Interesting...
DESCRIPTION: The food here is always prepared with top-quality ingredients and the flavor really hits you in the face, but it's rather hit-and-miss. The fusion combos that work are really good, though. Though I gave it 2 stars, some of the food is 3-4 star quality.
DATE: 2000-03-06
FOODRATING : 4
SERVICERATING : 6
AMBIANCERATING : 6
OVERALLRATING : 6

Pleasant
DESCRIPTION: There's not much room inside Bright Food Shop, but the food is very good. The combination of cuisines works quite well and there are a number of imported sodas, juices, and drinks worth trying.
DATE: 2001-06-13
FOODRATING : 8
SERVICERATING : 6
AMBIANCERATING : 6
OVERALLRATING : 4

What a Fabulous Surprise
DESCRIPTION: Who would have thought such an incredible restaurant would be found in South Boston, VA? Margaret Moorefield, the chef and co-owner, has owned two successful restaurants in Orlando, FL and Portland, OR and brought her culinary skills to historic South Boston. <P>As a testament to the cuisine and atmosphere, there was not an empty table in the place. <P>The food was great, the people were very friendly, and dinner was superb. Our biggest surprise was the bill... excellent food at very reasonable price
DATE: 2005-08-21
FOODRATING : 10
SERVICERATING : 8
AMBIANCERATING : 10
OVERALLRATING : 10
RECOMMENDED DISHES : Mediterranean Angel Hair, Peach Crisp with Ice Cream

What a great restaurant
DESCRIPTION: You will not believe the food at this restaurant in this really little town. It's great...the seared yellowfin tuna, the crabcakes, the French style rib-eye, the martini's, the salmon....I could go on and on. This restaurant is as good as any of the top restaurants in New York. If you're in the area... or even within 90 miles...Don't miss it.
DATE: 2005-10-09
FOODRATING : 10
SERVICERATING : 8
AMBIANCERATING : 10
OVERALLRATING : 10
RECOMMENDED DISHES : All

Hit or Miss
DESCRIPTION: Things sure have changed at our favorite little South Boston bistro since August. While the food is still superb - when hot - the rest of the experience left much to be desired. The evening started on the wrong foot when, despite the fact we made 6:30pm reservations weeks ago, they seated five of us at a four-top. Well, these things happen...and on we went to peruse the menu...for 20-minutes. This might be the place to mention we were going to an 8pm show and had let the owner and manager know this in advance, who had in fact informed us when making the reservation that a 6:30 dinner would be sufficient for us to make the local 8pm show. We finally placed our orders, were served our drinks, and begin the very long wait for our food to arrive. It must have been our waiter's first night because he came back repeatedly over the next 15 minutes to verify this order and that order. Our Avocado & Goat Cheese Quesadilla arrived and we enjoyed the five tiny slivers of tortilla stuffed with cheese and avocado. Things were looking up! The service was mediocre but the food was excellent and that is why we were there. The salads came out and were quite tasty. The waiter went for black pepper but did not return with it until we were served our main courses; we really think the poor guy was pulled from the wash rack for the evening due a real waiter calling in sick. The salads were good and we were looking forward to our entrees, until we looked at our watches and realized it was 7:30 and we were just served our salads! We ate our salads quickly, looked around for our waiter to not only re-fill our drinks that had been empty since before the salads arrived but to also ask him to move things along. He must have been back in the kitchen washing dishes or something because he was nowhere to be seen. We spied the manager and asked her about the time it was taking and the fact we had tickets for an 8pm show. Her response was to shrug her shoulders and said, the lamb takes a long time . Do what? Medium rare lamb takes an hour to cook? The entrees finally came out 10-minutes after the play started and the presentation was lovely. Unfortunately, two of the dishes were stone cold and had to be returned. When they returned from the microwave a few moments later, they were piping hot and everything was pretty good. We went on and enjoyed desert, having already missed the start of the show, with no major events and finally left in time to join our play at intermission. This was the first time I think I have ever left a 10% tip and used the food total instead of the total with tax to compute the tip. The food was good but with terrible service, the five of us jammed into a table for four, and management s ambivalence, it really ruined the experience. In their defense, they did offer to move us to a larger table after our salads were served but by then we were settled in and did not want to waste any time, as we were still trying to make the show. The fact we missed the first half of the show is another sore spot. They knew we were going to the show when we made the reservation, when they sat us they confirmed we were going to the show. Rather than helping us get in and out of there in under an hour and twenty minutes, left us with a sorry waiter that could not bring himself to be attentive to the table to keep our water glasses full, much less see to it that we got out in time to see the play. While I am not one to expect management to offer complimentary food or beverage to make up for bad service, we were surprised they did not even offer to buy us a desert as a way to make amends. There may not be that much competition for AAA three diamond restaurants in quaint South Boston but with service and staff like what we experienced on November 26, 2005 they will not have that rating for much long
DATE: 2005-11-27
FOODRATING : 8
SERVICERATING : 2
AMBIANCERATING : 6
OVERALLRATING : 4
RECOMMENDED DISHES : Grilled Full Rack of New Zealand Lamb

