Su-Tei

my man and I were driving through west virginia on a 14 hour long road trip and charleston was the closes thing to a city to stop for a real dinner. quick, Unilocal it! ok so we were in the mood for thai and i pull up thai restaurants. my man is like, no way, there’s nothing in WV. there’s like a whole bunch! my man was like, no way, lemme see! turns out i had searched charleston, SC by accident. oops.
ok back to the drawing board.
so searched thai in charleston, WV. 5 places come up. this place looks promising, so we punch the coordinates in the gps. as i keep reading reviews, i come upon this review down there from «the only asians in west virginia» hahahahah
i quickly become discouraged bc how terrible this review is. zero stars? geez. i’m asian, am i gonna hate this place too? i reconsider, should we not go there?
we’re too hungry and it’s too late to find something else, we’re already off the highway.
this place is so weird. they’ve got faaancy lounge chairs with silk curtains over the windows. there’s a samurai and a geisha statue, next to two christmas trees in the middle. there’s a fountain, various other sculptures/​statues, etc etc.
we’re gonna get some take out. we’re too underdressed, in pjs in the middle of our road trip, to be eating here.
the order goes
sweet potato tempura sushi
yellow curry tofu udon (sub flat wide noodles)
chicken pineapple fried rice
they forget to charge us for the sushi, which is actually only $ 4, feels like i’m stealing already.
the entrees are a dollar or two more than your usual take out thai place but hey they gotta pay for that samurai statue water fountain somehow.
my curry noodles are delicious! the tofu is fried tofu, well flavored. overall, it could be more flavorful but they have the general idea, and hey cut them some slack, it’s in the middle of west virginia, i’m just ecstatic they have edible tofu let alone well flavored delicious.
my man loves the sushi. the fried rice was so so he said.
he said they prob had the asian cook make my meal bc i’m asian so i’d write a good review, and the other guy made his food.
i’d def go back if i were in town again.

I love this place and the food is sooo delicious! I had the curry lamb and my husband had sushi! I would like to give a special thanks to the Manager T.J. From Ohio and of course our server from Texas! The next time we are town we are definitely going to eat HERE!

Udimaki Roll (not sure spelled right) — good
Sweet heart roll — good
American roll — good
Fantasy roll — excellent
Salmon, yellow tail, tuna nagiri nice thick slabs but not the freshest ever had.
Tom yum was not Tom yum and no heat and no lemon grass
Payaya was to crunchy and no heat and no flavor
Seaweed salad was good

This is some sort of weird, unholy combination of Thai and Japanese Izakaya. At this point in our trip we had yet to realize we were the only Asians in West Virginia, so we were still sorta hopeful that the food here would be food.
Our waiter was enthusiastic and helpful, and was the highlight of our dinner.
Tamago: Way too much dashi in a tamago that’s not what you would expect to be served on nigiri. We ended up getting a godforsaken mockery of a dashimaki tamago.
The most hilarious thing is that this restaurant that sells sushi doesn’t know what nigiri is, and we were corrected, being told that it’s called sushi. Meanwhile, even tamago, if not served on rice, is considered sashimi. WTF? I am so utterly baffled.
Rice: Rice is probably one of the most important things you have to get right if you’re going to serve sushi. Holy crap they dropped the ball on this one. Terribly under-​vinegared and bad to the point we just removed it. We were originally going to order sushi for dinner, but everything really scared us off from that.
Unagi Don: Unagi is not supposed to look like that, taste like that, or feel like that. Accompanied by the same low-​quality rice was a depressing layer of unagi. It was mushy, had way too much skin that peeled right off, and is a million years away from being properly prepared. You could literally go to a Japanese supermarket, buy pre-​prepared, packaged unagi, broil it, and ding you have unagi at a quarter of the price and twice the quality. Damn.
Tom Yum: Su-Tei’s Tom Yum is probably some of the blandest, least vibrant Tom Yum I’ve ever tried. Its like if you took Tom Yum, removed 75% of the lime juice, cilantro, and ginger, then took out 90% of the lemongrass so it didn’t even pretend to smell right.
Yellow Swimming Duck: I liked it. It tasted alright. Typical Thai Fare and 2x the typical Thai price.
Su-​Tei has made its way into the top 5 worst restaurants I’ve ever had the misfortune to visit.
Service was good though :)
Tamago: ⁰⁄₅
Rice: ⁰⁄₅
Unagi: ⁰⁄₅
Tom Yum: ⁰⁄₅
Yellow Swimming Duck: ²⁄₅
Service:4/5
Diversity: ⁴⁄₅
Price: $$/​$$$$
Satisfaction:Price– ⁰⁄₅ (This is literally the only restaurant I’ve reviewed that I’ve had a 0 here. Yes, its that bad.)

I love getting Thai food from here. They have a variety of Great options for a variety of different palates. I just don’t like the sushi.

