Went for the 2012 NYE 'Soul Revue'. Â Tickets were $65 and the attire Casual Formal.
 Got there around 1030pm. The place was not that crowded and they were still selling tickets at the door.  We went to the bar, waited ten minutes for two glasses of champagne that were too warm to drink.  When we sent them back we were told that was all they had.  This did not bode well for the champagne toast at midnight that was included in the ticket price.  The guy next to me said he had to send back his first beer for the same reason.  We moved to drinking Stella's since that seemed easiest and coldest.  Only two bartenders and not that big of a bar crowd, but still quite a wait for beverages.
Heard the last three songs of the first band, Anya and the Get Down. Â They were great and fit the bill. Â Adrian Young presenting 'Venice Dawn' on the other hand was anything but soulful. Â Adrian was dressed appropriately to produce some soulful music, but everything played was hard-rock to heavy metal. Â The sound was deafening and poorly mixed and impossible to dance to. Â Though several couples gave it a good try. Â That added to the entertainment - watching couples try to get their groove on on the dance floor, only to end up walking away in defeat. Â The dance floor was empty most of the time as folks hid behind the pillars for sound protection. Â I couldn't understand a word Adrian was singing into the microphone and later a woman shouted to me - "I expected more soul and less Dark Side of the Moon." Â She nailed it. Â I kept thinking it sounded like something familiar, even if it wasn't appropriate for the evening. Â The lead guitarist spent the whole night playing the guitar as if he was onstage with Ozzy Osbourne, pointing the guitar at the crowd and crawling around on his knees behind Adrian. Â As midnight approached we made the decision to go out to the Fountain Bar for the countdown. Â The dance floor there was in full party mode with folks dancing and laughing. Â The band there did a great job of selecting a great song to carry everyone into the New Year with the balloon drop. Â La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la.....get up on the floor!! Â (JLO) Still have the earworms from that! Â When we went back into the Pagoda for the review of the events there we were told that the band didn't even do the count down and just stopped playing at midnight. Â What a let down! Â I have never been to a New Years event where the band didn't at least play into the new year. Â I think that is bad karma or something. Â It was funny to see the dance floor in the Pagoda fill up with people as the DJ came back. Â First dancing to club music, followed by AC/DC's Back in Black. Â What a trip!
Before the night was over the bar ran out of cold Stella's and other beers and were still offering barely chilled champagne. Â Really?! Â Who runs out of drinks on NYE? Â Particularly at the Fairmont of all places. Â The bar was already limited in the offerings - unless you drink vodka. Â Running out of beer is unacceptable. Â After the Fountain Bar wound down, we went over to the bar there for a drink. Â As we were considering our options, another couple walked up that we had engaged earlier and they said, "They have cold champagne here!" We all laughed at that and got ourselves a glass. Â Funny the things folks come together over. Â Not funny to serve warm champagne on New Years.
Another disappointment was the lack of dress code enforcement. Â I guess it was more important to sell tickets than to create atmosphere. Â Nice jeans, nice tennis shoes and hoodies do not belong in the Casual Formal attire. Â Save that for every other night of the year! Â Surely folks have better clothes than that if they can afford a $65 ticket. Â Folks in the Fountain Bar were dressed nicer than some of the folks in the Pagoda that night.
The food promised was great - I will give them that. Â Plentiful, no waiting, fresh, hot with a good variety. Â Would have been better with a couple of tall cocktail tables nearby to set your drink on while snacking.
Overall interesting evening, but not the blowout one might expect to end the year. Â Maybe that was part of the plan since there were several of San Jose's finest making their presence known at every turn that night. Â Nothing says don't have too much fun like seeing a cop every ten minutes. Â Maybe next year hire some private security instead of badges.
What night did we come out?
Thursday
How was the line?
Short
What did we have?
2 Greygoose and Redbull
How was the crowd?
Bay Hip
Hip Hop Goers
How was the scene?
Social
What's the demographic?
Equal number of men and women
What's the ambience?
Underground Hip Hop Performance
What kind of music was playing at Pagoda Restaurant?
Underground Hip Hop
What's the noise level?
Loud
Will we hang out at Pagoda Restaurant in the future?
Maybe: Â Drinks are extremely overpriced considering the drinks we ordered didn't require mixology skills. Â Unless you whip me up a complex cocktail, you shouldn't be charging me $13 for simple Top Shelf Mix Drinks.
I attended a spring clothing line event here. This is a cool hidden spot within the Fairmount Hotel. The bartender was very cool and made my drink strong.
The setup for the evening was intimate and relaxed. There was a DJ playing chilled out instrumentals. A very nice place to kick back and lounge!
I was here for a dinner party on a Saturday, so before we sat down to eat properly, a lot of us were at the bar. Â We ordered a couple of drinks, and some drinks that were offered by the bartender. Â The guy definitely knew what he was suggesting, and it was a pleasant surprise. Â
Then we sat down an hour later and ate. Â I don't remember what I ordered (blame the alcohol on that), but it just felt like drunk food. Â And for drunk food, I didn't really appreciate it at all. Â Maybe it was something that I could find a strip mall somewhere for half the price, but it just wasn't good.
