Can you tell? We like this place a lot. Or, at least, we did. Unfortunately, today’s meal was disappointing.
You can read my first review of the restaurant here, and my second review of the restaurant here. Edit: Read my latest review of this restaurant here.
Restaurant: Ros Yi Nom, CA, Livermore
Delivery service used: The restaurant’s own (free over $30) – we had to call to order because their online ordering service was not working for us.
Date ordered: 20th May, 2020
Dishes ordered:
- Khao Pad Gai Tod – $13.00 – 7/10
- Tom Yum Fried Rice – $14.00 – 6.5/10
- Pineapple Fried Rice – $12.50 – 7.5/10
Flavour: I don’t know if the chef was just having a bad day or if it was a different chef entirely. The Khao Pad Gai Tod today was dry. Last time we didn’t even get the sweet & sour sauce that was supposed to come with this dish and it was still full of flavour and the chicken was juicy and tender. This time, the flavours were… lacking. And the chicken was old and dry. We definitely needed the sweet & sour sauce.
Such a shame, because last time Jacky was drooling over my dish. Now that he ordered it for himself, it was disappointing. I do think they gave us extra chicken though, which was nice, and the breading was still crunchy… but it was all just so dry. It’s the complete opposite of last time; this time, all the rice dishes could have benefitted from more oil.
Just look at it… I can make the colours more vibrant and the lighting brighter but you still can’t hide that it’s dry:
I was wrong about the tomato too. I don’t even get what the point of the tomato was anymore. All 3 dishes had one block of tomato haphazardly thrown into the mix. Like, just one quarter of a tomato. Why?
The Tom Yum Fried Rice was… dry as well. I counted 4 pieces of calamari, 2 shrimp and 2 mussels in there, and a few pieces of mushroom too. The mushroom was like oyster mushroom – great mushrooms. But overall, dry. And the first thing I bit into was a large chunk of bitter lemongrass stalk. It was not edible and tasted pungent. You can see it poking out behind the cilantro, next to the calamari, in the 3rd box below:
Not a great start. I do, however, like the tom yum flavour. It did taste of tom yum… but Jacky said it tastes like they threw some tom yum paste in there and called it a day. I would agree. The tom yum flavour was also on the mild side, as in, I had to hunt for the taste of it and… I dunno it was just dry. Especially for a flavour I’m used to finding in some sort of soup-based dish, I just can’t get over how dry it was.
It made me miss my MAMA Tom Yum Instant Noodles – I love that flavour and it’s one of my favourite instant noodles – that was the flavour it reminded me of, but I didn’t want to be missing instant noodles while I was chowing down on a $14 seafood fried rice dish! And gosh, did I mention it was dry?
Finally we come to my favourite of the evening but by far not the saving grace or star of the show: the pineapple fried rice. Again, I feel like the overall flavours were muted because all I could taste was dry. The chicken was sadly overcooked and bland and, again, really, really dry. But the pineapples helped a lot. That’s probably why it was the one I liked the most – because it was the least dry. Doesn’t mean it was great though. I just needed a lot of water after this.
Value for money: 7/10
I was disappointed in the food. I can’t give it higher than a 7 because the food just did not blow me away and I feel like they were a bit stingy with their seafood (I totally get it though, it’s difficult to stay afloat in a pandemic) but honestly all would have been forgiven if the taste matched up to their previous times!
Other: I think this is the first time our food arrived lukewarm and even on the colder side, and I wonder if that affected the flavour. It probably did make a big difference, actually, because oil starts to congeal to give it that nasty, dry and crusty taste.
Would re-order/consistency: 6.67/10
This is still a very important metric. When you order anything from a restaurant you like, you want to be sure that what you’re getting this time is what you liked last time.
Unfortunately, I’ve been sorely disappointed this time. Getting it right 2/3 times is not bad but really not great. Having all 3 dishes disappoint this time was a hard blow… This meal put me off ordering from this place again any time soon. However, never say never.
Overall Rating: 6.83/10
Oh how the mighty have fallen…