Foodie Review: Fu Hao Bistro
My partner in crime and I tried out Fu Hao Bistro in 5 Points this week. After the review from Jacksonville.com, I was interested to see how dinner would be. The decor was the first thing I immediately noticed. Simple and asian themed, with high backed booths wrapped in tan and black fabric laced with kanji characters. The pendants hanging into each booth and around the restaurant are long cylinders with red and blue LED lights that flash at the top. These weren’t immediately distracting, but once they caught my eye I couldn’t stop glancing at them every now and then. Take the flashing LED’s off, and the decor was perfect.
We were seated in the second room near the bar, and were the only people in that room. Our server came over, placing down wooden coasters and asked for our drink selections. These looked like the cheap bamboo blinds you can buy at home depot and were rather ineffective as coasters. We perused the menu and found the dinner prices to be a tad more than we had expected. The lunch menu consists of several choices averaging in the $7.50-7.95 range, while the dinner entrees average in the $15-25 range. I can’t lie, I’m on a budget and I don’t get expense reimbursements from some fancy, amazing paper or magazine to fund restaurant reviews. I chose the phad thai with chicken ($10), while my date chose the Moo Goo Gai Pan ($10). Our entrees came with a choice of soup. I chose wonton soup while she chose the egg drop.
The Wonton Soup was really refreshing. A complex and flavorful chicken broth with two shrimp, water chestnut, and carrot filled wontons. The wrappers on the wontons were delicate and light, which was a nice surprise. I added some thai chili oil from the table, which added to the broth’s complexity. Floating in the clear broth were finely chopped scallions and basil.
As for the Egg Drop Soup, I didn’t care for it. My date however, thoroughly enjoyed it. We both jokingly thought the consistency was of motor oil, but it was flavorful and she said it was the best she’s had in town.
The service was consistent and our server was attentive, if not too much. Our meals were brought out in a timely fashion. Both dishes smelled divine, and the portions were huge, and we both had enough for lunch the next day. My Pad thai was in abundance with large, thiny slice pieces of chicken draping the wide rice noodles throughout the bowl. Some chopped peanuts and lime were in the corners, which I sprinkled as well as some more thai chili oil. I did ask for it to be spicy, and was sad to see it was rather bland and no heat was added. It wasn’t a strictly traditional pad thai, and the sauce was thin and in abundance, but it was good and I would have it again. It lacked cilantro, red chili pepper, and even some bean sprouts. The chicken was fairly appetitizing but wasn’t marinated and only soaked up some flavor from the sauce, resulting in a little blandness.
The Moo Goo Gai Pan however, looked and was tantalizing. The same thin, wide slices of chicken in a very garlicy clear sauce with sauteed vegetables. The menu suggests it was a white wine sauce, but I only tasted the garlic in it. Regardless, Partner in Crime loved it. The vegetables were perfectly cooked and we both enjoyed the dish.
Overall the meal was decent, and we would both go back again. I would definitely like to try something different and see how their curries hold up. The plus side was that their wine list looked good, and the ambience is inviting. The down side, was the food was only ‘good’ and not stellar.