But I did enjoy the drinks.
Didn't go here for the food, just for the afterhours scene last night. My friends and I were definitely surprised to find that they had an epic funk and hip-hop DJ from Belgium visiting. Probably the best DJ I've heard in San Jose since moving here in January.
The drinks were priced fairly ($5 for any beer I think) and I was given free shots by a hostess walking around. Pretty sweet!
The service was great, and we actually spent a good deal of time joking around with the bartenders, hostesses and bouncers inbetween the DJ's sick beats.
I'll be back again.
Food is not as bad as everyone has written about but the service is atrocious!!! Â If you do choose this place, do what I did. Â Order the wine, appetizers, soup, entrees, all at separate intervals. Â That at least will give you a dining experience. Â
AMBIANCE
From the time we came in the server was pushing us to order our food. Â We were interrupted five times from our conversation in the first three minutes. Â I was there on a date and it was unacceptable. Â Had they been pleasant about it, I would let them go completely and even add a star for that. Â However, they were annoyed and rushing us.
Maybe they were having a bad day. Â After we tried one of the appetizers, we complimented the waitress on an excellent meal so far and she smiled and seemed happy. Â The next time I saw her, which was a minute later to take our next order, her pleasant-ness was completely gone and she was again abrupt with us.
Fast-forward to dinner, the waitress brought our food out and disappeared. Â I noticed that they got two of our orders wrong but I didn't see the waitress after that. Â I excused myself from the table and had to go looking for her..not to be found in the kitchen, not anywhere in the restaurant area, not in the bar area, so I got the manager and she located the waitress. Â I was just looking for an acknowledgement and a sorry but I got an excuse that why it was not her fault. Â They ended up comping us on one of the entrees and fixing the problem which is takes care of that. Â Again, if I got a pleasant apology, I would have gladly swallowed the cost.
It seems the overall ambiance created by our waitress was glum and unenjoyable.
BILL
The time she was accessible was when she brought the bill. Â She gave it to us and told us the cash machine closes in two minutes so we need to close out quickly. Â She told us this. Â Then she moved out of sight and kept coming and leaving every minute until I signed it. Â
RATING
I usually tip 20% and 15% even if there is a fly in my soup. Â I tipped 10%. Â Ambiance in a restaurant of that caliber is the reason you are ready to pay extra for food you can get anywhere or even make. Â Had the experience been much better, I would give two extra stars.
FOOD
The food was not bad and the portions were pretty good. Â Stay away from the soup and the sushi. Â Anyway, you should not get sushi at a Chinese restaurant. Â It was a bit extra salty but they know how to make things spicy and flavorful. Â If you want to cut out most of the spice, ask for mild. Â Medium is fairly spicy and of course Spicy speaks for itself but the maintain the flavor and do not load it with chili sauce. Â Instead they cook it with peppers.
My Ratings:
Quantity: 2 - Enough
Quality: 1 - Yuck
Price: 1 - Even with coupon, I wasted my money
Location: 3 - Nice restaurant and table setting
Parking: 2 - Parking lot or street parking
Service: 1 - Cranky old servers
Speed: 1 - Slow
Overall: Â I would not recommend this place!
My Opinion/Story:
I got a Travelzoo coupon for a three course meal. Â First course was soup, which was bland and sad. Â Second course was the entree, which lacks flavor and not enough to share, and the last was dessert which was pleasant enough but not memorable. Â This place should change management, chef and cooks... throw in some newer servers as well. Â I would not come back here even if they give us the food for free.
It is NOT worth coming here even if you have some sort of Groupon or other type of deal. The worst part about this place was the service. I'm not sure if it was because they had already assumed we were using a Groupon (which they were right about), but it was bad.
It started out on the wrong foot from the moment I stepped into the restaurant. I'd made reservations through OpenTable for 6:30. I admit I was definitely late bc I hit more traffic than I thought I would, got there at 6:45 before the rest of my party. Stood around for a while and was totally ignored for a few minutes. Finally a guy (maitre'd?) asked me if I needed help and I told him about my reservation. He made a horrified expression and said they basically "gave up" my reservation since they only hold on to them for 20 min. I was a little confused by that because I arrived before the 20 minute mark and because the restaurant was half empty (and actually never filled up the whole time we were there). :op But he told me I'd need to wait about 10 minutes before I could be seated.
When we finally got a table, service was super slow. They did say they were short people, but it was still a pretty abysmal rate. They brought out the dishes slowly one by one so we could at least eat them hot. When our first dish came out, though, they didn't bring out the rice we'd ordered with it, so we had to flag one of the waitresses down to request it and then wait a few minutes to get it. So our first dish did wind up getting cooled down anyway. We understood the wait for the other dishes, but come on, rice? It's gotta be just sitting in a rice cooker waiting to get put into a bowl. :op
Foodwise, the only reason I'm giving this place 2 stars instead of 1 is because I thought our honey walnut shrimp dish was pretty good and our kung pao scallops were also decent. Both dishes were way overpriced for their portion size though. And the roast duck we ordered was terrible, way too salty. You can definitely get way better Chinese food at other places for way cheaper.
