Fun meal at Wusong Road a couple of nights ago (first time there). Kitschy Tiki-Bar decorations added to the festivities. Loved the service (drinks in silly tiki glasses, food comes out in a tower a steaming baskets).
We had the egg rolls, Jiaozi vegetable dumplings, Crying Tiger Brussels Sprouts, pork ribs, and chicken nugget and shredded bao buns (one of each), washed down with a MaiTai and a Painkiller. All was tasty and we will definitely go back!
“shredded pork bao bun”
Love Wusong Road. Their crab rangoon is revelatory.
I was just planning to write up Wusong! I’ve actually eaten there twice in the past few weeks, which is unusual and noteworthy for me to have 2 data points. As familiar as I am with Harvard Square, I had no idea this long, narrow building was lurking in a corner off Brattle Square on Mt Auburn St. I, too, love the decor. It’s kitschy at its finest; someone noted “Rainforest Cafe for adults” and I agree.
Our first visit was a birthday dinner with 2 vegetarians, and we ordered profusely and enjoyed immensely. I’m still gluten-light and thought the rice noodle gluten free dan dan noodles were excellent. Bao were adorable- a yellow angry-bird face on the chicken, and a pig on the pork bao. Yu choy was sauteed with a flavorful sauce. A salad pleased my vegetarian mom although I thought it a bit bland. Cocktails were enjoyed, as were mocktails. Overall, a really nice & fun dinner with friendly and competent service.
I returned a few nights ago with a group of surfer ladies who had never met outside of the waves, where we are generally in wetsuits, often with hoods. So an interesting dynamic of people who sort of know each other, but don’t really know names or recognize faces without a surfboard to reference. Some shared apps, some ordered for themselves. Food was again a hit, as was atmosphere. Several orders of bao were oohed and aahed over, summer rolls were enjoyed, and I can vouch that the spare ribs with passionfruit glaze were excellent.
However, service was strangely lacking. Our waiter never checked in with us throughout the night. No repeat drink rounds were offered, although we once succeeded in flagging down someone to order for the later-arriving diners. There was a weird substitution of a seltzer for a mocktail, still at the same price. We never received brussels sprouts, the one item all agreed we’d like to share, despite asking several runners and ordering them at least twice. When they showed up on the bill, we were less than pleased. We were told the gluten free dan dan noodles were not available, or were not gluten free- it wasn’t clear which, so we ordered fried rice instead, but then a diner who has an actual allergy (as opposed to my mild equivocal intolerance) could not get assurance that the soy sauce used was actually gluten free, so she simply did not eat. Had there been more attentive service, we would have ordered lots more drinks and food, so their loss. We actually asked the waiter as we were leaving if he was covering a lot of tables alone, or understaffed, and he looked puzzled and said no.
So, I’d return, and in fact my dining companion from my first dinner is already trying to get us to go back and bring the sprouts, as we think they would get a kick out of the decor and vibe, but I’ll be a bit cautious about who I recommend Wusong Road to until I have more data points on service.
Sounds like my kinda crowd (except that I’m a poseur wannabe surfer).
Wusong Road looks like so much fun. It’s on our radar.
I’ve got a loaner beginner board! Wait til the water’s not 42 degrees then hit me up!
It is true about the service. Ours was better than yours, but we never did get asked if we wanted more of anything. Food, drinks, whatever… After the food was delivered and we had completely finished dining, the next time the waitstaff dropped by was to ask if we wanted the check. Curious, and a loss of money for them.
I know they really struggled with service when they opened, right around the pandemic or after or something. Getting staff has been a challenge for everyone, for sure.