Never seen 'Hit or Miss'!
DESCRIPTION: We dine at BISTRO 1888 whenever we are in the area, usually every 6-8 weeks since it opened in March or April of 2003. As the Baltimore Sun reviewed, it has 'great fresh food served with panache'; Fredericksburg Free Lance Star said that this restaurant could hold it's own against any in a metropolitan area and the writer would had 20 in his party said ALL said it was great! I totally agree... it is up there with anything in Chicago. Everything is great. If you can, go back multiple times so you can enjoy their menu of 24 entrees, 12 appetizers, soups, salads and desserts and nightly specials. The review from RM from Washington, DC is interesting. Hit or miss? Never seen or heard of that. And I'm sure the restaurant sat them at a 4 top table with a chair at the end... which I've done on numerous occasions and have enjoyed being able to talk easily with my friends, as the restaurant is very popular and can get noisy at times. By the way, if you are going and would like a table for 6 if you have 5 in your group, request it when you make your reservation and they will make sure you have it -- I've done this when my larger uncle joined us. Slow service? Hmmm. Was it a Saturday night? That could slow things down a little, I guess, though I've never experienced a wait that I felt was long. It's a phenomenal restaurant in a very rural area, (county of 37,000, I think)...and I would bet that 99.9% of all patrons would agree that this area is fortunate to have Bistro 1888 and that it COULD compete with great restaurants in big cities.
DATE: 2005-12-19
FOODRATING : 10
SERVICERATING : 8
AMBIANCERATING : 10
OVERALLRATING : 10
RECOMMENDED DISHES : Grilled Salmon, Crabcakes, Filet Mignon with their excellent demiglace, Chicken Angel Hair

As good as West Coast Restaurants
DESCRIPTION: A greaaattt place in the middle of almost nowhere! Wow! How did this area rate obtaining a chef with the talent of Margaret Moorefield? Check out the reviews on the website from this and her previous restaurants. She's unbelievable. Everything is great, over the top, wonderfully presently ... and oh yes, very delicious! It rates with anything in a big city. If you are in the area. don't miss it. By the way, RM on the "hit or miss" needs to miss South Boston on his/her next trip. It's a small restaurant.... if you have 5, you may have to have a chair on the end of a very comfortable restangle 4-top table. And, waiting for a menu for 20 minutes. Really? Again, it's a small restaurant -- in that supposed 20 minutes, did you consider asking the hostess (that could not have been more than 20 feet from you) for a menu? Take some responsibility! I bet the whole town of South Boston would appreciate you choosing another destination! For others, Bistro 1888 has put this small southern town on the map. If you're in the area, it's a great pick
DATE: 2005-12-29
FOODRATING : 10
SERVICERATING : 8
AMBIANCERATING : 10
OVERALLRATING : 10
RECOMMENDED DISHES : Calamari, Lamb, Trout, Mediterranean Angel Hair Pasta, Creme Brule

Great again and again and again.
DESCRIPTION: I was fortunate to be able to visit the Bistro twice within a week. The 2nd time was on New Year's Eve. Very crowded but no wait for our table. The food was unbelieveable; there was great energy in the restaurant; the ambiance was fabulous as always and the overall experience could not have been better. This time I tried one of the nightly specials of Macadamia Crusted Halibut with basil coconut beurre blanc over curried basmati rice with roasted peppers, roasted tomaotes, shiitake mushrooms and caramelized onions served with haricots verts. She is one talented chef! I can't wait to go back
DATE: 2006-01-02
FOODRATING : 10
SERVICERATING : 8
AMBIANCERATING : 10
OVERALLRATING : 10
RECOMMENDED DISHES : All