I understand higher prices because the restaurant is located in the Fairmont hotel, but for that same reason, I would think the service should be way better for being in a hotel. I expect semi-crappy service from some Chinese dive restaurant, but in a hotel? Bah.
My reason for even setting foot into this restaurant is because of a Groupon that was given to me from a friend. Â Like any true Yelper, I looked up reviews for the restaurant before going and was prepared for the absolute worst while noting the poor ratings. Â I can sum up this place in two words: Â Rip Off.
The food was only okay (I would say a 3 star rating based solely on food), but at steep, steep prices. Â Entrees averaged at about $16 or higher, which is extremely overpriced for Chinese food. Â Not only that, but the servings were rather small. Â Not to mention that they charged $3 for each bowl of rice, which is absolutely ridiculous. Â I guess it's because of the location of this restaurant...it's located inside the Fairmont Hotel, so of course, you should expect to be ripped off with Americanized Chinese food. Â
What was super notable was that the first hostess that we had spoken to told us that we would have to wait 20-30 minutes. Â Upon glancing around the restaurant and noting that there were plenty of open tables, we were extremely skeptical. Â He said that it was because there was a large volume of online reservations that had been made and that they were expecting it to be a busy night. Â Luckily, a second hostess spoke to us and seated us right away. Â Our wait time was about 10 minutes thanks to her.. Â during our meal there, we noticed that there were still plenty of open tables and were gravely annoyed at the first hostess for telling us that it was going to be a busy night. Â What a noob.
The restaurant itself had nice ambiance. Â Dim lighting, nice chairs, and silverware. Â I feel like that is pretty much what you're paying for. Â Maintenance for a fancy looking place because food is only mediocre. Â Did I mention that they don't validate for parking? Â This makes me a little sad.
If you are studying for the SATs, this review might help (as it has verbal and math lessons). And if the SATs are a distant memory, this review can still be educational (if you want to know why you should avoid this place like a childcare facility ran by Casey Anthony).
Anyway, class is in session. The word of the day is "pagoda."
pagoda [puh-goh-duh]:
-noun
1. A religious building of the Far East, especially a multistory Buddhist tower, erected as a memorial or shrine.
2. A structure, such as a garden pavilion, built in imitation of a multistory Buddhist tower.
3. A total f***in' rip off.
Okay, so I made up the third definition. But that's how I feel about Pagoda, especially after I got suckered in by "false advertisement" and took La Novia here for the "Dinner and a Movie" deal.
The offer (as falsely advertised at the entrance of Pagoda) is 2 appetizers, 2 main courses, 2 glasses of wine, and 2 movie tickets (redeemable at the nearby Camera 12 Cinema) for just $50. Deep down, I had a hunch that getting all of this food, booze, and movie tickets at an "upscale" Chinese restaurant was too good to be true. And well, I was right.
It's not $50. According to the receipt in front of me, It's actually $72.19. How the hell did this happen?
Please read exhibit A, B, and C.
A. Got rice, b**ch? - This "deal" doesn't include any rice. So each person at the table is charged $3.00 for a small bowl steamed rice. This takes the total up to $56. Okay, I am getting mad now.
B. Insanely (and illegally) high sales tax? - This is California, so you need to add sales tax, which was $6.11. If you do the math, or I do the math for you, you'll realize that the sales tax rate here is about 10.9%. At the time that La Novia and I had dinner here, the sales tax rate in San Jose was 8.25%. So my sales tax should have been $4.62. Okay, I am getting madder.
C. La Novia and Archie are a large party? - You also need to include the 18% "large party gratuity" that is automatically added to your bill. Look, I know I have put on a little weight, so La Novia and I tip the scales at a total combined weight of 305 pounds. But by no means are we a "large party." That's ridiculous. Okay, I am now officially pissed off.
Anyway, that's pretty much how this place robbed me of $72.19.
As for the food, it was mediocre. Our appetizers were barely edible. The "Salt and Pepper Prawns" did not make me smile like the silly rap group from the '80s. They were way too salty. I "pushed it" away. The "Mu Shu Pork" looked and tasted as if I bit into a baby's diaper. Gross.
The main courses were okay, but were super small portions and highly overpriced. The "Honey Walnut Prawns" were good. But you only receive maybe 8 small prawns for $16. The "Almond Chicken" was bland and at $14 it was really overpriced for such a small portion. And as mentioned before, the steamed rice was $3 for each person. Even at $1.50 at your average Chinese restaurant it's kind of a rip off, so charging $3 is pretty much highway robbery. Ugh.
In the end, you should avoid this place. I highly suggest you take the $72.19 (or more depending if they raise their fake sales tax rate) and take it Camera 12 Cinema. Drop $60 on a movie card that has 10 movie tickets on it. That's $120 worth of tickets for half the price. Now that's a deal.
