Milt and I spent the last 2 days in New York City hanging out with
Siobhan and Steve. Siobhan is an MBA student at New York University and
Steve is a Law student at St. Johns University, both staled to graduate
in May 2006. Even though this week is officially the start of MIT
spring break, I can't really afford to spend too much time away from
town. There is simply too much things I need to get done this week. So
I only stayed for the weekend before driving back to Boston. Both Steve and
Siobhan are doing well, each thriving in their own environment. I can
see that they will eventually become the power couple that I know.
On our first night in New York, we went to Rickshaw Dumpling Bar for dinner. I think Siobhan had wanted to try this place out since the founder of this company is an NYU Stern alumnus and the company won 2nd prize
in a business plan competition at NYU Stern School of Business last year.
Rickshaw Dumpling Bar is a trendy but fast-food style restaurant that
serves Chinese dumplings. However, I have a very different opinion of
the place (and both Milt and Steve agree with me). I feel that:
- The ordering of food at this place isn't as easy as ordering a
Happy Meal at McDonalds. The ordering proces is fairly complicated as
you can mix and
match different options to get the final order that you want. To make
things worse, the menu at the counter is confusing. For instance, the
menu isn’t clear about ordering the dumplings as deep
fried or steamed. If it is ordered steamed, it comes with soup, while
deep fried dumplings come with dipping sauce. It also doesn't tell you
that noodles are $3 extra. This makes it hard for first time customers
to order what they want. Moreover, the staff wasn't helpful in
explaining how the ordering process works.
- Dumplings are mediocre at best. I ordered the Peking dumplings,
which I thought they tasted very bare and the texture isn't as good as
I have expected
what good Chinese dumplings should be.
- Last but not least, the prices are way too expensive. A bowl of
Peking duck dumplings in Shitake mushrooms soup with noodles and a side
order of salad cost me $16!!! I hardly tasted the duck or the Shitake
mushrooms.
I dislike restaurants that look trendy on the outside but lack the
substance in
providing good value and tasty food to customers. Sadly, this place
seem to fit this description so it gets a thumb down from me. Oh, go to
Chinatown and get the real thing
for $6. As for Rickshaw Dumpling Bar, I'll give it a 3.5/10.