It was just last year when I attended the grand opening party of the Wokcano in Santa Monica. After being turned off by its sugary cocktails and high-priced sushi, I secretly vowed to never show my face there again. Eh, not really my thing but if it’s your thing then that’s OK. I just didn’t see a reason to make a big deal of my meh opinion of it.
But then Wokcano‘s PR person enticed me to pay the restaurant another visit with her pitch of the “Get Bombed” menu, which, even though I’m not a big bomb/shots fan I was still curious about their special $3 sake, Jager and Irish Car bombs. The special was only during certain hours of the week. I won’t list them here since we’re still not exactly sure when they are.
In any case, since the PR person also mentioned the restaurant’s new summer roll, a BBQ kobe tempura roll, I naturally thought to invite food bloggers Sarah of The Delicious Life (who came despite her unfortunate encounter with the Doritos roll in a previous visit) and H.C. of LA and OC Foodventures; and Connie of music blog Hey, Hey Scenesters tagged along for good measure.
Now as food bloggers we get invited to the occasional media event and hosted dinner to check out the restaurant’s offerings. And it’s usually unspoken that these things are comped. So naturally as said food bloggers we assumed that that would be the case here. Because bbq rolls and sake bombs are things we wouldn’t order on our own.
In any case, for reasons I won’t get into, we didn’t get to try those items. Apparently every Wokcano (there are six locations in L.A.) has different items and different specials, yada yada. But instead of leaving with empty stomachs, we decided to stay and just try the dishes we wanted to try since we’d be paying for it out of our own pockets. I ordered the Late Night Party Roll ($14.95), which is crabmeat, avocado roll topped with baked lobster, scallop and smelt egg in a creamy sauce. Since I couldn’t have a bomb, the waiter kept trying to get me to try out another cocktail. But after my stellar Golden Jubilee cocktail I had down the street at Copa d’Oro beforehand I just wasn’t in the mood to make the best of it with one of theirs.
Sarah ordered the spicy garlic chicken entree ($13.95) and Connie got the Black Pearl Roll ($14.95) – salmon, tuna, yellowtail and cream cheese wrapped with seaweed and deep-fried in tempura and topped with black sesame and butter garlic sauce. H.C. requested the Aromatic Shrimp ($15.95) with spicy sweet and sour sauce.
Of those items, guess which we thought was the best?
Surprisingly it was the spicy garlic chicken. “When is chicken ever the best dish at a restaurant?” Connie asked H.C. So true. But it was. The chicken was tender and the sauce was savory. Great with an order of brown rice ($1.50). Add to that it was the cheapest of what we ordered. As for the other dishes, H.C. called the Late Night Party Roll a dumpster-diving roll because it was constructed in such a way that you had to search for the sushi pieces under what basically is scallops dynamite. What’s the point of putting rolls there if they’re just going to get torn apart in the search? It was tasty but not compelling enough to order again at $14.95. The Black Pearl Roll tasted different from my initial run-in with it at the grand opening party. Here, it was so salty and just left much to be desired. The sauce of H.C.’s orange shrimp dish reminded me of a higher end version of Panda Express’ orange chicken. And that was $16?
As for the service, even though our waiter was very cute (“He’s so pretty!” Sarah gushed), charming and friendly, he didn’t check on us too often even though there were only two other tables on that outdoor patio. Eff it, in the whole restaurant. So basically we stayed there longer than we really needed to or wanted to.
Yes, at first I was reluctant to categorize Wokcano as a PINSMFA but after this experience I have to just say it out loud. For sure, never going there again. Again, just not my thing. And there are just so many other places I’d rather go to in that area — Riva, The Fig, Buddha’s Belly, Border Grill, Fritto Misto….
Afterward, to save the night, H.C. and Connie went over to Copa d’Oro to partake of its all-night happy hour (only on Mondays), Sarah went home to snack on ranch-flavored Doritos and I went home to fix myself a tasty Manhattan and watch Iron Chef, secret ingredient: oxtail.
I love honest reviews. And I especially love this one because I’d been wanting to go here but just didn’t have the $ to do it. Glad I didn’t save up for it!
Thanks Caroline!
that is so ghetto. PR person invites you, but the thing they invited u for isn’t available AND your lackluster meal wasn’t even comped?
LAME
i wonder if those wokcano folks knew who they were dealing with when your entourage of bloggers rolled in – lol
Ah this explains it…I saw your tweets and was wondering why a group of critically-acclaimed foodies was doing at a place like Wokcano. Now I know :-). I remember the old one in Century City (same chain?) and it wasn’t bad, in fact I quite liked their roll creations.
lol we’re critically-acclaimed foodies now? does that mean I can walk (OK, waddle) down a red carpet at a film festival now?