Then take the remaining $12.19 and spend it Panda Express, as it tastes a lot better than this place. Ugh.
Basura!
Please if you are reading this favor - do yourself favor. Save your money and go to PF Chang's across the street. You will pay 50% less for your meal and your meal will taste edible! A friend had given us a travelzoo voucher for a gift so we paid $13 for 2 soups, 2 entrees, 2 apps and 1 desert. this is THE WORST deal I have ever gotten.
My hubbie got the singaporean noodles and the chicken literally tasted like it had been boiled in salty water. disgusting. the only reason this restaurant is in business is because of the fairmount. there is no way this business would survive on its own. i was very sad the whole meal with a view of tandoori oven from our table and thinking about how $13 would get me some amazing food there. hell subway is even better!
I went here for the Dine Downtown Prix Fixe menu going on in downtown SJ. My wife got the $20 menu and I ordered separately. Together we tried 5 different things. We both really enjoyed the spring rolls. I normally hate spring rolls, but these were cooked perfectly and the ingredients really complimented one another. We also enjoyed the mango chicken stir fry and the cashew chicken (who doesn't like cashew chicken though?). I wasn't a big fan of the Hong Kong crispy noodles, but they went well with the other dishes we ordered. I'd say overall the food was good, but definitely on the pricey side.
This is a restaurant in a hotel, and there is definitely something to be said about that. Often times I feel that servers act differently in a hotel, especially in a business hotel, because they know they will get some hotel guests at their tables who tip standard amounts and table turnover will be slow most of the time. The server was nice enough, but the host that sat us didn't seem to know what he was doing. It just felt like this place was an afterthought by The Fairmont.
This is a decent place, but with the price and type of food offered, I feel that you can get better bang for your buck elsewhere in downtown SJ.
This review is for the Bamboo Lounge only...
Ouch! Â There are some really bad reviews on here! I attended a Yelp event here last night and I thought it was okay. Â Granted I haven't had dinner here, but for drinks and appetizers the Bamboo Lounge was great. Â I would love to go back. I was especially fond of the Chinese chips and salsa. Â Clever little appetizer! Â Fried won ton chips with a sweet sauce (very tasty). Â My other favorite appetizer was the Walnut Prawns, mmmmm I want to go back for that little plate of heaven again (I might have to add this appetizer to my 'Want' list). We also tried the Salt and Pepper Prawns (loved the fresh peppers) and then we had the spring rolls. Â The spring rolls were just meh, kind of bland and oh sooo greasy (yuck) so skip this appetizer. Â The winner at the bar was the Far East Caipirinha, so refreshing with a little lychee mixed in to give it an Asian twist. Â Tasty stuff!
My fiancee brought this deal from travelzoo hoping to treat me a nice dinner.
First time, he called to make an appointment for Saturday evening. The waiter over the phone told him that they were busy and don't have any opening till 9PM. OK so we took the 9PM reservation. We arrived, but there were not busy at all. When we told the waiter that we have a reservation at 9PM, he said, "hmmm.. sorry I think the chef just cleaned out the kitchen and left..." WHAT????? Why would the kitchen shut down when you know you are expecting guests???
So second time, we made reservation for a weekday evening. The restaurant was not busy, and the waitress immediately explained to us how would the travelzoo deal work.
The place was not very clean. The wall paper had stains all over. The plating set I have in front of me had a piece of dried rice...
We wanted to order the Roasted Duck, however the waitress said they are out. (Early in the evening and you are out? You are not that even busy.) As we try to pick out another entree in replace of our first choice, the waitress became impatient.. giving us looks.
We ordered:
- 2 wonton soups --- bland, taste like canned chicken broth
- 1 salt and pepper prawns (6pcs) & 1 sweet and sour prawns (4pcs) --- both are very salty and greasy, the crispy noodle holding the prawns was not cooking thoroughly; with comparison, I was joking that that sweet & sour sauce there worth 2 prawns..
- 1 prawns scallops with broccoli --- very salty
- 1 steamed salmon --- very bland
They are extremely small portion. My fiancee walked around the restaurant to look at what others have on table. For people who didn't use the travelzoo deal, they get at least 2x the portion. OMG my fiancee was so angry knowing that and the rest of the dinner was not quite pleasant.
Because of that tiny entree portion, we had to order rice ($3 a bowl). The rice was not high quality. While consuming it, we found a piece of plastic strip in the rice. It is coming from the plastic packaging for the rice bag. If one washes their rice before cooking, those pieces of plastic were supposed to flow on the top of water... so most likely they didn't wash the rice prior cooking.
At the end, we got 1 dessert to share. How is it a 2-person 4-course meal if we only get total 7 courses?
Bad service. The waitresses disappear most of the time. They were rude anyway. (there is a difference between rude and inability to speak fluent English). Seriously, giving us smaller portion is not going to save your restaurant alot of money, but doing so leaving yourself a very bad reputation.
We will not ever come back here again and would not recommend this place.
Me and my gf went here because of the travelzoo deal and we didn't really have high expectations based on the other reviews.
