In all the excitement of last week's big news, I forgot to share this little bit of info. Soba is opening a store on SE Commercial St in the shopping center with Baskin Robbins. Asian cuisine must be very popular these days, it seems like there are new restaurants opening up all over the place. If anyone out there has info on this one please share.
They have a location in downtown Salem and in other places (Bend being one). I've eaten at the downtown location when they first opened a couple of times, and I was somewhat disappointed. Interesting menu, nice folks, but the flavors were not there especially compared to the good Thai and the couple of good Chinese places we have in town. All this being said, I'll give them a try one more time. I miss the Indian place that was in that shopping center!!!
ReplyDeleteI've never been to the downtown Soba location, which seems to have mixed reviews here, but the other day I stopped and read their menu in the window on State Street and it appealed to me (what can I say, I love crab puffs!). I live out South so yesterday we ventured to the new location for a late lunch.
ReplyDeleteBig mistake! Don't go in when it's slow in the middle of the day.
As the only customers in the place, it didn't really bother me that only one guy was working (front of house and kitchen). From the other reviews this seems to be common at Soba. The phone rang a couple times, one couple picked up an order to go. He was mostly to us, but seemed very young and a little awkward.
The crab puffs had a standard yummy filling and dipping sauce, but we could tell that the oil they were fried in had not been quite hot enough.... they were more chewy than crisp. Too bad, but we kind of understood why.
There were so many delicious choices on the menu. We had a hard time deciding. When our entrees came out, I was really surprised at the small portions. Comparing my friend's entree (Singapore Street Noodles)to the same dish pictured here on another review, I feel we were gypped. Nonetheless, he said the noodles were good, and I tried them and agreed.
Sadly, my soup wasn't awesome. I have a love for Won Ton Soup and this was what the Noodle Soup of Asia was (noticed other commenters like this one). Firstly, the veggie part of the soup were raw and just set on top of the noodles. The broccoli was still dry. I think raw is better than overcooked and mushy, but I think the veggies should have at least been warmed in the broth. But the broth was not hot. It was lukewarm. I ate a dumpling and thought it tasted weird -- doughy kind of, and strange. So I cut open another one with my fork for inspection. What a surprise -- raw filling. Not like, oh, that's undercooked -- it was completely raw, shiny dark pink uncooked pork. Wow. That is SO NOT OK. That can make someone very sick.
We couldn't get the guy to come back out of the kitchen. I am ashamed to say that after a while we called the takeout number printed on the window from our cell phone to get him to come back out front. It was extremely awkward. We showed him the raw pork, and he said he was sorry, and took it into the back. The next time I saw him I told him I'd lost my appetite and didn't want another dish, we just wanted to leave.
He did take the soup off our bill and apologized, which probably is all he could really do. But we won't go back. And this is a warning to you all. Which is too bad because I wanted to enjoy this place which is practically in my neighborhood.
It's been long enough to say that I did not get sick or anything from the mishap. And that is awesome.
Ate at South Salem location on Friday.
ReplyDeleteService: Slow
Soup: Tepid
Entree: TERRIBLE
Whole dining experience just awful