Rock Sugar Pan Asian Kitchen

Like stepping into a Southeast Asian Fantasyland, this sprawling purple-and saffron-colored restaurant is a dreamscape of exaggerated Eastern imagery with Burmese Buddha statues, gold leaf-overlaid columns, ornately carved teak panels, even a glittering golden dragon sculpture. Named after an ingredient often used by Asian chefs, the restaurant features an extensive menu with regional specialties designed to appeal to American palates. Dishes include Thai noodles and curries, sizzling Indian tikka and tandoori rice options, Vietnamese pho, and other appetizers, salads and entrees inspired by…

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Editor's Tips

Know Before You Go:: Similar to the Cheesecake Factory, dishes are served in ample portions. But here, meals are meant to be eaten family-style--one entree is usually enough for two.
Where to Sit:: In addition to the palatial main dining room, the restaurant has a loft-like Buddha-chic bar, as well as a spacious water wall-lined patio that looks over Santa Monica Boulevard.
Parking:: Parking is available in the mall's underground garage. With restaurant validation, it's $8 for up to four hours.

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User Reviews (42)

ambiance	100.0% positive	“Despite the great food and wonderful atmosphere, unlikely we will return in view of the second rate treatment we received.” “Try Katsuya in Brentwood or Hollywood for good atmosphere and food, or Hana Sushi on Wilshire close to Barrington, or for quick sushi take out style, Sushi Sho on Montana and 11th in Santa Monica.” “Rock Sugar reminds me a lot of Tao in Las Vegas, a lot of thought was put into the atmosphere and the architecture really gives the restaurant a cool feeling.” “Great service and a fun place to eat.” “The food was great and the ambiance was too, but the service was not.” “Great food, ambiance.” “Beautiful, creative decor - takes you out of the shopping mall and into a wonderland of Asian artifacts.” “The decor is amazing.” “Gorgeous design, perfect music, intoxicating atmosphere.” “the decor here is great, the lounge area in front is both cool and comfy; the food is pretty good but doesn't blow you away” “Great atmosphere & good food!” “its so pretty once you step in the front door, atmosphere was great, so its perfect for a family night or a romantic dinner with your boyfriend or girlfriend.” “amazing atmosphere” “Incredible service, decor” “Overall, I'd say it's a very ambitious undertaking, spanning so many cuisines and trying to provide such a lush atmosphere.”
dessert	66.66999816894531% positive	“suspiciously resembling bad sour cream.” “We finished with the molten chocolate cake and coffee ice cream (the cake was barely warm and just average, but the ice cream was fantastic).” “Everything was great but not inexpensive, it was about $100 for the two of us but we also got drinks and dessert, you could definitely eat there for less $.”
drinks	100.0% positive	“However you can sit at the bar after the main dining room closes and order food for up to an hour.” “We finished with the molten chocolate cake and coffee ice cream (the cake was barely warm and just average, but the ice cream was fantastic).” “They also have a great drink menu.” “We started off with cocktails; both the mojito and blood-orange sangria were good.” “The drinks are great though, so go for happy hour and check out the place.” “Everything was great but not inexpensive, it was about $100 for the two of us but we also got drinks and dessert, you could definitely eat there for less $.”
food quality	82.58999824523926% positive	“Whole fish can be wonderful or they can be potentially terrifying.” “We had the tuna appetizer (very simple, drowning in sauce, overpriced at $15 for maybe 2 ounces), the caramel chicken (MSG-heavy and again swimming in hoisin sauce), wok-fried bok choy, and claypot beef (ok, but very greasy).” “recommend this place to anyone wanting an experience along with a great meal.” “terrible service, great food” “Very good food” “We ordered summer rolls (the non-fried ricepaper rolls, which were decent and served with good sauces), the ginger eggplant (recommended by our waitress, and excellent), ginger fried rice (served with a sunny-side-up egg on top, also quite good), and kumq” “The food we sampled was all interesting, tasty and plentiful.” “The food is amazing.” “Most of us know of a restaurant where the food they serve is just delicious but the place is just so-so, we often refer to them as " a hole in the wall” “Yummy pan asian dishes, good service, actually kind of cool interior.” “The food was awesome, we ordered the Princess Shrimp, the Beef and the Sugar Snow Peas, every dish was fantastic and came with a healthy portion.” “Example: great place for good bread” “The food was great and the ambiance was too, but the service was not.” “Great atmosphere & good food!” “BTW, must try the claypot beef, it was superb.” “Service was good and informed but the food was mediocre at best.” “If you are craving Asian food with a twist---I definitely recommend Rock Sugar.” “If you at all enjoy good food, AVOID ROCKSUGAR!” “Despite the great food and wonderful atmosphere, unlikely we will return in view of the second rate treatment we received.” “know what this fish did to deserve such a demise (perhaps it audaciously enjoyed Chinese/Japanese food?)” “The food is mediocre for the price but, it is the staff the makes the experience a nightmare.” “Its true, mall food CAN be great” “Beautiful outdoor patio, amazing environment, to match the amazing food.” “Our waiter picked on our poor