WOW!
DESCRIPTION: In town doing a story on the area and was told "You have to go to the Bistro". I was so 'wowed' by everything. It's a great place with excellent food and atmosphere in a small, Southern town. It will be in Virginia Living in April and South Living in May 2006, and I wouldn't be surprised if it were in Bon Appetit at some point, when they are made aware of Chef Moorefield's talents.
DATE: 2006-02-04
FOODRATING : 10
SERVICERATING : 10
AMBIANCERATING : 10
OVERALLRATING : 10
RECOMMENDED DISHES : Crispy duck and arugula salad with goat cheese tart, tempura sea scallops, bread pudding with whiskey sauce, etc., etc.

Excellent
DESCRIPTION: If you enjoy fine dining with a great selection (24+ entrees, 12+ appetizers, etc.) wonderfully presented food, fresh ingredients and a chef who really knows her stuff, you'll love Bistro 1888!
DATE: 2006-02-17
FOODRATING : 10
SERVICERATING : 8
AMBIANCERATING : 10
OVERALLRATING : 10
RECOMMENDED DISHES : Seared yellow fin tuna, New Zealand rack of lamb, bread pudding with whisky sauce

Overpriced at night, go for lunch
DESCRIPTION: Weia Teia has improved a lot, but it's still too pricey to eat there, especially for dinner. I am speaking, of course, as a college student without a lot of money to throw around. Go for lunch - you get free soup (even if it's not the best thing in the world) and the prices are literally HALVED. It's a great place to go with friends to have lunch on a rainy day and feel like you're out at a nice restaurant. It's a pretty nice place to go eat.
DATE: 2006-02-04
FOODRATING : 8
SERVICERATING : 6
AMBIANCERATING : 6
OVERALLRATING : 6
RECOMMENDED DISHES : strip steak, MASHED SWEET POTATOS, soy-glazed salmon

WHAT A REAL TREAT!
DESCRIPTION: We eat out quite a bit and this is our favorite restaurant. The food is excellent and the presentation is awesome. We love it!
DATE: 2005-04-21
FOODRATING : 10
SERVICERATING : 10
AMBIANCERATING : 8
OVERALLRATING : 10
RECOMMENDED DISHES : Salmon in Curry,my favorite.

Best restaurant in Oberlin!!
DESCRIPTION: Are you sure we are talking about the same Weia Teia? Not Tu Chinoia? It's a great place to go, and you can't miss it when you come to Oberlin. Oberlin is such a small town. Our favorite Oberlin Music is closed last month. What else can you complain? Do you want to kick it out of the town like Oberlin Music? The food there is wonderful. My boyfriend and his parents are all from NY.They all thought that the food there is really good with an amazingly reasonable price!!They are those ppl who can get the access to the best restaurants in NY which you need to have some special connections to the host or it's impossible to get in.They all loved Weia Teia!! I think those mean comments are not for Weia Teia. It sounds like another restaurant in twon. Give it a try!!You'll love it!!
DATE: 2004-04-24
FOODRATING : 10
SERVICERATING : 8
AMBIANCERATING : 10
OVERALLRATING : 10
RECOMMENDED DISHES : Grilled Chicken in rice paper roll (salad) and Pepsi shrimp and cucumber salads(appetizer)

I love it!!
DESCRIPTION: The Service is excellent, friendly, and speedy. There is the best food I had ever had! Much better than any other chinese resteraunt I ever ate at!
DATE: 2004-02-28
FOODRATING : 10
SERVICERATING : 10
AMBIANCERATING : 8
OVERALLRATING : 10
RECOMMENDED DISHES : Sweet and Sour Chicken, Spring Rolls, and Egg Drop Soup