We ended up getting:
- 2 wonton soups which were lukewarm and kinda bland
- salt n pepper prawns which was a small portion but decent
- potstickers which seemed like it was frozen
- honey walnut prawns which were good, can't go wrong
- lemon chicken with garlic which didn't taste like lemon, but still good
This place is average, just seems like a regular Chinese restaurant that is trying to be fancy. Mostly all hotel guests and business ppl.
Overpriced-bad-tasting chinese food. Even worst than Sino.
Bought a travelzoo $35 voucher for a 4 course dinner for 2 (2 soups, 2 appetizers, 2 entrees, and dessert), supposedly worth $80. Â I can see why it adds up to around $80....everything on the menu is overpriced!
-Won ton soup: $6 for a small bowl of soup
-Salt & Pepper Prawns: $12 for FOUR small pieces of shrimp, not "prawns". Extremely salty, yuck
-Minced Chicken mint rolls: $8. I don't know why they call it "rolls", its minced chicken on a few lettuce pieces.
-Half roast duck: $16. Too oily and not enough meat on the duck pieces
-Prawn & Scallop with Broccoli: $18. They need to stop calling these "prawns" when you can find the same size of shrimp at Panda Express, for 1/4 of the price
-Dessert: looks so pretty, unfortunately taste like it's been sitting in the fridge for a few days
I gave it 2 stars because at least the ambiance was nice. Nice decorations, good lighting, clean & decorated plates, and professional looking waiters.
If it weren't the coupon "3-Course Romantic Chinese Dinner for Two" for $39, I probably would never come here, there are so many great Chinese restaurant around with real Chinese food at much cheaper price.
The decor is nice, since it is located inside the Fairmont Hotel. Our waiter is really odd and not super friendly. Every dish we asked him was "excellent". Food was ok though very americanized. Won ton soup was actually decent. Our water glass was contantly empty, and we asked for more water, we were given a big attitude.This is inside Fairmont hotel, doesn't the hotel care that it needs to provide great service to their guests, including those dine at the restaurants? It was a complete joke that our glasses were always empty and we were given attitude and looks when we asked for more water! Also, the waiter accidently dropped some fork and knife on to the floor but immediately walk over to another table and set them next to the plates! Neitherless to say, we will not be back.
I came here for a show. The performer was great. The restaurant had a cool decor. The door man was nice. He allowed me to come inside though I they stopped selling tickets.
That said, he let me come in late because I had shown up early and he told me I had to wait for them to "set up", no I couldn't even go in and have a drink at the bar. He suggested I go to the bar in the lobby of the Fairmont. I did. PAID 13 for a vodka tonic. Shoot me. Left the hotel for the Brit until the show started.
Aside from that the venue doesn't have a bathroom inside, you have to walk thru the hotel.
Not impressed. I will not be returning here.
Location: 5 stars
Staff: 4 stars
Food: 2 stars
Does this establishment read reviews about their food at all? There's bunch of complaints about salty food before me. Last night's was no different. I don't  even want to go with what we ordered. EVERYTHING was salty!
To top it all it was pricey! Without the coupon it would have been $100 plus! I don't care if it was pricey if the food was good. But we joked that I could cook their food with my eyes closed in my kitchen and do a bangin' job!
There's not much to like or feel nicey nice about the place. They charge extra for rice and tea. If it was up to me I wouldn't order it.
The staff was good. We liked the female one better. The male staff was very loud!
The restaurant itself was huge with booths surrounding the perimeter. We got seated right away for our 7 pm rezzie. The booth was very small and with two entrees and two glasses of wine it got pretty crowded. Although it's cozy for a mini celebration. Someone is about to embark on a fast track journey to a great future:)
Pagoda: read the reviews and re-think your fee for everything! Rewind that moment with your chef when the salt was about to join the food on the wok! Less is better with sodium! Really! Â Then maybe we will be back!
The place: Pretty nice, pretty fancy for a Chinese restaurant. Nice decorations and lighting, I liked it. It also looked very clean & organized
Service: We had a waiter & a waitress serving us for some reason. Maybe because it wasn't busy at the time (Thursday evening). They were both very nice. However, the waiter wasn't able to recommend me any items. He just told us "every item is good".
Food: Had the pot stickers, they were okay. The sauce wasn't good. Had the wonton soup, not so great. It wasn't warm enough and did not taste good, so I didn't even finish it. We had the Mongolian beef and Walnut prawns. The beef wasn't all that, felt a bit salty. The prawns were just ordinary. They brought out this "yin & yang" desert for us to share. 1 was thick (too thick) dark chocolate on a crust and 1 was some kinda mango on a crust. It looked fancy, but tasted only Okay.
Price: $12 and up for each plate
Other: I would not come back here again since the food isn't good and the prices are high. Even with the travelzoo voucher I bought, we paid a total of $55 (including taxes/tip).
At the end, they never came back with our change either. Maybe they kept it assuming they HAD to have the $8 tip because we used a travelzoo voucher, interesting
This place is complete and utter neglect. Â
Took 10 mins for someone to take our order, when it finally came, she got the appetizer wrong.
