Review #42 - Hamachi Mura

Hamachi Mura
Variety: Sushi & Thai
Address: 540 Southgate Drive
Date Visited: Sunday, October 21, 2012
Orders: Thai Spring Rolls, Beef Pad Se-ew, Chicken Masaman Curry

Taste: 4 + 5 = 9/20
Portion Size: 8 + 8 = 16/20
Presentation: 8 + 8 = 16/20
Value: 3 + 3 = 6/20
Service: 6 + 6 = 12/20
Bonus: -
Minus: -4
Final Grade: 55% (Marginal)

(Scoring: 100% to 140% = Exceptional, 85% to 99% = Excellent, 67% to 84% = Good, 60% to 66% = Satisfactory, 50% to 59% = Marginal, 0% to 49% = Poor, -40% to -1% = Abysmal)

Notes: We loves us some Thai food. In fact, two of our top three reviews to date come from Thai restaurants. Unfortunately, Hamachi Mura currently finds itself in the bottom three on our scoreboard. Neither of us had been to a Hamachi restaurant before, although we'd heard very good things, and had enjoyed some of their fine cuisine in the VIP Room at Halifax Rainmen basketball games. Hamachi Mura and its sister restaurant, the Mediterranean-themed Son Vida are the only restaurants in the vicinity of our home in the Larry Uteck Boulevard area, and we were hoping that it might become our new "go-to" dining option close to home. The fact that we got a discount coupon in the mail only helped its cause, and after a long day, we decided to stop in to give it a try. We ordered the Thai Spring Rolls to start, and they were hot, fresh and tasty. Off to a good start, but it all went downhill from there. In short, the Beef Pad Se-ew, one of T's all-time faves, was an epic fail. They got the "ew" part right - the rice noodles were mushy, the beef was stringy, the egg was just plain icky, the vegetables were barely cooked and to make matters worse, the dish smelled very strange, too. We flagged down the waitress and informed her of the problem and to her credit, she offered to get us a new order, but we asked for another recommendation instead. She suggested the Garlic Ginger Beef, so that's what we went for. However, it took nearly 15 minutes for the order to come back, leaving our other order to get cold. Said other order was one of J's faves, the Chicken Masaman Curry. Mysteriously, it was made with sweet potato instead of regular potato, which frankly was not a solid choice. It was also served with a random bowl of extra masaman sauce, which was kinda weird, but whatever. The whole thing was far too salty, but passable. At long last, the Garlic Ginger Beef arrived, which was edible, but that's about it. A run-of-the-mill stir-fry, it relied far too heavily on salt, yet the meat itself was neither well-seasoned nor well-prepared. T referred to it as "a bit of salt water poured over some vegetable with big sticks of ginger." To add insult to injury, the pre-coupon bill came to over $50 (without gratuity), and that was without anything other than water to drink. Needless to say, we were not at all impressed. On the scorecard, T insisted on two negative points "for the experience, period," and J echoed that sentiment. We've been far more satisfied with the fare at Thai Express in the Halifax Shopping Centre, and have walked away from there with change in our pockets. Although we walked in hoping for the best, we went home very disappointed with this dining experience, which T aptly summed up by saying: "We were bound to get an unexpected fail someday."

Final Verdict: Stay home and make it the right way for 1/6 the price.