is it just me, or are the people that host blogs tend to at least give the place a chance, and the plebe commenters tend to jeer every new place for the first few months?
what does that say about the folks that start blogs, and the plebes like myself that just comment on what the bloggers publish?
i know i'm guilty of a TON of crappy comments, but wow! the backlash against sticky rice is downright hilarious! i can't believe that so many commenters post such pedestrian crap.
methinks many of them should just go back to oklahoma, or iowa, or from wherever they crawled out from under a cow patty. and that includes all the ignorant racially oriented commenters (white, black, latino, asian, etc.).
i am too old to be considered hip although i sing in a band that has played at the R&B and the Hotel. but i went saturday night with GF and we were treated well, and most of the food we got was great. esp. the poki. as a neighbor, i am grateful to see this place open. haters stay away, they will be fine without you ...
well, I host a blog, but not neighborhood focused and I have high standards. I suppose it's too high expectations, but I went to the Sticky Rice in Richmond a couple months ago, had great sushi and very average entrees. So for me that was enough. I can go to many places for sushi and great food, without having to go to Sticky Rice.
But yeah, mock service or a soft opening isn't the time to fully judge a place.
However, by that point, things shouldn't be too f****ed up, mock service isn't the time to first discover that staff are completely unprepared, or that food production systems and processes are flawed.
E.g., I did a walk through of Phish Tea before they opened and identified a number of issues that they failed to address, all of which contributed (as did their failure to manage or execute) to their failure.
So you can get a sense of a place even from a soft opening. People do have high expectations, but that should also be anticipated by the establishment.
But I must say that for the most part, in many blogs, I find that the commenters are pretty parochial and it isn't a good idea for me personally to generalize much from what they say, although I will say that Frozen Tropics does have some decent commentators.
I went to Sticky Rice last night, and had a very good experience. I got there at 9:00, and sat at the bar, because there was still a wait for tables. I think the highlights are the non sushi items. I had the tuna bites and the sticky balls. The tuna bites were unreal, and healthy, while the sticky balls were unreal but deep fried. I know everything tastes good deep fried, but this was over the top good. We also had the curried fried rice which was pretty good. Finally we had two rolls, and both were average at best. I think for those of you who might be sushi snobs like me, you should not expect to get sushi taro, or kaz quality sushi. However, if you are ok with just some good average cheap sushi, then by all means the sushi is fine. For me, I think I will stick with their main meals and apps, which were all great.
Either way, I am so excited to see how well the place is doing. It is great for the street. I should also note that we thought the service was great. We had a guy named Brian at the bar serve us. He was attentive and very friendly. The hostess was also very pleasant.
is it just me, or are the people that host blogs tend to at least give the place a chance, and the plebe commenters tend to jeer every new place for the first few months?
what does that say about the folks that start blogs, and the plebes like myself that just comment on what the bloggers publish?
In this particular case I'm sympathetic to the owners, managers, and servers as a result of my own experience in the service industry. I knew it was a soft opening and perhaps more importantly I knew what to expect from a soft opening. So I went to Sticky Rice with the mindset that I was going to just roll with whatever happened.
I'm also so glad that people are actually opening interesting restaurants in my neighborhood that I would rather offer encouragement than criticism to the entrepreneurs that invest their time, money, effort in my area.
As for the folks that are dropping the stupid comments, the anonymity of the internet emboldens people to say things they wouldn't have the nerve to say someone's face. For people that have blogs (or even people like yourself who are relentless commenters), they invest time and effort into creating an on-line persona so they seem to be less likely to just go off the deep end with whatever is they say. Of course Monkeyrotica is the exception to that rule.
I am going to hate myself for outing this place – the best sushi in the area is Momoyama on 2nd Street NW (right next to My Brothers Place). It’s easy to miss as it is tucked away on 2nd where it turns into that weird ½ street across from the Capital - and kind of tiny. It's not normally crowded for dinner (I think they get more of a lunch crowd). They have a great selection of rolls. It’s not cheap but they have good happy hour and lunch specials. And it really is good sushi.
I finally had a chance last night to visit Sticky Rice and had a great time, barring the extended wait for our sushi. The waiter (Russell) was very attentive, the GM, Eric came by a number of times to chat about the restaurant, the food, and he seemed genuinely excited for the positive feedback. We had a few of the special sushi items (snap, crackle, pop and the tuna tempura) that were a fun twist on traditional sushi. We'll certainly be back with friends in tow.