EXCELLENT... EXCELLENT... EXCELLENT
DESCRIPTION: I can't imagine anyone not loving Weia Teia in its new Oberlin location. The food is amazing in its presentation and taste. And, what a bargain for lunch. For $7.00 I had a fantastic curry cream soup, sweet potato fries overlaid with perfectly done tempura type Tiger Shrimp, a pile of rice noodles, and just the perfect touch of spinach. My 88 year old father who has eaten in restaurants around the world said he felt it was the best meal he had ever eaten. The desserts are a bit more pricy but are works of art!
DATE: 2004-02-11
FOODRATING : 10
SERVICERATING : 8
AMBIANCERATING : 10
OVERALLRATING : 10

Amazing
DESCRIPTION: Honestly, the best food in the world. I am from New York City, and I have never eaten food like this. Weia Teia is a treasure. I've eaten just about everything on the menu, and I have never been even a tiny bit disappointed. The food is sort of a Thai/French fusion; French dishes made with Thai ingredients. Truly outstanding.
DATE: 2001-10-10
FOODRATING : 10
SERVICERATING : 8
AMBIANCERATING : 8
OVERALLRATING : 10
RECOMMENDED DISHES : steak, shrimp pad thai, crab/avacado tower, salmon cakes, chicken teriyaki salad

Fusion failure
DESCRIPTION: In short, Weia Teia is unimaginative food meets overimaginative presentation. All flash and no substance. Come on Oberlin, don't let these people behind Weia Teia knock you over the head and play you for idiots! Weia Teia has simply tried to hitch a ride on the global fusion craze, but has missed the point terribly. Creating fusion cuisine is not about dressing up poorly prepared asian dishes with new names and tasteless decorations, it's about creating something new and exciting. And that element is what Weia Teia lacks most. Full of pretense and fully lacking in taste, Weia Teia is NOT recommended. For the real fusion deal, try Blue Ginger in Wellesley Mass. Then you'll never want to go back to that little hole in the wall ever again.
DATE: 2002-08-22
FOODRATING : 4
SERVICERATING : 4
AMBIANCERATING : 4
OVERALLRATING : 2
RECOMMENDED DISHES : none

Crude, Rude and Possibly Unsanitary. Chaotic and Out of Control. I'm Angry.
DESCRIPTION: This restaurant is a nightmare out of "Fawlty Towers!" It was the worst service I've ever experienced. Let me explain: My friends and I were going to attend a classical music concert in Oberlin, so we made reservations for dinner at Weia-Teia, which we'd heard was a good new restaurant. We arrived fifteen minutes after the time we'd reserved (it was a long drive!) and the hostess said "No problem," and promptly seated us in one of the restaurant's tiny, uncomfortable booths. The restaurant did not smell particularly clean, but we didn't mind, since we were determined to enjoy ourselves. The hostess who seated us handed us each a dirty, dog-eared menu, pasted to some unsanitary piece of wood, and we began perusing and discussing the selections. Suddenly, the hostess returned, scowling, with some sort of personage of higher authority behind her. The hostess snatched our menus away from us, and said "You can't have this table. You were late for your reservation. We have to give it to someone who came in after you." We were non-plussed, and started saying things like, "But you showed us to our table..." "We weren't that late..." The hostess shook her head and said: "You can wait for another table. But nothing will open up until after 9." (That was two and a half hours away!) Then the higher authority, (was she the manager?) placed herself in front of the hostess. Her manner was crude and angry. "You've got to go," she shouted. "We need this table for other people. You can come back at 9." There was no tone of apology, or intimation that perhaps the restaurant had made an unfortunate mistake. No one begged for our understanding. Anyone looking on would think we were being thrown out for some outrageous breach of behavior. One member of our party began to remonstrate with our two antagonists, but I convinced him and the other that it was embarassing enough, both to the restaurant and the other diners, and that we should just go without another word. We did so. That was the end of the incident -- execept for our continuing incredulity. I've worked in restaurants and dined at restaurants around the country and around the world and have never seen such crude, unprofessional behavior. Anyone who works in a restaurant will tell you that once a party of customers is seated, you don't haul them up by the scruff of the neck and tell them to leave because of YOUR mistake. If another party was entitled to the booth to which the hostess had lead us and seated us, that was the restaurant's problem, not ours. I might add, that our party consisted of two mild-mannered gentlemen in suits and ties, and a well-dressed lady, all of us in late middle age. What I found most astonishing was that the hostess and "manager" seemed to think that we were so desperate to eat at their foul boite that we would actually put up with their treatment, and come back two and a half hours later, panting with gratitude to actually be seated AND served. Of course, there are not many dining options in Oberlin. After being ejected from Weia-Teia, we went to another nearby dining spot, where we enjoyed friendly, helpful service from a hardworking wait staff. Unfortunately, the lettuce in the salad hadn't been washed, and was literally covered with dirt: The very soil it had been planted in. I won't mention the name of the restaurant, however, because unlike Weia-Teia, they actually apologized for the problem, and didn't act like they were doing us a favor by serving us dirt.
DATE: 2001-10-15
SERVICERATING : 2
AMBIANCERATING : 2
OVERALLRATING : 2

