一起串燒 -二店

Recently, I saw someone sharing about a skewer restaurant online. They focus on affordable food and plum wine, with prices ranging from $79 to $99, and each skewer is served in pairs. The end result was a huge disappointment—it felt like I had never eaten such a... casual skewer izakaya before.

I checked the reviews and information about the restaurant, and there were reviews as recent as eight months ago, so it seems they are not new to the business. None of the staff at the restaurant were Taiwanese, and they were not very familiar with reading or speaking. When the dishes were served, they didn't know what they were, and they were unclear about the drinks; there were also some missed orders.

I ordered a glass of plum wine and a non-alcoholic lychee drink. However, one of the pink drinks was served in the same cup as the plum wine. I thought it was a mistake! I asked the server what that drink was. He didn't respond and just showed me my order receipt 😀... Later, they realized they had served it wrong and came back to exchange it.

I went specifically for the oysters, and I was super disappointed. The oysters came to the table very quickly, and it felt like they had been defrosted to be served so fast. The owner said they were fresh, but to me, they tasted like room temperature, without the cold sensation. The owner assured us that they would improve on this next time (but we won’t be coming back anyway…).

The Matsusaka pork lacked a crispy texture and was mushy. The chicken was prone to being dry; the only decent dish was the mentaiko chicken skewer. The grilled rice balls had a hard and sticky outer layer. The yam puree was tasty, but quite salty.

They kindly provided utensils to easily remove the food from the skewers. The owner was very proactive and enthusiastic, but the kitchen staff really fell short... and so did the front-of-house team.

On Friday night during dinner time, it was packed! I really don’t understand why. It can only be described as home-cooked level, with regular home dishes being tastier. You get what you pay for; spending just a little more could get you much better food—like at “Qixi Di.” The above is my personal dining experience for your reference.