Charisma Bay
“My favorite dish was definitely the seafood, dry scallop fried rice!”
“Trust me, that may sound like a given but I've tried sour tofu way too many times from restaurants.”
“Has an A and serves delicious food in a Manhattan style Chinese restaurant decor at take out place prices …”
Charisma Bay
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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This place has incarnated to many restaurant over the years. The last one was a shabu shabu and sushi restaurant. The food was subpar at best. Now as Charisma Bay, this place seems promising. I got two dishes, Singaporean fried noodles and tofu and fried fish with rice. The Singaporean fried noodle wasn't too oily or spicy. It has quite a bit of seafood and Chinese roasted pork slices in it. The bean sprouts also provided a good crunch and relief to the spiciness. For the tofu and fried fish with rice, the fried fish wasn't heavy on the batter or have a stale oil taste. I'm sure it's frozen fish, but it doesn't have the fishy freezer thawed taste either. The tofu doesn't have a strange sour taste which other restaurants sometimes have probably because it's almost turning bad. Trust me, that may sound like a given but I've tried sour tofu way too many times from restaurants. Once it's fried and cooked it's really hard to tell until you bite into it.
The decor at Charisma is also lovely. It has that traditional Chinese feel. I just hope that they can keep up with the cleaning to make sure it doesn't get dirty and tacky. This is definitely a good addition to the neighborhood and alternative to 86 Wong.
My initial impression was bad. Like very bad (see the tip I left on this page ). But as the dinner progressed, I realized the 'waitress' was really the manager, or owner. She should really stop trying to take orders because she leaves a bad impression (can't get the menu correct, pressures customers and can't tell what is available. She took the bill without saying thank you ). We came for dinner on a Thursday night and spent $135 in cash.
Thankfully the actual waitstaff was great. They cleared plates repeatedly, had manners and came by to see if we needed anything. At least the waiter said thank you!
The food was good. Far from amazing, but none were bad. We ordered :
– lobster (ginger and scallion ) which was standard and not totally worth getting – 2 lobsters for $40
– Braised goose with tofu skins in star anise sauce. Full of flavor, but remember that geese have less meat. You can order this in quarters.
– a plate of veggies ( i never know what to call this one in particular ).standard preparation of garlic, so nothing much to report on
– deep fried quail. The quail was pretty juicy, surprisingly tasty with crisp skin. We initially asked for salt and pepper quail, and the manager lady kept saying deep fried quail instead of telling us they don't offer salt and pepper quail. We had to clarify before she said, 'we only have deep fried quail '. They are not the same thing
– deep fried pork chops in sweet and sour. This was also standard fare. Pieces were lightly battered but pretty fatty. Flavor wasn't bad and the sauce wasn't overly starched.
– sautéed clams. Good flavor, also glad they didn't overly starch the sauce. Not too many empty shells and kind of meaty clams
Comes with free salted roast peanuts. End of meal included thin watermelon slices.
Other than the bad manager (can't say this enough ), I would say this is a solid three stars.
This used to a an ayce hot pot/sushi place, but not has been remodeled and rebuilt into a family style Chinese retaurant. It's your typical Chinese cuisine for the family. Everything from shrimp in mayo to lobster rice is available here. One of the best dishes is probably the goat stew, it's very good.
I was here with my dad for Chinese New Year and ordered way too much food for 2 people but everything was delish! We ordered sweet and sour crispy ribs, lobster sticky rice, sauteed bean leaves and minced beef and egg drop soup. At first I thought the space was small but then realized that there was an upstairs area. The waiters are what you would normally expect at a Chinese restaurant, so nothing to comment on there. My family has come here a lot since they opened and trust that we will be back again!
i booked a table for saturday night for 10 and asked for the upstairs if it was available. the upstairs is a bit more spacious with 5 tables or so that can seat up to 12 comfortably. they also have a private room that can probably fit up to 20-30 additional people with karaoke. we ordered a plethora of dishes and the waiter/manager even had to tell us to stop thinking we wouldn't finish but we cleaned everything out. the peking pork chops were amazing. the cold platter was not the best we've had and was pricey. also had crab and fish maw seafood soup – relatively bland. the chicken eggplant anchovy casserole was tasty. we tried their signature lobster sticky fried rice and that was quite tasty. the pea tips veggies were good. tofu dish was a bit on the bland side. shrimp walnut mayo was great – jumbo sized shrimps were used. garlic chicken was decent. a few other dishes – great experience overall and everyone agreed food was tasty.
The food is pretty good but service could definitely be improved. Their salt and pepper pork chops taste good, as well as their special fried rice that is crispy. There is additional seating upstairs, which could also be reserved as a private space if you have enough guests.
Pretty good food and big portions. Service was also pretty quick. What more can you ask for in an asian restaurant.
Definitely would be back.
I don't know why this place has such low reviews. We've been here more than a handful of times and the food has always been fantastic. The service can be a little trying if they're busy and the wait times can also be horrendous, but if you make a reservation or come on a slower day, you're definitely guaranteed a great meal. The portions are also big enough to share between a family of 5-8. Our favorites are the round egg tofu and lobster sticky rice. We'll definitely keep coming back as long as the food stays yummy!