Sunday, March 22, 2009

Sino - Santana Row


Us all rested up and relaxed from the day at the Spa. Now time to make our 9pm reservation at Sino's - just a 5 minute walk from the Hotel Valencia.


Sino is a modern Chinese Restaurant - Cantonese flair and fusion.

Sino had a wonderful drink menu. Starting clockwise: Elena ordered the Ecstasy - Absolut Peach Vodka, Peach Liqueur and sparkling wine. Amanda ordered the Dirty Dirty Martini - Kettle One Vodka, olive juice and hand stuffed blue cheese olives. I ordered my usual Mojito - this one made with Tangueray Rangspur Gin, fresh lime juice and mint leaves. Last but not least, Kelly ordered the Red Head in Bed - Strawberry Smirnoff, muddled strawberries, lemon sour, simple syrup and Sprite.


These are Vegetable Egg rolls, we did not order these but they placed them on our table. They said it was their mistake but allowed us to enjoy them anyway. They were great! My favorite of the night!



These are the Maine Lobster & Prawn Pot stickers with Black Vinegar Dipping Sauce. I wanted these to be delicious, I really did. I was not impressed. The dipping sauce was very good though.


I thought the Hot & Sour Soup would just be out of this world from the description on the menu. It included crab, sea scallops and shrimp. Unfortunately it was officially the worst Hot & Sour Soup I have ever had. It tasted like cornstarch and white pepper. Yuck.


Crab cakes! These always make me happy. Taro crusted in spicy Chili Citrus Aioli. I don't feel the sauce contributed anything to the cakes. They were better on their own.


Sorry for the poor photo! The first up top is the Wok Fired Steak, I did not try this but Kelly said it was too chewy. The middle dish was the 3 girls favorite of the night, the Orange Roasted Prawns with candied walnuts. Yum! And last but not least the Kumquat Chicken. I had a few bites of this and enjoyed it. Very sweet!

All in all our experience at Sino's was a good one. The inside was packed and they have very LOUD music pumping in the bar area. We sat in the very back of the restaurant and still were having trouble holding a conversation amongst the noise. The restaurant turns into a nightclub and as we were leaving there was a line about 30 people deep to get in! The food was hit and miss, pricey but it was a cool space. I now know what to order and what to stay away from. The service was decent for it being so packed. I would return. 1.75 thumbs up for awesome atmosphere.

1 comment:

Merrie said...

Yummy! Have you ever tried the honey prawns with walnuts that taste like they're covered in candy at Cheung Sheng? I ooh and aah whenever we splurge to get them.