Bamboo Grille

 

Located at 112 East Parris Avenue in High Point, Bamboo Grille offers Chinese and Japanese cuisine. The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner every day except Tuesday. Online ordering is available via QMenu.

 

In the works for quite some time, Bamboo Grille’s High Point location recently opened to enthusiastic reviews from the local Facebook contingent. The photos accompanying said reviews were perplexing to say the least as they suggested standard Americanized Chinese takeout fare. Of course, food can often taste much better than it looks. Sadly, however, that was not the case here.

 

Bamboo Grille boasts a large menu featuring most of the classic takeout staples: apps, soups, lo mein, fried rice, and so on (but sadly no cold sesame noodles). The restaurant also offers hibachi/teriyaki dishes and a sushi menu, albeit with no surprises among either the Chinese or Japanese offerings.

 

I stuck to the Chinese side for my first order. Anticipating several meals’ worth of leftovers for the two of us, I went with crab rangoons, wonton soup, mapo tofu with beef lo mein in place of rice, honey chicken, and house special fried rice for takeout. Prices are a bit higher here relative to other takeout places, but you get plenty of food for your money.

 

Pickup went without a hitch – everything was ready to go and still hot when I got there – but the food was largely a disappointment. Much of it was bland, and even the advertised-as-spicy mapo tofu brought little heat. Textures were another issue: the rangoons were thick and doughy and the fried rice was slightly mushy with large chunks of meat. The one standout dish was the least authentic of the lot. Reminiscent of a chicken donut, the honey chicken was addictively good.

 

That dish aside, Bamboo Grille offers nothing that can’t be found better elsewhere. Unless the kitchen steps up its game, this place is a one-and-done for me.