pregnant co-worker 4 times throughout the meal.” “The food is good.” “However you can sit at the bar after the main dining room closes and order food for up to an hour.” “yes the food was a lil pricey but what do you expect when your eating at century city?” “Great food, ambiance.” “Great food and Great service” “The salmon and green curry chicken are excellent.” “Fun Place, Not so good food” “The spring rolls were tasteless and the shrimp tastes old and frozen, the ginger rice was dripping with grease, and the caramel chicken was dried out which I couldn't figure out because it was drenched in too sweet sauce.” “very expensive for the poor quality of food.” “the decor here is great, the lounge area in front is both cool and comfy; the food is pretty good but doesn't blow you away” “We went with a big group of friends to try it out and ordered different dishes.” “Try Katsuya in Brentwood or Hollywood for good atmosphere and food, or Hana Sushi on Wilshire close to Barrington, or for quick sushi take out style, Sushi Sho on Montana and 11th in Santa Monica.” “We had been there once before when they first opened and thought the food was pretty good.” “Everything here was delicious.” “the meal was good and the place is decorated beautifully.” “my favorite dish was the seafood crab and it was so good!” “He made great suggestions for their most popular dishes.” “There was one unique dish to speak of - the seabass the waitress recommended.” “We were given moist towels before the start of the meal, and the wait staff was very attentive; always asking if we wanted more rice crackers while we waited for our food and constantly checking if we needed refills on water.” “mean if you love asain food i highly recomend this place.” “Service was poor (I was seated 25 minutes after my reservation by a surly host who was quite unapologetic), and the food on the whole was greasy and doused with heavy sauces that failed to capture the complex flavors of this type of cuisine.”
menu variety	100.0% positive	“Some stuff on the menu is great, other stuff is just strange.” “They also have a great drink menu.”
overall	100.0% positive	“It'd be a good place to take a date before catching a movie at AMC.” “The drinks are great though, so go for happy hour and check out the place.” “the meal was good and the place is decorated beautifully.” “Example: great place for good bread” “its a really nice place.”
return potential	100.0% positive	“would recommend Rock Sugar to all my friends and I can't wait to go back.” “Despite the great food and wonderful atmosphere, unlikely we will return in view of the second rate treatment we received.”
service	75.0% positive	“Also, got to add that the service was impeccable.” “Our waiter picked on our poor pregnant co-worker 4 times throughout the meal.” “Yummy pan asian dishes, good service, actually kind of cool interior.” “The food is mediocre for the price but, it is the staff the makes the experience a nightmare.” “The waitress first greeted my girlfriend and I for lunch espousing about the orgin of the restaurant and the fact that the owner/founder was the famous "whatever his name was” “We were given moist towels before the start of the meal, and the wait staff was very attentive; always asking if we wanted more rice crackers while we waited for our food and constantly checking if we needed refills on water.” “On making the reservation, the hostess was obnoxious and misinformed.” “There was one unique dish to speak of - the seabass the waitress recommended.” “Great food and Great service” “They were all great, and the service was impeccable.” “Incredible service, decor” “plus the waiters were super nice, and i had a wonderful time with then fam bam!” “Our waiter was excellent and kept an eye on us and made us feel at home.” “terrible service, great food” “bad waiter” “Great service and a fun place to eat.” “The food was great and the ambiance was too, but the service was not.” “We ordered summer rolls (the non-fried ricepaper rolls, which were decent and served with good sauces), the ginger eggplant (recommended by our waitress, and excellent), ginger fried rice (served with a sunny-side-up egg on top, also quite good), and kumq”
value	42.85999774932861% positive	“Why not offer a decent size portion, unless you don't want to show in contrast how small the other portions are?” “very expensive for the poor quality of food.” “also ordered the Orange Mojito which was great but not cheap.” “The food is mediocre for the price but, it is the staff the makes the experience a nightmare.” “We had the tuna appetizer (very simple, drowning in sauce, overpriced at $15 for maybe 2 ounces), the caramel chicken (MSG-heavy and again swimming in hoisin sauce), wok-fried bok choy, and claypot beef (ok, but very greasy).” “Everything was great but not inexpensive, it was about $100 for the two of us but we also got drinks and dessert, you could definitely eat there for less $.” “yes the food was a lil pricey but what do you expect when your eating at century city?”
wait time	50.0% positive	“Service was incredibly slow -- took 2 hours for lunch!” “Try Katsuya in Brentwood or Hollywood for good atmosphere and food, or Hana Sushi on Wilshire close to Barrington, or for quick sushi take out style, Sushi Sho on Montana and 11th in Santa Monica.” “Definitely a very nice spot to check out as long as Mr. E.R. can be avoided.” “Service was poor (I was seated 25 minutes after my reservation by a surly host who was quite unapologetic), and the food on the whole was greasy and doused with heavy sauces that failed to capture the complex flavors of this type of cuisine.”