Hill Rat said, "...the anonymity of the internet emboldens people to say things they wouldn't have the nerve to say someone's face." And what's wrong with that?
Really? My rugby team has partied at Hamilton's/Flying Scotsman/Sully's for years and it never occurred to me to check that place out. Thanks for the tip.
@anon 3:00
I didn't say there was anything "wrong" with it, I was offering an explanation for people's obnoxiousness.
I went to Sticky Rice last night and the food was good but they were soooo slooow. I waited about 45 minutes just to get my salad and about 20 minutes later my food arrived. I was warned the service was not the best so I was patient. But that definately has to change. My friend waited one hr just for her sushi to arrive. Also, I was irritated that a party of two was seated before me when I arrived before them. However, I would like to hope they had a reservation. But since they waited at least 45 minutes I doubt they did. I wil return because I like to give places on H more than a chance. Also they were out of the the steak entree. The waitress returned 30 minutes after we ordered to say they only had one steak left and we both ordered it.
Again I will return and understand it's the first week. Since I was warned service may not be the best I went in prepared. Otherwise I think I would have been very irritated.
Monkeyrotica is the exception that proves the rule.
BTW - I love how posters zoomed in on the Billy Joel thing in the review, to the exception of anything having to do with sushi, service, the neighborhood, or reality.
Went to Sticky Rice for the first time last night with the wife and toddler. Arrived around 6:30 and was seated quickly, but I think people that arrived later had to wait. When we left around 7:45 there were probably 20 people standing outside the restaurant. The capacity of the place really isn't that large - perhaps seating for 40+ upstairs and another 20+ downstairs. It gets loud, but that actually works to your advantage when you are with a toddler (the cries, when they happen, don't stand out as much as they would in a quiet place). I hope that other people inclined to open a restaurant note the demand this place is generating - the H street market for dining options is clearly underserved. I won't offer a detailed review of our dining experience - as some other folks have noted, Sticky Rice is going to need to improve a few things if they want to succeed. Still, we're glad Sticky Rice has entered the market, we intend to go back, and and we hope it is a success.
14 comments:
is it just me, or are the people that host blogs tend to at least give the place a chance, and the plebe commenters tend to jeer every new place for the first few months?
what does that say about the folks that start blogs, and the plebes like myself that just comment on what the bloggers publish?
i know i'm guilty of a TON of crappy comments, but wow! the backlash against sticky rice is downright hilarious! i can't believe that so many commenters post such pedestrian crap.
methinks many of them should just go back to oklahoma, or iowa, or from wherever they crawled out from under a cow patty. and that includes all the ignorant racially oriented commenters (white, black, latino, asian, etc.).
i am too old to be considered hip although i sing in a band that has played at the R&B and the Hotel. but i went saturday night with GF and we were treated well, and most of the food we got was great. esp. the poki. as a neighbor, i am grateful to see this place open. haters stay away, they will be fine without you ...
well, I host a blog, but not neighborhood focused and I have high standards. I suppose it's too high expectations, but I went to the Sticky Rice in Richmond a couple months ago, had great sushi and very average entrees. So for me that was enough. I can go to many places for sushi and great food, without having to go to Sticky Rice.
But yeah, mock service or a soft opening isn't the time to fully judge a place.
However, by that point, things shouldn't be too f****ed up, mock service isn't the time to first discover that staff are completely unprepared, or that food production systems and processes are flawed.
E.g., I did a walk through of Phish Tea before they opened and identified a number of issues that they failed to address, all of which contributed (as did their failure to manage or execute) to their failure.
So you can get a sense of a place even from a soft opening. People do have high expectations, but that should also be anticipated by the establishment.
But I must say that for the most part, in many blogs, I find that the commenters are pretty parochial and it isn't a good idea for me personally to generalize much from what they say, although I will say that Frozen Tropics does have some decent commentators.
I went to Sticky Rice last night, and had a very good experience. I got there at 9:00, and sat at the bar, because there was still a wait for tables. I think the highlights are the non sushi items. I had the tuna bites and the sticky balls. The tuna bites were unreal, and healthy, while the sticky balls were unreal but deep fried. I know everything tastes good deep fried, but this was over the top good. We also had the curried fried rice which was pretty good. Finally we had two rolls, and both were average at best. I think for those of you who might be sushi snobs like me, you should not expect to get sushi taro, or kaz quality sushi. However, if you are ok with just some good average cheap sushi, then by all means the sushi is fine. For me, I think I will stick with their main meals and apps, which were all great.
