The opening of Hsin was an event riddled with anticipation. While the restaurant was originally going to open its doors in August of 2009, one delay after another pushed the date to the week before spring break this year. Today Hsin holds its grand opening, maybe to let students know that it’s serious this time.
If this was some convoluted scheme to build a presence on the campus and stir up excitement without selling a single dish, it certainly worked on my friends and me. By the time Hsin finally began serving food on March 10, I was about ready to order the whole menu.
Thankfully, I settled for the orange chicken.
Thankfully, because the orange chicken is perhaps not as bad as most of their other items.
Disappointment was an understatement. The interior looked so sleek and inviting, and an absence of nearby Chinese restaurants left me longing for even the most mediocre lo mein. Apparently mediocrity was too much to ask.
Their soups are salty and unpleasantly reminiscent of the Taylor Place cafeteria. Their teriyaki chicken is gristly. Their chow mein is flavorless. Even more frustrating is Hsin’s heavy-handed application of all things vegetable: greens, sprouts, lettuce, peppers, broccoli. I have nothing against vegetables, but it would be great if they were the right temperature; I don’t want cold broccoli, warm lettuce, or any combination thereof. Similarly, there are more vegetables per dish than meat – fine, if you are a vegetarian. Not fine if you ordered a meat dish with vegetables on the side.
In hindsight, perhaps my expectations were unfairly high. After all, bad Chinese food is as American as ketchup, rocket ships and the Model T Ford. I should have known better. The truth is that this restaurant is going to succeed for the very same reason I’m not giving it a “D” : It’s Chinese food, it’s inexpensive (compared to other local restaurants) and it’s so close that you could trip on your way out of the Taylor Place cafeteria and stumble through its doors.
Yes, the food is bad. But that never stopped anyone from eating Chinese food in the past.
Contact the critic at daniel.neligh@asu.edu
