Alright, what the heck am I doing at
Floata? There are not many restaurants that I truly despise. On that list are
Po King and Floata. Every time I go for Dim Sum at
Floata, it's been the same experience over and over again. The service is completely devoid of professionalism and attention to detail. Furthermore, there are times it's just plain rude. In addition, the Dim Sum at
Floata is not really all that good either when you compare to other places such as
Sun Sui Wah,
Kirin,
Red Star,
Victoria,
Sea Harbour,
Spicy Court and
Fisherman's Terrace. My aunt invited us to dinner at
Floata tonight and we gave
her "face", which means despite our feelings towards
Floata, we gave her respect and showed up. Well, I have been to dinner on many occasions at
Floata in the past and mercifully the service is actually decent. Well, it's easy to be decent when there are always less than 5 tables every time we went for dinner.
Tonight, the restaurant was cordoned off for a function in the next section. I have not idea what it was, but the diners were taking turns going up to the mic and singing their hearts out. It was excruciating while we were eating our dinner.
There were several non-Asian tables in our section and I could see the pain on their faces. Great, now the stereotype not only includes bad driving, add bad singing into it too! Let me be totally fair and tell you that the service tonight was pretty attentive and accommodating. Either it was truly the lack of tables or the managers are different from the day shift. I've actually had managers during Dim Sum insult us when we were in the right!
Admittedly a bit indifferent, I left the ordering up to t
he others at the table. There were several specials including the Peking Duck (2 Courses). At least the meal started off in a positive manner since the skin was crisp and the flour pancakes were soft. I particularly liked the table side carving of the Peking Duck. The next dish was Steamed Crab on Sticky Rice. Again, the presentation was pretty good with the crab majestically sitting atop a plethora of stir-fried sticky rice in a bamboo steamer. Although the sticky rice was fantastic (slightly chewy, yet still soft), it was seasoned a bit too aggressively. This essentially masked the natural crab juices which were supposed to seep into the rice.
Right when I thought that the food at Floata was acceptable, it started to go downhill from here. The second course of the Peking Duck was the Duck Lettuce Wrap. If you look at the picture, there is an absence of rich colour in the dish. There was not enough caramelizing of the ingredients in the wok to give it good colour. Also a splash of dark soy might've helped too. The result was a flavourless filling for the lettuce wrap. The hoisin sauce added some flavour; but that was about it. The Pea Shoots with Bean Curd Stick was a disaster. The pea shoots were so
overcooked that the colour became a pale green. Moreover, the shoots were limp and overly soft. The same could be said about the Ginkgo nuts. Upon picking them up with my chopsticks, they disintegrated. There was some redemption in the Stir-Fried Green Beans with Fish Slices. The fish was cooked nicely and the beans had a bright green colour. However, for me the beans were slightly soft.
Coming curiously late in the meal was the Roasted (fried) Squab. Usually this dish is supposed to arrive early in the meal (unless if it is
on a wedding menu). I must admit, the squab had good colour and was not dry. It was adequately seasoned without being salty. However, look at the picture - why was there only one head for 2 squabs??? Continuing on the fowl head theme, the Free Range Chicken was freakishly presented with the head pointing up on a large platter. It looked like whoever chopped the chicken merely slapped the poor thing onto the plate. Rather than impressively presented on the plate as it should be, it resembled more of a fowl crime scene than anything. Moreover, most of the pieces were not even chopped correctly since everything was
stuck together. Taste wise, the chicken was well-seasoned; but as with all free-range chickens, the meat was a bit tough.
The last dish to arrive was the Pan-Fried Yee Mein. The good news - it was a large amount of noodles on the plate. The bad news - it was horrendous. It was so dry and flavourless, I had an extremely difficult time swallowing it. It's similar to stuffing 4 saltines in your mouth. So there you have it. Another disappointing meal at Floata. I'm not sure how this place continues to operate since it's such a big restaurant. With so many better options available for Chinese food in the GV
RD, Floata is not even on my radar. Granted, the service was half decent tonight; but on the whole, it's not very good (especially at Dim Sum). If you ever read
Urbanspoon or
Dinehere, you will see that others share my sentiments. With their business highly dependent on tourists, I cannot fathom how they cannot see that they are on a one-way street to disaster. Tourists read online reviews and comments! I only hope for their own survival that they take customer comments seriously.
The Good:- We had lots of room, because the place was empty!
- Service was actually acceptable, because there were so few customers!
- Some dishes were decent
The Bad:- Most of the meal was disappointing
- Restaurant needs a bit of a cleaning
- They claim to be classy, but are far from it
Posts
Whilst waiting for the lineup at Voodoo Doughnut to die down, Viv and I headed up one block to Stumptown Roasters for some refreshment. Seattle has its Starbucks and Portland has its Stumptown. But most people would like to think of Stumptown as the anti-Starbucks. Whether that actually holds true or not, especially since Stumptown's corporate model seems a lot like Starbucks, there is indeed a difference. Just merely walking into a Stumptown location, you will notice that it's got this Bohemian thing going on. From the decor to the unique pieces of art on the walls, Stumptown does not have the slick, 
polished appearance of Starbucks. The location we visited was quite spacious; if not a bit too spacious. So few tables occupied the cavernous room which is a complete opposite of Starbucks. We particularly were fond of the plastic ducks chained to the washroom key. Despite being a real inconvenience while trying to open the door, the duck represents the attitude of Stumptown. It is what it is.
what I do not like. In terms of Coffee, I do not like Starbucks. It's far too strong and bitter for tastes. Personally, the coffee seems a bit burnt-tasting. Not being a huge fan of black coffee, I went for the large Mocha. When they say large, it's pretty large. It came in a large pint glass. One sip and I was quite happy. It was neither bitter or burnt. Rather, the mocha was smooth and aromatic. This is how I like my coffee. Viv took a couple of sips and echoed the same sentiments. However, she did not really like her Queen's Ice Tea so much. She thought the flavours were too intense. I, on the other hand, enjoyed the chai flavour and 
ended up finishing it for her.
