We visited Neah Kah Nie Bistro last year and it was much better than this year’s visit. They were really short-staffed, meaning one person working the floor and one in the kitchen so any walk-ins were turned away and service was tremendously slow. It’s a small place with some outdoor seating, although the tarp over those seats was gone. I felt for the server but they should have canceled some reservations or notified guests. This was horrible. We didn’t try for a cocktail and instead were thankful to finally get to sit down. We also didn’t try for multiple courses, it took so long to get our wine and then it was the wrong bottle and vintage too. She took it back to try again but finally came back with what we drank and said they’d been delivered it by mistake. (The bill tried to reflect the charge for what we ordered and we waited to have that corrected as this wine was half the price of what we ordered – and was awful). They have a small parking lot but lots of street parking is available. Music was in the background and there was lots of light from the windows in the room to supplement the low lighting. Even so, you could tell the menus were well used and no daily specials were available. I’m sorry to say I can’t recommend this place.
Set-Up
Food
We both tried the Shrimp Pasta which was made with Wild Gulf Tiger Prawns sautéed with garlic, onions, artichoke hearts, tomatoes and spinach then coated with a sauce of cream and Italian cheese on fresh fettuccini noodles. You could order 4 or 6 prawns, at $8 a prawn. I asked the server if these were different than the prawns also on the menu that were 2 for $14 or fried at 3 for $12. She replied yes they were the same. I didn’t want to hassle her with all she had to do but it seemed odd. Even so, we both bit the bullet and ordered 6 each. First, let me say these were not Wild Gulf Tiger Prawns and when the cook brought out the plates he apologized that he didn’t have enough prawns to make the plates so he threw in some bay shrimp instead. These baby fresh water things were mushy and awful. They only added to the gloppy gummy texture of the plate. I still have no idea what the green liquid was on the plate but tried to avoid it. I hate to complain so but this was totally unacceptable, especially for a place that had been fun and tasty last year. We didn’t even get offered dessert since we turned down the box offer to take with what was left on our plates.
Ugh! What a mess! I feel for restauranteurs, but they really need to avoid trying to do more than they can — make sure that what they can do with limited staff and other resources, they need do well.
Indeed. I was sorry for the two employees but would have been more tolerant if given a heads up to the situation. Since they only took those with reservations surely there would be a way to contact them and say we’re glad to have you but it’ll be slow and limited on supplies. It’s sad to see the state of restaurants difficulty in staffing.
Yikes. Sadly I had yet another experience just over the weekend with a place that’s facing staffing issues.
Bummer! Not sure why the American system has made it so hard to get restaurant workers. In Europe, it is a good job and people stay with it for years because they are paid a fair wage for the work done and tipping is not an issue. Covid seemed to make US restaurant workers (along with many others) wake up to the tough, underpaid job they did and decide not to go back. Not sure what is the solution but I hope one is found quickly as it’s really messing with the restaurant’s viability. I don’t like to be negative but this place has gotten lots of mixed comments on other platforms and I didn’t believe them, now I do. Wish you better experiences in the future!
Sadly one huge difference is health care, as hospitality workers are often stuck with huge payments even with ACA. But it’s sad, as it really compromises the overall schemes for restaurants both front and back of house. But I also put blame on managers for not seeing this, not rectifying, and not planning when they know full well they are understaffed.