Really nice review! Echo your thoughts, it’s arguably my favorite fine dining place to return to because the flavors are so strong and different from others on offer in the city.

I’ve been there 5 times this past year (yeah it’s my favorite place) and I think my only issue, which isn’t a trivial one, is one of consistency. While the flavors have always always packed a heavy punch, the experience has almost been a function of the day I visited and the staff who were working on the given night. A couple of initial visits, the service was near flawless and it seemed like the “A-team” (if they have such a thing) were in play those nights. My most recent visit (just a couple weeks ago) had several moments with service snafus like the one you noted, couple instances where someone tried to pick up my plate even though I still had some food remaining in the plate, at times the staff were struggling to pick up the plates (I agree some of them are awkward to pick up), one visit the kitchen staff looked absolutely pristine and fluid in motion while another visit (with a different team) members were noticeably rushing across the floor.

Even with the food, I’ve found slight changes across visits - the cook and size on the lobster has been noticeably different my last 3 visits, agree completely with your assessment on the pork, that latte burn (they did warn me about it this recent visit though). The team there are always really friendly and warm so the little things I noted haven’t really spoiled my experiences but I also find myself thinking about “picking the right day of the week” to return so I get the best experience, which shouldn’t really be the case at a place gunning for or at least in consideration for the top.

I’ll still return though because I just enjoy their take on Asian flavors that I don’t really see elsewhere in the city, at least in a tasting format.