Not Good
DESCRIPTION: I ate at Weia Teia last night with my sister and her roommate. My sister helped describe the decor as "postmodern," but if this means as little to you as it did to me, I'll give a description. Most of the seating is fuzzy black booths with uncomfortable, tall backs. The chairs for large party seating looked awful, the back rests were the size of a paperback novel with a couple of thin rods for lumbar support. The walls have panels of fake velvet, other than that the place basically nondescript, although this might be the point of being postmodern. The hostess sat us at an unset table, then presented us unwieldy menus pasted to long wooden planks. The menus were stained and smudged. When she returned later to pour us water, I asked for a wine list, but was denied because it is forbidden on Sundays. This of course is not the restaurant s fault, but Ohio s. Nonetheless, we were not offered any beverage other than the untasty tap water. Our server arrived soon after and offered us some bread. Chewing the bland roll, my sister noted as he walked away, that there were peanuts in the bread. The server did an about-face and asked if anyone had a peanut allergy, which we did not. Fortunately, if you do have such an allergy, he informed us, they have a supply of epipens , in case of anaphylactic shock, which has happened before at Weia Teia, as he joked here we go again! We had a nice conversation with him about stabbing an epipen directly into the heart, although I believe the thigh is the correct location. But let us move on to the food! I was somehow not discouraged by our introduction, and decided to order a couple of appetizers. The intriguing dish Duckin Donut, the server warned, is chilled duck breast, cooked medium-rare, with a donut. The duck came out medium-well, if that, with an unfresh salad of peppers. I give credit to the donut, it was the most perfectly prepared item we tried all night, but was a complete failure to match the other elements on the plate. I regret not trying the appalling Pepsi Shrimp. This is fusion cuisine at its foulest. The calamari rings were mediocre, served in a crown of fried wonton skins, the sauce may have been squeezed from a packet from a Chinese take-out. Presently, our entr es arrived. The creative presentations cited by other reviewers were essentially identical for all three plates; a cake of tepid white rice was the foundation (and although the scallop dish claimed a shrimp risotto, it was plain rice with a few tiny, stringy shrimp; this type of fraud should be punished mercilessly); all plates were garnished with a pair of antennae made from deep-fried spaghetti, not tasty, and not attractive enough to merit ubiquitous use. The scallops themselves were cooked satisfactorily, but a large, mealy, insipid tomato did them no justice. Much the same may be said of the salmon. My sister suffered through a dull, dry chicken breast. Somehow, after such generous dissatisfaction, I had a morbid craving to be dismayed by Weia Teia s desserts. As a professional pastry chef, I just couldn t say no when the server asked if there was anything else he could get me. Everything he offered was chocolate, except a mango cheesecake, so we tried that and an alleged frozen chocolate mousse. The cheesecake was old. It looked old, tasted old, the crust had turned to paste. The butterfly cookie garnish was out of touch with postmodernism, but I m willing to let that slide. As for the frozen mousse, it might have been good when the cook froze it. It came to us icy and freezer burned. I neglected to try the wafer, but my sister likened it to tobacco-dog hair, although this may be an exaggeration. I tried to make an escape to the restroom, where I found the largest shock of the evening. It smelled, the toilets were unflushed, the stall was rusting. This room is positively premodern, maybe even prehistorical. I have nothing else to declare. Eating here was like watching a car wreck.
DATE: 2005-04-05
FOODRATING : 2
SERVICERATING : 4
AMBIANCERATING : 4
OVERALLRATING : 2