Then another 20 mins before entrees came. For finale, we flagged down 2 waitresses before we got the check.
Now the food which was prob one of the worst Chinese food we've had, greasy shrimp, small plate, veggie fried rice with frozen veggies.
Fairmont should get new crew, new chefs and maybe keep the decor that was the only thing nice.
Do not recommend this place, even if Travelzoo has a deal here again (yes, that's the only reason we came)
Let me say right of the bat, the service was so bad we walked out so this is not a review of the food. Â Like a lot of other reviewers for this place my husband and I were gifted with the romantic 4 course dinner for 2 Travelzoo coupon. Â We decided to go here before attending a play at the Rep on a Tuesday night. Â Since I knew we had someplace to be I arranged for an hour and a half to eat and get to the theater a block away. Â Because we were aware of time I asked my husband EXACTLY what time it was when we walked in. Â 6:30 on the dot. Â Like others, we stood in the bar area for several minutes before someone who looked like a valet at the Fairmont asked us if we would like to be seated. Â
After being seated I got up to go the bathroom and left hubby with my drink order. Â 10 minutes later (I couldn't find the bathrooms at first as you have to go out into the hotel lobby) I get back to the table and nothing! No water, no drinks, NOTHING! Â About 5 minutes later a woman comes by and without a word just pours our water and then walks away. Â We wait again. Finally hubby flagged down a waitress who told us she would be "right back." Â When she finally does come back we tell her that we are in a bit of a time crunch and did she think we could make it out of the restaurant by 10 till 8 since we have the 4 course coupon? Â She says " Well this is fine dining so we say an hour to an hour 30 minutes." I look at my watch and tell her we have been sitting there for 20 minutes already and she laughs and says "I don't think so." Â EXCUSE ME????
#1 If this is so called fine dining then I expect better service. Â I expect water and a cocktail at my table in less than 10 minutes after I walk in the door.
#2 If this is fine dining I expect for the waitress to not talk back to me and to know the customer is always right, which I knew I was because I had been checking my watch as we sat there
#3 The restaurant was a quarter full and you can't get out a soup, app, entrée, and dessert in an hour when the customer makes a request?  This isn't Manresa or the French Laundry. Â
We told her "fine, we will just leave." Â She says " I already marked your coupon." Â I told her "well you can just mark though what you wrote because we are not staying." Â
Headed across the street to Johnny Rockets. Â Got a fabulous waitress who got us our food in the time it took to simply have water poured at Pagoda. Â At least it gave hubby and me a fun catch phrase for the night, "I don't think so."
This is a review for another side of the Pagoda - not Pagoda the restaurant, but when the Pagoda moonlights as the music venue. Â While folks may not enjoy her as a restaurant, her alternative personality as a space for live bands might sway people to come back. Â I had the luck of attending a Little Dragon concert at the Pagoda last Thursday and really enjoyed the show and venue. Â
Granted, it did get a bit stuffy at times in the main area, but the slightly raised stage area surrounded by the pillars gave it a nice dramatic effect. Â It also served as an intimate space for an up-close show. Â The bar and lounge area is located in the entrance and in a different room from the restaurant/stage area. Â So there's no worry about fighting through crowds and trying to scream out your order during the performance.
I wasn't a fan of lining up outside the hotel since it was freezing that night, but seeing Little Dragon perform was well worth the downsides. Â I hope the Pagoda will continue to recruit more up and coming talent. Â If so, I certainly will be back, although I might hit up a pre-show dinner elsewhere.
My cousin was in town and he wanted to eat here because of a travelzoo coupon, my fiance and I have pondered coming here as well. The decor of the restaurant is great but that was all that was good or even ok about the restaurant. Â
The food here was horrible, I have to say this was the worst Chinese food I have ever had. The dishes were way over priced, the portions were tiny, the food was way too salty and the food wasn't flavorful or tasty at all.
We ordered the Hong Kong style noodles and instead they served us regular chow mien noodles. First of all the waitresses neglected to tell us that they substituted chow mien noodles for the Hong Kong style noodles and they didn't even ask us if it was ok.
They charge for tea and rice and their food was gross. I would never recommend anyone to come here.
I only went because a friend had a Travelzoo local deal that offered dinner for two (appetizer, soup, entree and shared dessert) for only $35. Â The premise here is upscale Chinese food, but I am really not sure there is such a thing. Â I mean, there is fancy Asian Fusion, such as that offered by Ming Tsai or Roy Yamaguchi. Â
My biggest complaints with the food were the lukewarm hot and sour soup (ironic, no?) and pot stickers. Â The flavors were good, but the temperature made them less appetizing. Â Much better, though, was the Szechuan Beef, which was super tender, flavorful and spicy. Â The service, though, was really lacking. Â No follow through at all. Â I would liked to have ordered another drink, but was never asked if I wanted one. Â Oh, and there was unidentifiable gunk along in the inside of my water glass. Â Yuck!
