Zhu Ting Ji 竹亭记

It was perfect. Perfect. Down to the last minute detail. The food is simply amazing. There is so much savory richness and subtle flavors that make this truly addicting. This is not your run of the mill Chinese takeout; this is a standout restaurant with meticulously made food. You can taste the quality and technique. All for a VERY, VERY fair price that I'd rather come here than any other common Utah Chinese restaurants. It was also my first time experiencing REAL sichuan pepper, apparently. For those who don't know, it can elevate a perception of saltiness and mimic the numbing sensation. We had initially thought they made our ribs and potatoes too salty, but after some investigation they schooled us on the effect of the peppers (backed by Google!) and fixed us a different dish so we can compare. They handled it amazing. The atmosphere is also incredible; I love the modern Chinese aesthetic, it's very clean and beautiful to look at. There's also a window into the kitchen, which adds some nice flare. It can get loud in the restaurant, but that's from so many people talking, so perhaps another tribute to the atmosphere. Service is also amazing. As mentioned earlier, when we had a question about our dish, they very nicely investigated, educated, and solved the issue. The servers were definitely overwhelmed on the Saturday where we went, they were running around quickly-- but when we did get their attention, they gave us full and undivided attention and checked on us periodically. Highly recommend and would go again! I believe this to be a gem in the area, if not city, if not the state itself!

Woah… Another great culinary addition to Salt Lake City for Chinese cuisine/restaurant. The menu selection is amazing with so many different entrees, appetizers, noodles selections, protein like beef, chicken, pork and seafood too. They need two menus to cover it all. Foods are very good and tasty but be careful because it can be a little on the salty side. However, it can also be very spicy too if you choose… Finally, a four stars rating from me because the service needs more help at times. I noticed people were lining up in queue when there are still open tables…. At last, prices are considerably lower than other restaurants in town. But by making customers paying for rice is a little bit of a stretch for me. Enjoy all the new tastes of this new place!

Everything was so good I’m looking forward to returning. I’m a big fan of wonton soup and figured I try something different from the traditional so I went with the spicy one. Big mistake. I couldn’t handle it and didn’t like that it had too much oil. Looking around me everything I contemplated looked delicious specially the fried pork and the steak. The fact that the menu has illustrations of every item is a plus for me. I want to return and will but next time no spicy for me. My waiter was not only cute and empathetic that he was nice enough to give me some chicken broth to try with my leftover wontons that I took home.

We came the first weekend they opened so service may have improved, but they were out of rice, mixed up our orders 3 times (we felt bad the third time but then they noticed it), and the bathroom was out of toilet paper and kinda gross. I judge restaurants by their restrooms because if that’s not clean or mismanaged, the kitchen likely is not as well. The food was delicious but for the price, I expected more from the service. Parking was easy, location is great, ambiance inside feels like a fancy Chinese restaurant, so hopefully they figure it out. I like the variety of food offered but it’s definitely a fancy vibe.

We got there around 12 pm no server come greet us until like a good 10 mins later. As when we sit down. 3 tables ahead of us 1 of them already eating. No Togo orders yet. Yet still took a good 20 mins to have first dish come out. With green bean and pork belly arriving first with no rice, not to mention pork belly was ready and we can see it’s sitting there for a good 4 mins and no server went and take it to us. Then a good 12 mins later the other 2 dish arrive while the first 2 dish already went stone cold. Room temperature barely reaching 20 celsius. Assuming they only have 1 main chef in the back and no assistant during that time for a Tuesday. As there were 6 tables in the dining room 3 already been eating. A couple was told the wait time will be 45 mins as they were waiting to be serve. Every dish is delicious but the dumplings. I don’t recommend it. At all. I won’t say it’s bad. But 1000% not authentic. Wrong flour texture. Wrong folding technique. Soup base isn’t at the right savory point alone with a little too much kick of ginger base to it. The dipping sauce also really wrong. As my wife is from Shanghai and I been there a few times. Clearly the selling point of this restaurant has lots of room to grow still if they really wanna be like Din Tai Fung. So after all my dishes arrived. We still waiting another good 10 minutes just for the white rice we ordered. Like really. We had to let our food go cold again just to wait for the rice. Like. What could take so long for just the white rice? Did they not even cook them until someone ordered it? On top of it we ordered it like 35-40 mins ago. You don’t even have white rice ready? Oh boy. But other than the dumplings. Everything else is delicious. Environment is clean and beautiful. Chopsticks wrapped in excellent quality napkins. If you turn up the room temperature at least my dishes wouldn’t get cold so fast so at least I can enjoy all the dishes together. Keep it up