01/09/12

Worth a Try (Once)

by Keikotan

This is a beautiful place to go for a date or a special occasion. The decor and the service here are wonderful, but the food is really a problem. Almost everything I have had here is just so oily it ruined the whole experience. That said you can have a nice evening here if you can just avoid the high fat choices. Unfortunately, that is hard to do here.

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11/15/11

Asian Food, Yes. Good, Yes-ish

by pburstyn

Let's just jump right into it shall we? Really satisfying experience.

Went with my cousin to this place hoping it will not be another one of "those places" and it wasn't.

As we looked over the menue we came accross the tasting menu which had really nice choices on it. Ususally the tasting menu isn't very inspired.

We had a trio of apps. - Crispy Calamari, which was just OK, needed more flavor. Laquered ribs, which were really good, sticky with a little spice to them, and then we had the potstickers, which were nice, but just a bit greasy... nothing to lose any sleep over.

2nd course we had the coconut chicken soup, which was really nice. I was hesitant because I thought it would be too sweet, but there was a really nice balance between the coconut and the chicken. There were also sweet snap peas and shiitaki mushrooms which were a welcome balance. Also, the soup had a really nice heat to it, and by heat I mean spicy, as in hot... you feel me?

Main course was made up of their bsil Thai chicken, which was spicy and really good, as well as the shaking beef. This was kind of like a mongolian beef, but the meat was not sliced into paper thin pieces, these had mass and was a welcome change.

We also had a side of noodles and spicy cauliflower, which was a really nice balance to the meal.

Final course was the fresh doughnuts and Caramelized Banana Custard Cake. They brought the doughnuts with the hole covered by the little piece of dough side by side so it kinda looked like a pair of breasts, which, what can I say, amused the adolescent boy in me. But the real star of the show was the Caramelized Banana Custard Cake!

Peter Burstyn is a former chef from NY and is now an insurance agent with Farmers Insurance. Visit farmersagent dot com/pburstyn

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06/08/11

NOT Thai Food - Disappointing

by Softsoap

Not sure why this place got Best Thai in 2010, it's NOT authentic Thai Food. It's Americanized wanna-be Asian food.

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10/14/10

Disappointing

by Frank Hen

I have to say it is a very pretty place...but the food and service were terrible.

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08/15/10

Love This Place

by roversteve

It's a good thing this restaurant is not next door to my house. I would be there every night. Try the Lacquered Ribs, Samosas, or the incredible Vietnamese Chicken Wings. My personal favorite is the Crab with Cellophane noodles. Nice menu choices for vegetarians as well. Cocktails border on the sweet side, but they are very creative and all hand crafted. Staff is cordial and efficient. The atmosphere is over the top. The communal table at the front is great for people watching!

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Randi Schmelzer

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Editor's Tips

01/09/12

Worth a Try (Once)

by Keikotan

11/15/11

Asian Food, Yes. Good, Yes-ish

by pburstyn

06/08/11

NOT Thai Food - Disappointing

by Softsoap

10/14/10

Disappointing

by Frank Hen

08/15/10

Love This Place

by roversteve

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