J. Liu Restaurant & Bar

Very disappointed with our dinner last night! First of all, we asked to sit on the patio and were advised it was a dine only patio so we had to eat to sit out there. We were planning on dining, so no big deal, but thought it was a strange rule. We both ordered off their Asian menu. Jason’s spicy chicken is not spicy. The Mongolian beef is mostly onions. And we each paid a $ 1 up charge for fried rice, which was 95% sprouts. The server even brought us a second cup of rice «with less sprouts,» but again, it was all sprouts! It seemed like a joke at that point. We don’t typically comment negatively, but we haven’t had many great meals here. Won’t be back.

For some reason, Pad Thai has never been on my food radar. Have had it a few times, but have never been a big fan. That all changed today. Went to J Liu for the first time since moving to Dublin and found out what I’ve been missing. Asked the waitress what she recommended and ordered her suggestion-​Pad Thai. It came out very quickly, hot and steamy in a bowl that looked like it could serve four. Took one bite and I was in heaven… it was perfect. Had it with chicken which was perfectly seasoned. The peanut sauce was wonderful and all the ingredients blended together into one delicious dish.
My husband ordered fried rice with shrimp, which he really enjoyed.
The menu is eclectic, the wait staff was very friendly, helpful and efficient. Would love to return and try more, but it will be difficult not to just order that heavenly Pad Thai again and again,

My family went to the Mother’s Day buffet on May 8, 2016. Many food trays circled the bar. Most were empty. There was food scattered all over the bar. In the hour that we were there no one attempted to clean up, or restockanything. It certainly made us wonder if this restaurant is even professionally managed. Extremely disappointing in that we could’ve gone to J, Gilbert’s or any of a number of other fine restaurants. Instead we endured this disappointing experience. We will never return to J. Liu’s.

Tried this restaurant for the first time tonight after hearing mixed reviews from people around town. Service from the waitstaff was good, but the kitchen seemed to be a mess. Appetizer (s) were comped due to the chef ‘overlooking them’ and entrees were cold due to the appetizers arriving late. The mussels and potstickers were great. Overpriced for the quality of food. Presentation was lacking and drink glasses were dirty.

Came for brunch and the food s service was awesome! Would love to come back for dinner and try out the other items on the menu

This place continues to get better. Everything on the menu except the tuna is good. The Asian is exceptional and the Italian is tasty, too. Great place for a business lunch. Also fun for a weekend family lunch or dinner.

Dear J. Liu,
I’m forever sorry for all the reservations I made up till today that I had to cancel due to other obligations, I now realize I should have not cancelled each special reservation.
Today was a special day for both my husband and I. We hadn’t dined in a very nice restaurant for a while so we decided to come back and visit this restaurant for the first time. We really liked the atmosphere with the nice lantern and dim lighting. We were quickly seated at a booth.
We browsed through the menu and decided to order the lobster bisque as it was recommended by many Unilocaler’s prior to our visit here. It was so much better than Tucci’s lobster bisque, so great job with making that soup not just beautiful in presentation but in taste as well.
We then proceeded to order our meals I got the highly recommended chicken pad thai. While my husband ordered the salmon with black rice and vegetables. To be honest the salmon looked nice but didn’t taste as well as the presentation he said. He said it could have used some more sauce or ingredients to make it more flavorful. Even the table next to us asked my husband what he thought of the salmon dish because they wanted to order it, but my husband did mention what could have made it better.
Our waitress was very nice and we understand she made a simple mistake and didn’t bring out the right dish for my husband at first. We are all human and make mistakes now and then. She approached the situation very well and we commended her action on the matter.
Altogether J. Liu, you did a wonderful job with the presentation and service today. You guys truly made our night very special.
Best Regards,
Tammy

I had heard about J. Liu many times but never made it there. Finally went with a friend for dinner on a Saturday night and really enjoyed it. Our waitress was really sweet and very attentive for a busy night. I got the Harvest Chicken Salad that was really good. The atmosphere was nice but definitely busy. Their menu is interesting with Asian and American influences, kind of different and definitely would appease a range of appetites or dietary needs. Wouldn’t mind going back for lunch or date night!