With so many people coming here with the Travelzoo voucher (I counted at least 5 tables that had this), this was Pagoda's chance to hook some new customers. Â I mean, the food actually is quite good, if a little pricey. Â But, in the end, they blew it and I don't see coming back here...unless Groupon or some other daily deals site does something here.
I had dinner last night at Pagoda with three coworkers. Â We all agreed the food was good but the service was really lacking -- especially since this restaurant is inside the Fairmont Hotel. Â Not to mention the pricers are higher than your average family run Chinese business. Â Two of us waited for about 20 minutes for our friends to arrive and during that time no one came by to ask us if we wanted to order beverages. Â When we were all ready to order beverages and appetizers, we had to ask someone to take our order.
For some reason the beverages came out one at a time which we thought was really funny because we ordered hot tea, Diet Pepsi and lemonade -- pretty easy. Â The lemonade was in a glass that had a crack in it. Â We sent it back but a new lemonade was not brought out until we asked. Â The table water tasted funny. Â All of us refused to drink it.
We ordered 5 dishes and it took a long time to get our dinner even though the restaurant was less than half full. Â All the dishes came out except for one. Â The waitress said she knew we had one more dish coming but by the time it arrived, we had already finished everything else including rice and had to order another small order of rice to go with the dish.
The food is served in the traditional family style and the portions were a little less than the other Chinese restaurants I frequent. Â I'd like to give more than two stars but the service was not worthy of anything higher. I was really looking forward to trying this restaurant and was disappointed. Â If I were staying at the Fairmont again, I would consider giving it another try only because I thought the food quality was good.
Service was attentive, but ultimately they got our order wrong and argued (politely) that we were in the wrong. Â When you charge $15 for a bunch of fried up noodles, you take it back if the customer says it was wrong. Â I'm not one to send food back, but a wrong order is a wrong order.
As for the food itself, the potstickers were tasty. Â The Szechuan shrimp was also delicious and had a nice kick. Â The chicken fried rice and the hong kong noodles I could have done without.
$55 for 3 dishes + an appetizer seems a bit steep for Chinese food. Â This place is empty for a reason. Â The chain nearby (PF Chang's) will easily cannibalized its business.
Also - no validated parking. Â I was misled when I called the phone number in this entry.
I was about to give this place 2 stars, but then I realized, "I just went to a Chinese restaurant at the Fairmont."
Overall, everything was okay. Â Food was decent, nothing too spectacular, but everything tasted fine. Â I liked that the potstickers were homemade... very yummy. Â Service was very friendly and prompt; they have a full bar which is something you can't say for many Chinese restaurants (including Sapporo on tap!). Â
The price was kind of high for what we got, BUT if you use <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Frestaurant.com&s=c5fe485af4df376130bee54f875814d79c4d7913e1258123b1206d2bdbf4873b" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://restaurant.com</a>, you can get discounted gift certificates; that's what made our dinner a good deal. :)
Can't say that I'll go here again, but it really was an "A-OK" place.
Came here for a date and it was nice. The food was a bit pricey but everything on their somewhat limited menu was tasty and cooked perfectly. We had the potstickers, Schezwan Chicken, and Peppered Beef. They have a full bar and a very good piano player was there on our visit.
It's a bit hard to find tucked away in the fairmont hotel but it's a pretty place (well decorated) and kind of fun. Service was very good.
Pagoda's entrance is easier to find across from Tandoori Oven at 150 South 1st St., than through Fairmont Hotel.
On a Saturday at 6:30pm, surprisingly few tables were occupied. There are tables for 3, and bigger, round, tables for larger groups. There is also a dimly lit bar.
The food was excellent, and the servers were courteous and prompt. The ambiance was stylish, and the personnel wore Chinese outfits. Low noise - we could carry on a conversation comfortably. Don't remember if there was any music.
Pagoda is an underrated local gem.
Got a groupon and decided to visit on 8/5/2010 on a thursday when there was a music in the park. there were so many people outside walking but there were only 4 tables with people in pagoda. So sad because the food was phenominal!!! Best chinese food ive eaten. We ordered the honey walnut prawns as we would always do at every chinese food place we go to assess the quality of food. The prawns were fresh and crispy and not soggy as some chinese restaurants have it.
we also ordered the prawns and scallop. best brocoli ive ever tasted, so fresh! The shrimp fried rice was good and nice portions.
for desert we tried the mango ginger creme brulee... perfect!!!
there was also a pianist by the bar area which is clearly audible from the dinning area.
very nice ambiance, very good food. will definitely go back. will buy a lot of restaurant certificates for this place. plan to eat here monthly :)
I had a chance to visit Pagoda a few weeks ago after purchasing a certificate on Groupon. Â The restaurant is located in the Fairmont Hotel in downtown San Jose. Â I went on a Tuesday night and the bar was empty except for the bartender, Hugo. Â Eventually a few others came in. Â I ordered an appetizer (Salt & Pepper Prawns) and for the entree I ordered Garlic Chicken. Â I skipped the rice. Â Both dishes were delicious and the portions were pretty good. Â My only issue was that the appetizer and entree came at the same time. Â
The bar area is dimly light and has several small tables and comfortable couches. Â There is a piano in the bar area and Hugo (the bartender) mentioned they have someone playing on Thursdays and Friday. Â I definitely want to go back and check it out.
