'i' Restaurant

Or "Ai" (Love) -- but I think the loh baan is Cantonese. The corner where it is located has been home to Chinese restaurants for a while--the last two apparently had difficulties staying in business. We decided to go try it since we had a coupon. Heh.

We ordered the salty and spicy pork, which was ok (perhaps a bit too fatty, but comparable to what we've had elsewhere), and the laat ji chicken--this was too laat, nearly ruining my taste buds. We also ordered mango milkshakes--my mom said the ones at McD's were thicker, which is true. I wonder if the smoothies would have been a better choice.

The restaurant has more upscale pretensions than the two it has succeeded--my mom thought that it was a place where couples would go on a romantic date. I would agree, but the only couples I could imagine coming here for that purpose would be Chinese [or Taiwanese] 40-somethings. I think the restaurant is trying to attract the well-off Chinese inhabitants of the area and offer an alternative to the other Chinese restaurants in the area. (Even though Dynasty has the look of a fancier Hong Kong restaurant, it mainly serves families and such. I wouldn't go there for 'formal' dining--there isn't any privacy there.) I just don't see Chinese Americans in their 20s wanting to go there for a date.

The large windows are just wrong for a restaurant trying to be more upscale. (Where's Gordon Ramsay when you need him? I don't think he'll ever do a makeover on a Chinese restaurant.) There's not much that can be done about that, I suppose--the building was originally built as office or retail space, not for a restaurant. If the restaurant had a view of something pleasant, perhaps that would make up for the windows and the feel of the place, but it's looking out on the busy intersection of Blaney and Stevens Creek.

I think it's too late for a New Urbanist vision of Cupertino to be implemented.

The restaurant is hiring wait staff, which it is in need of. Ahem.

Would we go back there? Probably not. Entrees range from $10-$15 (Chef's Specials are higher); noodles, chow fun are $9 to $10. The food is ok, but I think Pan Tao would be a better choice, food-wise. One could pay a little bit more for ambience at 'i.'

Yelp