The Eel fails to match ferocity of the Cheetah

By on April 20, 2010  |  Dinner, East Hills, Lunch, SE

Update: The Electric Eel recently closed, and has reopened as Uncle Cheetah’s Soup Shop.

The Electric Cheetah happens to be one of my favorite restaurants in Grand Rapids. With its exciting and bold menu, it never fails to impress me. So when the owners of the Electric Cheetah announced that they’d be opening a second restaurant, I couldn’t contain my excitement.

Despite the buzz around town, I’ve been extremely disappointed in the two times I’ve dined at the Electric Eel. The menu might sound like it’s full of flavor, but in reality, the Eel’s offerings are extremely bland and not the slightest bit exciting.

When I first walked in, I was surprised to see how small the restaurant really was. There were only about four tables, with a bar overlooking the kitchen. But the environment was interesting — it looked like it was taken right out of a scene from the movie “Kung Fu Panda.” But the food was a different story.

I started out with lettuce wraps and a Ginger/Lemon Lassi for drink. Or at least I was supposed to. The Ginger/Lemon Lassi is a yogurt-based drink, and it’s great to sip on during a hot summer day. But then, instead of the lettuce wraps coming to our table as an appetizer, my entree came out first, and it came out before anything else was delivered to the table.

Most restaurants bring out everyone’s meal at the same time, and they usually start with the appetizer. Yes, the Electric Eel is positioned as a take-out restaurant, but for those people dining in, it shouldn’t be treated as such.

So I started off by eating my Szechwan Peanut Noodles ($6.00), which featured rice noodles, carrots, bell peppers, bok choy and green onion, all seasoned with a spicy peanut sauce. Instead of a nice variety of flavors, I was completely overwhelmed by the peanut sauce. It literally tasted like I was eating a jar of peanut butter with each bite I took. There were no other flavors I could make out. In this case, my meal was heavily over-seasoned.

Eventually we got our lettuce wraps ($6.00), and the rest of our table got their meals as well. Labeled under “The Best Around” on its menu, I had high expectations for the lettuce wraps. Instead, the dish was placed in front of us and we had to make it. And despite the menu saying it came with a chili sauce and hosin-fish sauce, there was no sauce to be found. The dish was extremely bland, and it literally tasted like I was eating lettuce and grilled turkey meat.

While the rest of the meals weren’t terrible, they were extremely bland. Even the Lionel Ritchie — a featured sushi dish with salmon, avocado, carrots, and a spicy chili sauce — was anything but spicy. The best sushi is full of flavor, and this dish had apparently missed that memo.

For my second trip to the Eel, I thought I’d try a different approach to what I ordered. My roommate and I started with the Giant Crab Rangoons. This time, it was delivered before our meals. The appetizer certainly lived up to its name, but we were disappointed to find little to no crab meat or flavoring in the dish. All we could really taste was the cream cheese. The shells were very, very good, but beyond the outside shell, the dish reminded me of something I could get at any cheap Chinese buffet.

My roommate ordered the Fried Sushi, and I was interested to hear his thoughts based on what I had heard about the Lionel Ritchie dish the last time I had dined. The dish ($6.00) featured sushi rice, cream cheese, crab, green onion, and nori roll breaded with panko. Once again though, the dish was very bland — we were unable to taste any of the individual ingredients. And like our appetizer, there wasn’t nearly enough crab.

My dish, the Vietnamese Pho ($8.00), was delivered to our table nearly 10 minutes after my roommate’s. It was basically a big cup of noodles — think ramen, only about three times the size. On the side were vegetables, which I immediately added to the dish. Despite this, the broth was bland, and the noodles weren’t seasoned. It was like eating noodles and water, with a few veggies here and there.

And while the environment might be cool, the service is extremely poor. It’s a take-out restaurant, yes, but meals should be brought out at the same time for those dining in. Additionally, all your meals are served in boxes or bags, and everything is jumbo-sized. It makes dining in extremely uncomfortable and somewhat awkward when you have to throw out or take home over half of your meal.

All in all, in my two trips to the Electric Eel, I could only find one thing that I actually enjoyed — the Ginger/Lemon Lassi. It’s definitely worth the $4, but beyond that, I’m not sure if I could recommend the Electric Eel for anything else.

Electric Eel, The  ( Rating: out of 5 )

Where: 1133 Wealthy Street, Grand Rapids
Hours: Daily, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Ambiance: Modern Asian atmosphere
How much will it cost you: Entrees average between $6 and $8.
Credit cards: All major
Alcohol: No
Reservations: No
Contact: (616) 451-4780
Online: http://www.electriceelgr.com

  • Cory DeMint

    I wish you would come back. I had a really hard opening and we have changed everything. Sorry you had a bad expirence.

    • http://grgrub.com Bryan Esler

      Cory – I appreciate your comment, but I don’t think I’ll be returning to the Electric Eel for a while. You guys have done a fantastic job with the Electric Cheetah, but I really think you’ve missed the mark here. I visited today for lunch and wrote this article after that experience. Thanks for reading, and I wish you the best.

  • Matt Taberr

    I was in on 4/26 @ the Eel for lunch, had the Vietnamese Pho. Quite tasty. Trying to eat out of the 32oz container w/ chopsticks was a bit tricky, but the dish was great. I look forward to visiting again soon.

  • Jessa

    I have been to the Electric Eel about 10 times now and I have never had ANY bad experiences! I’ve tried many of their sushi offerings as well as most of their regular noodle dishes. My favorite things on the menu are the giant crab rangoons and the lettuce wraps. Their homemade sweet chili dipping sauce is so amazing with the rangoons and it is probably the best combination of flavors I’ve had at any Asian restaurant in Grand Rapids.

    I was so excited when they moved into this neighborhood as there aren’t any nice Asian places around. They have great customer service, from what I’ve experienced – I waited only 10 minutes for my food once and they gave me the soft serve ice cream flavor of the day for free! They also deliver which makes them really awesome for work lunches!

    Also, I’m not really sure I understand how taking some wonderful food home to eat later is an awkward situation. When I can take home almost half of my noodle dish, I’m ecstatic! No awkward situation here… Asian noodle leftovers are my favorite!

    In any way, I hope that others reading this review will consider visiting the Eel, don’t just take someone’s word for it… try it yourself!