Tso-tso

When I stepped into Fusion China at 8 p.m. on a Thursday night, there were no customers in the restaurant, but it looked like a hurricane had gone through there. I looked around the dining room and saw that all the tables were covered with leftover dishes and tip money, and the phone was ringing off the hook for delivery orders. Maybe one or two of their staff called in sick, I don’t know, but it was not a pretty sight. These poor guys—they were probably having the worst night of their lives, and then I come in to review them.

When I looked at the counter behind the register, I could see take-out orders to be delivered piling up. The cooks in the kitchen were screaming to each other at the top of their lungs. The unfortunate guy who was working the counter was up to his ears in take-out and delivery orders, and people were repeatedly calling, asking him where their food was. I picked a great night to come here, huh? Obviously, they were understaffed for the amount of volume the restaurant was undertaking. I think they need two or three more delivery drivers. Also, I think that since Fusion China is a new restaurant, they are still trying to find their rhythm and develop a system that works effectively. At first, I thought I should come back another time, but I was hungry, so I went ahead and ordered.

The food at Fusion China was average. I think I was spoiled as a youngster eating at Chinese restaurants in Chinatown in San Francisco, like the Golden Dragon and the Four Seas, where generations of Chinese chefs have wielded woks for millions of people, and they have refined and mastered the food. Since then, it seems all the Chinese food I eat is ordinary and unimpressive. I still like it, though. How can you go wrong with beef, chicken, seafood, noodles, rice and fresh vegetables?

I looked at the menu and noticed it said that one of the house specials was General Tso’s chicken (small, $5.25). To me, if a restaurant says something is their specialty, I feel the need to see why. It was just OK. The chicken was cooked well, but I thought there was too much of the mediocre sauce. My to-go box almost looked like General Tso’s chicken soup—not the spicy, tangy general’s chicken I love. The rice was a little flat, too. It tasted dry. When I eat general’s chicken, I like to be able to pick the rice up with my chopsticks. This rice required a spoon. It wasn’t moist enough to clump up in the chopsticks.

I took my food home with me and ate it in front of the television. I wasn’t going to wait another half hour for them to clean up the dining room.

Overall, I must say that Fusion China is very new and has quite a few glitches to work out. But I will try the delivery service the next time—after all, it’s free.