly bad service, I'll save money and order Chinese take-out the next time I want mass-produced chemically-flavored pseudo-Chinese food. There are plenty of fine Asian diners in the area, which leaves absolutely no reason to resort to such a place as Redbowl. Perhaps that explains why they were hardly half-filled on that pleasant Friday evening?…