westword.com – Restaurants – Sum More, Please
Beth and I tried Super Star Asian at 2200 West Alameda last night. The Westword restaurant critic gave it very high praise, but I just wasn’t impressed. It was almost – though not quite – one of those experiences that’s so bad as to be laughable.
For the past couple weeks, there was one thing I was really looking forward to about having the whole week between Christmas and New Year’s off from work. That one thing was going to get dim sum. Originally, my plan was to have dim sum on the Thursday or Friday after Christmas, but Mother Nature had other plans and sent us a snowstorm. Monday, New Year’s Day, I realized that if I was going to have dim sum before the end of my extended break, it had better be today. So I called up Super Star. I wasn’t sure if they’d be open on a national holiday, and also wanted to double check that they’d have dim sum today.
The conversation:
“Hi, I was just calling to see if you’re open today, and – if so – how late.”
“Yes, we’re open.”
“And are you serving dim sum today?”
“Yes, until eight.”
“OK, thanks.”
I thought to myself, “Awesome, we can get dim sum for supper tonight.” So I went about my New Year’s Day, looking forward to dim sum all day long. We arrived at Super Star around 6:15, and were seated immediately. I was happy to see that there were tables available, because I was pretty hungry.
But a few minutes into looking at the menus they presented started to give me a bad feeling. I didn’t see any dim sum carts being pushed around. The next time I saw our server, I asked if they were serving dim sum. She said, “No, it’s a holiday. And besides, we don’t serve dim sum past 3 PM.”
I was dejected. After looking forward to trying their dim sum for two weeks and then being told on the phone I could get some, I realized I wasn’t getting any. So, we looked through the menu, asked the waitress a couple questions, and ordered two dishes – sizzling pepper steak and some sort of house special scallops. The waitress said they’re both very good.
The only bowls of soup on the menu were for 4 to 6 people, so we didn’t get any soup to quiet our growling stomaches. And growl they did, because it took a full hour before they finally served our food. By then, our small talk had turned to grumbling about the slow service, and I honestly thought of just walking out to go get a hot dog at the fast food joint across the street. But we stuck it out, and hoped the food would be worth the wait.
The food was decent – not bad – but not outstanding. It was on par with what you’d get at any of two dozen decent Chinese restaurants in the Denver area. I liked the scallops, though they weren’t very unique. And the beef dish Beth wanted was tasty, but nothing to write home about.
Once we finished eating, I asked for the check, of course. But the wait staff was still so scarce and slow that I ended up just leaving cash enough on the table to cover the total plus a good tip.
So, I’m really not sure if I’ll give Super Star another try or not. Our usual haunt for dim sum is King’s Land, which is literally right across the parking lot from Super Star. There’s sometimes a wait to get a table, but once you get seated, the food is consistently fast. I’m still in the mood for dim sum, so maybe we’ll just go to King’s Land for brunch this Saturday.