Brought my girlfriend here for Valentines Day as we had been wanting to try this place for some time. It was a let down to say the least. I ordered the filet and my girlfriend had the risotto with scallops. We also had the lobster bisque as an appetizer. The bisque was okay, not the best I’ve had but we agreed that it was edible at least. I requested my filet cooked medium rare because that’s the only way it should be eaten. Anyway, it came out medium to nearly medium well, the garlic mashed potatoes were cold and had little flavor and the beans were also cold. They took it back after the waiter finally came over to check on how everything was. The second time they brought it out it was cooked medium rare but had a burnt char on the outside that pretty much ruined it. Now I know this isn’t necessarily a place known for steaks but at 40 bucks you should have someone at the grill that knows what they’re doing. Needless to say I didn’t finish my meal. It would have been nice for the waiter to ask if we had wanted another drink as we were both done with them halfway through our dinner. Finally, the risotto was pretty good (why the two stars) and that’s what I ended up eating most of… thanks to my lovely girlfriend. Oh… and to make up for the less than stellar experience the manager offered to comp one beverage. Thanks dude… We won’t be coming back here. There’s way too many nicer offerings in Columbus

Steak undercooked 3x. Mongolian salt lick… was super salty of course. We all have bad days. Hat tip to the waitress for dealing with the back of the house.
2 stars. Cmon guys!!!

PAD THAI! That’s the first thing that comes to mind when I hear «J. Liu». They literally have the most amazing chicken pad thai I have ever tasted, and I’ve tried it everywhere I can find it. They have totally nailed the perfect flavor profile on this dish and it blows my mind each and every time I have the pleasure of enjoying it, so trust me when I say that I highly recommend visiting J. Liu for this dish alone. You will NOT be disappointed! That being said, their sesame chicken is also amazing. Perfectly sweet and so much crisp broccoli, which I love. The fried potstickers were great but the steamed ones were a tad cold in the middle, but we ate them anyways because they were still delicious. The only strike was when my husband ordered the Chicken Milanese. The meat was odd looking and inedible, but the manager very quickly dealt with it and was super cool about the whole matter. Overall, I will be going back to J. Liu’s over and over and over again in the future so I highly recommend them to all. Their prices are very decent for such authentic, fresh meals and you won’t regret your visit at all. And… PAD THAI!

I’ve been to this place many times now, which is fairly unusual for me since I tend to try different places each time. This is the second review that I am leaving. However, this speaks for my recent two visits.
For the first visit, we ordered pad Thai with shrimp (I can’t stop ordering this dish! It’s an addiction now… the pad Thai cooked perfectly this time and I loved it) and my friend tried sesame chicken (I tried a little and it was pretty decent as well). One another thing that I wanted to highlight is the bread! It really went well with their olive oil! I almost asked them where I can get those olive oils because I just liked it so much. Service for this time was fine. The only thing that was unpleasant and occurred to me was that they overcharged me when I saw the transaction posted on my credit card statement… I was a little unhappy with it because I don’t think this is acceptable.
For my second visit, we ordered calamari as an appetizer (really really perfectly done, this easily became my new favorite), pad Thai combo with shrimp and beef (still good, little greasy and somehow overly heavily flavored though), filet mignon (for its price, I think the quality could still be improved… Wasn’t bad but didn’t impress me much), and cream brûlée (very creamy which I enjoyed a lot and trust me I am a big crème brûlée fan-​I literally tried crème brûlées in every single restaurant that I’ve been to if they offer it). Overall, service was attentive but the waiter could maybe be more enthusiastic… It was a great dinner though.
Pad Thai is really my go to dish in the past, it usually tasted good-​but sometimes it could be a little too greasy (I am being a little picky here but that’s what I would hope them to improve).

Nice atmosphere. Sat on the outdoor patio and it was very enjoyable. The staff was very attentive and the menu quite interesting. I ordered the calamari appetizer and it was good. Spicy as advertised. The lobster bisque was also good. Presentation was nice. The sesame chicken was okay. It was flavorful, but the chicken pieces were a bit tough.

I travel a bit (NYC, Chicago, LA, etc.) for work and have some variety of dining experience and I would and do highly recommend this place to any and all friends visiting from those cities. Food is top notch and a decent variety to choose from. There are some favorites that I have never had better in any city including calamari app and pad Thai. The Sunday brunch is a must try with a wide variety of offerings. I’ve never had a bad service experience but I do tend to eat in the bar area. The wait staff is always engaging and attentive. The Dublin location is my primary but the Worthington location has a décor that I think I like better.