Food was good but service needs a little work.
DESCRIPTION: While our party of eight had a lot of catching up to do while enjoying a night on the town, we certainly were able to do just that during our wait time. While the restaurant itself was beautiful with its "eclectic" design and awesome appletini's, the wait for both the table and dinner was very long! With 7:30pm reservations we did not get seated until almost 8:30pm. Once we were seated and placed our orders we still did not eat for almost another hour. The hostess was very gracious and even one of the chefs had time to say, "hello," but I found our waiter to be somewhat robotic (maybe because we were a party of 8 with gratuity already being included) and nonchalant. Overall, we were 50/50 with 5 out of 10 being somewhat satisfied!
DATE: 2003-06-29
FOODRATING : 4
SERVICERATING : 6
AMBIANCERATING : 6
OVERALLRATING : 4

Artsy Fartsy But Good
DESCRIPTION: I really liked the fish. It was a nice presentation, but a little too artsy for me. The waitress was nice, and she know that I would give a good tip so she was nice to me. The food was generally hot, and the coffee was good too.
DATE: 2004-04-22
FOODRATING : 6
SERVICERATING : 8
AMBIANCERATING : 6
OVERALLRATING : 6
RECOMMENDED DISHES : Pasta, Fish, Prima Donna

Good, usually.
DESCRIPTION: Often they serve very good, flavorful Korean food. If you've never tried Korean, it's different than Chinese or other east Asian cuisine; personally, I much prefer the Korean. Occasionally, they try to be too innovative and it's hard to eat. The service is always impeccable; competing with the best I've received anywhere. Definitely worth a try, but try to stick to Korean food and avoid the pan-Asian experiments.
DATE: 2003-12-01
FOODRATING : 6
SERVICERATING : 10
AMBIANCERATING : 8
OVERALLRATING : 8

Delicious food, lovely ambience
DESCRIPTION: Pacific Rim offers creative fusion cooking, Korean food with a touch of French and international inventiveness. The ambience is lovely and the service superb. Their molten chocolate cake, for two or more to share, is divine, well worth the calories.
DATE: 2005-03-18
FOODRATING : 10
SERVICERATING : 10
AMBIANCERATING : 10
OVERALLRATING : 8

A favorite of mine
DESCRIPTION: I would advise one to ignore the advice of the reviewer two reviews above me. Most of the food is now fusion with the emphasis on pan-asian. Good service with a decent wine list also. The owner, Y.B., is hands-on and very personable. Consistently enjoyable in all aspects
DATE: 2005-09-13
FOODRATING : 8
SERVICERATING : 8
AMBIANCERATING : 8
OVERALLRATING : 8
RECOMMENDED DISHES : experiment

Very good food, nice ambiance
DESCRIPTION: Ignore the naysayers; this restaurant is a sure bet. Reminds me a lot of the Asian/fusion cuisine we enjoyed living in San Francisco. The spring rolls are authentic. Had a coconut curry soup that was to die for; it had more of a vegetable-type stock base than the traditional coconut milk base (as in the popular Thai soup Tom Ka Gai). The seared Hamachi entree was delicious, and fresh. The ginger tea was unique; loved the trio of creme brulee (green tea/passionfruit/ginger). Found a nice bottle of Sancerre on the wine list; goes perfect with Asian food. He's had a good adviser in the wine department. Saw Sauternes on the dessert wine menu...I'll be back on a weekend night to enjoy that. The restaurant is done in lovely hues of warm reds and burnt orange. Very stylish. One complaint is the acoustics are funky; can be hard to hear your dinner partner. If you're like us, and had put off trying this place just because it's something different from the old standbys, then get off your arse and try it. You'll love it.
DATE: 2005-12-27
FOODRATING : 8
SERVICERATING : 8
AMBIANCERATING : 8
OVERALLRATING : 8
RECOMMENDED DISHES : oh the soup, oh man, the coconut curry soup...

Crab Cake Sandwich!
DESCRIPTION: On 1 visit I had the crabcake sandwich and it was great! I have also had other great sandwiches for lunch. Have not been in for dinner yet SS
DATE: 2006-05-08
FOODRATING : 8
SERVICERATING : 8
AMBIANCERATING : 8
OVERALLRATING : 8
RECOMMENDED DISHES : Crab Cake Sandwich