Either way, I am so excited to see how well the place is doing. It is great for the street. I should also note that we thought the service was great. We had a guy named Brian at the bar serve us. He was attentive and very friendly. The hostess was also very pleasant.
I would encourage people to give it a try.
is it just me, or are the people that host blogs tend to at least give the place a chance, and the plebe commenters tend to jeer every new place for the first few months?
what does that say about the folks that start blogs, and the plebes like myself that just comment on what the bloggers publish?
In this particular case I'm sympathetic to the owners, managers, and servers as a result of my own experience in the service industry. I knew it was a soft opening and perhaps more importantly I knew what to expect from a soft opening. So I went to Sticky Rice with the mindset that I was going to just roll with whatever happened.
I'm also so glad that people are actually opening interesting restaurants in my neighborhood that I would rather offer encouragement than criticism to the entrepreneurs that invest their time, money, effort in my area.
As for the folks that are dropping the stupid comments, the anonymity of the internet emboldens people to say things they wouldn't have the nerve to say someone's face. For people that have blogs (or even people like yourself who are relentless commenters), they invest time and effort into creating an on-line persona so they seem to be less likely to just go off the deep end with whatever is they say. Of course Monkeyrotica is the exception to that rule.
Also, thanks for the link Elise! -HR
I am going to hate myself for outing this place – the best sushi in the area is Momoyama on 2nd Street NW (right next to My Brothers Place). It’s easy to miss as it is tucked away on 2nd where it turns into that weird ½ street across from the Capital - and kind of tiny. It's not normally crowded for dinner (I think they get more of a lunch crowd). They have a great selection of rolls. It’s not cheap but they have good happy hour and lunch specials. And it really is good sushi.
I finally had a chance last night to visit Sticky Rice and had a great time, barring the extended wait for our sushi. The waiter (Russell) was very attentive, the GM, Eric came by a number of times to chat about the restaurant, the food, and he seemed genuinely excited for the positive feedback. We had a few of the special sushi items (snap, crackle, pop and the tuna tempura) that were a fun twist on traditional sushi. We'll certainly be back with friends in tow.
Hill Rat said, "...the anonymity of the internet emboldens people to say things they wouldn't have the nerve to say someone's face." And what's wrong with that?
@anon 10:53
Really? My rugby team has partied at Hamilton's/Flying Scotsman/Sully's for years and it never occurred to me to check that place out. Thanks for the tip.
@anon 3:00
I didn't say there was anything "wrong" with it, I was offering an explanation for people's obnoxiousness.
I went to Sticky Rice last night and the food was good but they were soooo slooow. I waited about 45 minutes just to get my salad and about 20 minutes later my food arrived. I was warned the service was not the best so I was patient. But that definately has to change. My friend waited one hr just for her sushi to arrive. Also, I was irritated that a party of two was seated before me when I arrived before them. However, I would like to hope they had a reservation. But since they waited at least 45 minutes I doubt they did. I wil return because I like to give places on H more than a chance. Also they were out of the the steak entree. The waitress returned 30 minutes after we ordered to say they only had one steak left and we both ordered it.
Again I will return and understand it's the first week. Since I was warned service may not be the best I went in prepared. Otherwise I think I would have been very irritated.
Our waitress was very nice.
Monkeyrotica is the exception that proves the rule.
BTW - I love how posters zoomed in on the Billy Joel thing in the review, to the exception of anything having to do with sushi, service, the neighborhood, or reality.
Went to Sticky Rice for the first time last night with the wife and toddler. Arrived around 6:30 and was seated quickly, but I think people that arrived later had to wait. When we left around 7:45 there were probably 20 people standing outside the restaurant. The capacity of the place really isn't that large - perhaps seating for 40+ upstairs and another 20+ downstairs. It gets loud, but that actually works to your advantage when you are with a toddler (the cries, when they happen, don't stand out as much as they would in a quiet place). I hope that other people inclined to open a restaurant note the demand this place is generating - the H street market for dining options is clearly underserved. I won't offer a detailed review of our dining experience - as some other folks have noted, Sticky Rice is going to need to improve a few things if they want to succeed. Still, we're glad Sticky Rice has entered the market, we intend to go back, and and we hope it is a success.
But of course -- it *is* Billy Joel, after all.
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