So you did revive the “Places” column afterall! In any case, that night was a howl and it was hilarious re-reading your summary/thoughts on it.
Danit,
Glad I could be as service! Yeah, save your money for some place else.
fauxLAhipster,
Actually our waiter seemed to have no idea what a blogger was. He kept asking us why we were always taking pictures of everything.
danieleats,
Yeah, I don’t know about critically acclaimed, but we sure do have some opinions. We figured that it’d be good to explore something that wasn’t all that popular with foodies.
H.C.,
It was a tough decision but in the end I just had to call it as I saw it. But def tried to not be as harsh here as I have been in past PINSMFA. And def had a fun time with you guys despite the restaurant experience.
I can completely agree with the horrible food at Wokano. I’ve been to the Pasadena location twice. Let’s just say of the two times I’ve gone, I’ve had more sake bombs than rolls- only because the food was so horrible!
Caroline,
I/We at the Wokcano Restaurant Group are sorry to say that my instructions on the reservation may not have been made clear enough to our staff and Management. We will gladly reimburse the cost of your meals, travel, the valet parking, all due to this unfortunate experience. No intent was made to deny the constructive review on your part the complimentary service it deserved. We have been working diligently within our organization to shape a company of six restaurants working cohesively, consistently, and together on food and drink menus, service, and overall ambience and experience. Thanks to your insightful and informative review, maximum effort may now galvanize this company to create the dining experience our guests will truly appreciate. Hopefully you will be made aware of positive changes in the near future, and give Wokcano another try. Humbly submitted, John Paul, Director of Marketing, Wokcano Restaurant Group
though I’ve taken a comped meal before, and openly state that it’s for free, i generally don’t like doing so because there is also the inherent expectation (as you can see from the publicists’ response) that the review will be generally positive; and it is inferred from their response, that because they didn’t comp you, you had a bad time. (or because you had a bad time, they should comp you). they seem to miss the point that gone numerous times and it’s just bad. plain old bad. free or not free.
diehard food critics pay for their own meals, so as not to beholden to the pr machine at all. i generally only take comp meals when i am just doing an experiential review, not a serious criticism of the food. i understand most bloggers can’t afford to pony up this large expense up front; but it should be stated in every post that the company paid for what you drank and ate, and therefore, there is a bit of a quid pro quo happening.
TR,
Agreed. I’ve made sure to state when I’ve been comped or “hosted.” And you can tell when I’ve paid for my own meals. And I’ve heard that some PR people think I’m “scary” because even if I do get comped I still will say if something is bad.
In any case, yeah, it’s not the fact that we weren’t comped that made us enjoy the meal less. We didn’t enjoy the meal because it wasn’t that good. That’s all.
And as I had said in my previous experience at the restaurant’s grand opening, I didn’t like the cocktails and those were comped. In any case, it’s nice that they want to address the issue but Wokcano just isn’t for me and that’s OK. I’m sure other people like it. I just don’t.
Wokano is not the kind of restaurant that does well in Santa Monica. There are so many good places to choose from, and this one is an example that is all surface and no sizzle. Those ones never last.
I am guessing that it isn’t doing well, and they can blame “the economy” but there are plenty of SM restaurants that are doing well inspite of the reduction of patrons.
Good review – it confirmed my suspicions.
Tooooooooootally agree. We used to order their cheap food at 2am in hollywood after bars and it was fair. Now they open up an upscale joint and 1st time i tried it i realized they’re no different than any chinese place w/ pictures of food on the menu, only somehow my wallet was a couple ounces lighter. Second time- regrettably- for a bday party we just hung in the back and the scene there is wacked- weird clientelle w/ snobby “hollywood in SM” type feel. never again.
I do not know what these people are talking about. A free meal because you’re awesome (which ms. C obviously is) is dubbed a perk. Comes with the territory. When it gets down to the dirt, sometimes we gotta tuck our wings in – i don’t have any but… Whether or not you slant your review b/c of the meal is up to ones moral grounds. Personally, I think Wokano is a joke with a rediculous name. Buschleague Sushi, pompous “Chads” … not my scene. But.. sometimes you got to get bombed.
Sammy,
Exactly, what with those other restaurants in the vicinity it can’t hope to compete. It might have done better in Westwood/Brentwood. Shrugs.
Gdub08,
When I went there was hardly anyone there so I can’t really speak to what type of clientele they have. Twas empty-ish.
NYgoesLA,
Most bloggers wouldn’t turn down a free meal, but as you said, whether they let that affect their review is up to them. But in any case they should state when it’s comped regardless.
As for needing to get bombed every now and again, I agree wholeheartedly. Although I’d rather shoot straight booze than a bunch of sweet liqueurs.