I was seated within 1 minute and my server arrived with water within 4 minutes despite a very busy Sunday brunch. The selections were fresh and well prepared. The prime rib (aged sirloin) was fantastic. The omelet chef made one of the best inlets I have had. The mushrooms were large and fresh and well prepared. Desserts looked very good, but I resisted.

Great news — J. Liu’s is back, full force! We used to love J. Liu’s back when it was Jason’s. But a few years ago, it kinda started to suck. Not sure why. However, I have been here 2 or 3 times in the last 6 months, and it has been PHENOMENAL each time! Apparently, they’ve changed chefs, and you can totally tell. Everything is cooked or prepared to absolute perfection!
I strongly recommend the Crispy Salmon with Forbidden Black Rice, and the Harvest Salad. My husband had the always-​good soup du hour, and the insane steak special, which was awesome.
Additionally, the wait staff seems more like what you would see in NYC: true professionals. And yet, you feel like you’re family after only a couple of visits. Our waiter Andre is AWESOME (I’ve had him as a waiter before, so I know — ask him for literature suggestions), and Michelle was lovely and always on-​the-​spot with help.
I live nearby, so I can’t tell you how happy I am that this restaurant is back!

I think I’d been here a long time ago, maybe when they’d just opened, or even if it had been another restaurant before. It’s been that long. And it’s kinda on my way, but there are so many options that I hadn’t been back. Finally swung in yesterday. I was worried about parking, but there is some in their lot, and of course the city lot nearby.
It’s a bit fancier than I expected. Nice place for a business lunch, or a date. Service was excellent. A dark bar atmosphere. A little pricey, but for a fancy place in Dublin, with good food and good portions, not outrageous.
I started with lobster bisque. Not the best ever, but pretty darn good: rich and creamy, full of flavor, a decent amount of lobster shreds. Then on to Mongolian Beef. A very classic, in my view, version: tender beef, perfectly cooked, in a flavorful sauce that was not overly salted (a common downfall.) Nicely done onions and green onions. Dried noodles on top. A side of rice; I upgraded to fried, which was decent and had lots of veggies.
I left very happy. I’ll be back if I’m going that way again.

I visited the Worthington location quite awhile ago but hadn’t been to the smaller Dublin location. I confess my companion and I ended up here because everything else was closed for Labor Day.
The first impression wasn’t stellar — it’s a nice place, clean and well-​maintained, but the décor is very 2003. I’m not going to demand that all restaurants update their interior finishes every 5 years, but they had a puzzling mixture of fabric choices going on. Also, the menus were pretty raggedy. They’re single-​sheets, and they were pretty torn and stained. That seems like such an easy fix that it makes one wonder why shabby-​looking menus are allowed to stay circulating.
Anyway, the food was good. I had Mongolian Beef and it was flavorful. The olive oil for bread-​dipping was also tasty. I had wine, my friend had a cocktail that we both agreed was too sweet (I’d have used club soda instead of lemon-​lime soda in it). The service was pretty… indifferent.
You could definitely do worse, but for these prices, you could also do better.

Meh…
For restaurant week I took my hot date out to J. Liu to see about their food. I loved the décor inside, very elegant, but not over the top. Our waitress was amazing, she did very well in taking care of us. From the restaurant week menu I had the lobster bisque soup, chophouse burger, and flourless cake. The soup was not that exciting, nor was the burger. I found the meat to be under-​seasoned which dulled all the fun stuff on it. The manager came by and though I didn’t want to say it, was able to get out of me what I thought of the burger. He gave me a $ 10 coupon to come back, good save! The flourless chocolate cake was very rich, I liked it. So not overly impressed by the food, but the regular menu looked very promising. Will give them another shot.

Their food continues to impress me and the recent Sunday brunch buffet made me want to give it 5 stars. However, their service continues to disappoint that it continues to be a huge negative in my book.
Sunday Brunch buffet — American, Asian, variety of classics.
Highlights: made-​to-​order omelette, prime rib
Breakfast classics: bacon, sausage, French toast, pancake
Chinese: Chow mein, egg roll
Dessert: chocolate strawberries, variety of cakes
Service: It is slowly improving but still has some areas for improvement. When an elderly lady slipped and fell, her server continued to take an order at an adjoining table while several patrons ran to assist her.