They do have a private room off the bar area that can be used for small private events up to 35 people. Â Parking is farily easy - you can park on the street, use the hotel valet parking or park in one of the nearby garages.
This review is for the Piano Bar in the restaurant.
A friend noticed this spot during this summer's Subzero festival that was hosted a few streets away. We stopped by and boy were we blown away.
Nice plush couches, dim lighting, and fancy feel. We step up to the bar area, and are immediately greeted by Hugo. As we order our drinks, he slaps down a request slip to the piano man. We jot down a Bowie song (Ccccchanges...), which he plays beautifully. We requested Poker Face by Lady Gaga for laughs, but it's never heard, or maybe we didn't wait long enough to hear it.
I asked Hugo (the bartender) how long they've been open, and they've been there for awhile, just not open to the street i.e. the doors that open out to the street have always been closed until recently. Previously, you would have to access the bar from the inside of Fairmont.
We have a splendid conversation with Hugo, he tells us the walks of life that frequent the local bars, about his life, school, and ourselves. I get a feeling he's more interested in my companion, but I don't mind, because so am I. I order a Shirley Temple, she orders a Dirty Shirley. My memory fails me on how much my tab was, but I know I was shocked with the receipt. I feel like a fat man getting a lap dance- it's a price you have to pay to get seduced. So I don't mind.
The dialogue ends when the drunks across us decides to sing along, and we all have a laugh. We get the feeling that piano man is close to playing a Semisonic song. It feels early, but we all get the feeling that it's time to go.
We bid Hugo adieu and make a mental note to return once again. m
Not very crowded, but friendly and yummy food!
We walked around downtown saturday night looking for something to eat! We were walking by this place on the way to somewhere else when I smelled this amazing thing... Â It was Pagoda! It looked empty, but we were so hungry and it smelled so good we figured we HAD to try it!
The door from 2nd street is not the regular door, most people enter through the Fairmont hotel, but they were pleased as punch to see us and cam and opened the door for us!
We chose a booth and ordered up our meals - i went with tofu and eggplant - it said spicy - but i think you had to order it as such. I added some chircacha and whala- mmmm, yummy for my tummy!
Hubby went with the kung pow, xtra spicy and really enjoyed it!! And our other friend went with shrimp and scallop dish and mushu wrappers and enjoyed his meal as well.
The water tasted chlorinated, but not having lived in CA for a few years, this could have just been the norm.
All in all it was an enjoyable meal! Good choice when all the fancy places are full on a Saturday night!
The decor is nice and it seems like it's very easy to get a table here. Â Maybe because it's not facing the main side of the Fairmont Hotel. Â The food was pretty good. Â
We had the salt and pepper prawns and there was complaints that it was too salty. Â I also ordered the egg drop soup and someone else had the wont ton soup. Â Both were bland so I would pass on those. Â The combination fried rice was good, peppered beef was also very tasty, the honey walnut prawns were a hit, and the beef chow fun was decent. Â We also ordered the Gai Lan (Chinese broccoli veggies with brown sauce) and that was decent too. Â The duck was good but very fatty. Â All in all, I thought the food was pretty good. Â
The plus with this restaurant is the fact that they have yummy desserts! Â The creme brule was really buttery and creamy, not eggy. Â The chocolate cake wasn't really chocolate cake. Â It had cheesecake mouse on the top half and chocolate mousse on the bottom.
i'd recommend trying this place if you're in the mood for chinese food with nice ambiance. Â However, it is on the more Americanized side of chinese food.
This restaurant is at the Fairmont, San Jose. It is a hidden gem. Must try.
We went there last weekend on a saturday night. We got there about 840 PM but the place was empty except for 2 small tables. We loved that it was so quiet but were worried that it might not be the best restaurant.
But our worries were dashed as soon as our appetizer arrived. We got a lettuce wrap and a pineapple royale cocktail. It was amazing. The we got out entrees - Shrimp w/lobster sauce and blackbean chicken. Very tasty.
We will definitely go back. They also take restaurant.com's coupons.
When we came out the lounge was full and people were dancing to live music. All in all a great evening....
The 5 best restaurants in the 2015 Denver Restaurant Week
3,611 Views | Category: Denver
The complete list of 2015 Denver Restaurant Week businesses
1,972 Views | Category: Denver
The tourists' guide to Portillos: 5 must have dishes
3,318 Views | Category: Chicago
Pho = Pronounced "fuh" not "foe" for pho-king sake
2,915 Views | Category: Denver
Indulgery selected to exhibit at Collision Conference
2,987 Views | Category: Press Releases
Not Logged In
BUSINESSES
Local Businesses
Near Me
My Favorites
SOCIAL
Blog & News
MY ACCOUNT
Login
Register
Contact Us
Add Your Business