First off, you’re gonna get good sushi. You won’t find better sushi in Charleston. They have a huge menu, and I’ve not even gotten close to getting to all of it. What really does me in every time is the cold beef with seaweed. Seaweed has a different, chewy texture, and you just can’t stop eating it. Great variety in spirits, nice restaurant layout.

I loved this place. The atmosphere was cool I guess but the food was delicious (which is most important anyway). The wait staff had excellent recommendations and everything was delicious. I’d highly recommend it and I personally can’t wait to go back.

Awful food. I took a coworker here to try Thai food for the first time. We went in early around 11 so we got a table quickly and food arrived within minutes of arrival. We both got pas Thai which was the waiter’s recommendation but it was horrible. Tasted like sugar and syrup. Disappointed!

I struggle writing about restaurants like this. There aren’t a lot of really good solid Asian restaurants in town. And the food is good. But is their Thai food as good as the food in Thailand? Or even on the West Coast, where there are large population centers of Thai/​Asian folk? No, not really. But it’s still tasty. So do you compare it to other restaurants in the area? Or overall compared to Thai restaurants in other regions?
I had the yakisoba with tofu and tom kha chicken soup. Both were tasty and rather good. If you’ve had Thai food in Thailand or even the West Coast, you’ll know that the Thai food tends to burst forth with flavor, whether it’s the lemongrass, lime, peanuts, spices, or whatever, and that in the better restaurants, there’s a beautiful complexity to the cuisine. That isn’t so prevalent here… but it’s still good, and it still tastes like Thai food. It just doesn’t have that certain «something».
The restaurant serves Japanese food, including sushi and rolls. The spicy tuna roll wasn’t very spicy, but it was rather good!!! The food seems fresh, and the service was attentive and very friendly.
The atmosphere is a sort of contemporary largely black and white Asian feel, and quite pleasant, although it’s an odd mish-​mosh, as you have a bar with TVs showing sporting events (with no sound but subtitles on the screen), while the rest of the restaurant is calmer and more elegant, with a rather tall trickling water feature in the middle.
It’s a sort of restaurant where you could bring a lot of people here, some of whom may not be familiar with Asian cuisine, and they’d be happy here, as the food is mild in spices and tastes good. That was the case with the party that we came with, and all came away quite happy with their meals. Two people unfamiliar with Asian cuisine ordered the pineapple fried rice and were very happy with that and the miso soup that came with it. Definitely a welcome restaurant in the region.

Welcome addition to the area which has too many mediocre chain places. Very good sushi and Thai dishes. Nice atmosphere to eat in as well as good for takeout. One of the better placed now in Charleston, hope they stay around.

I think it moved. But the food is good, atmosphere is pleasing. Service is a little slow.

Never have I had a bad meal here. Nice, quiet spacious atmosphere. No tables crammed in too tightly, and the high-​backed white leather booths are cozy and invite conversation among those at the table. The staff is knowledgeable about the food and the wine list. The only reason I didn’t give it five stars is to give them something to strive for! :-)
(It looks like they are adding a small outdoor dining deck soon)

This place was pretty good, the sushi was tasty and the service was great. The only thing I would say to improve on would be the fried rice. The filet mignon and scallops were cooked perfectly and really tender.

I was passing through on business and decided to try this out for sushi. The exterior is a little worrying as it looks like a renovated IHOP, but the interior is a very pleasant surprise. Modern booths, uniquely decorated, nice ambiance. This is a great place for a date or to socialize with friends.
Their Americanized rolls are great. The quality of the tuna wasa tender and almost melt in your mouth. Rice was very fresh.
Place settings are decorative and sushi is served with an artistic flare.
Waiter was wonderfully polite. I would have gone here for dinner again if I hadn’t been stuck in a snow storm.

My husband and I were driving from Maryland to Kentucky (WOOO…) and it was Christmas day. What is open on Christmas day you ask? Driving through wild and wonderful West Virginia? NOT A DAMN THING. Well, almost not a damn thing. Apparently Chinese and Japanese restaurants do not close on Christmas. I have to admit, my expectations of this place were not high because I’ve had sushi in NYC, DC, some of the greatest food cities in the country… and SHOCKER, West Virginia doesn’t usually rank up there with places you would think have good sushi. But, we were desperate.
I was more than pleasantly surprised. The service was very friendly… our waiter… can’t remember his name now, really tall guy, was very nice and offered lots of recommendations. We ordered some sushi, an app and pad thai. Everything was very good but the Pad Thai was seriously ON POINT. Like… one of the best I’ve had. In Charleston, WV. I know, I know… just try it. Very good. And since the guy was working on christmas, we gave him a fat tip because the prices were very reasonable.

Thank you Su-​Tei! Finally, a decent (Thai) restaurant in Charleston!
Su-​Tei is excellent all-​around, and really cannot say enough good things about their food, hospitality and service. Andri and his entire staff
(Mona is amazing!) deserve a huge round of applause.
Virtually everything on the menu is excellent, and there really is ‘something for everyone’ (no matter how picky they may be!). Fresh ingredients, generous portions, lovely ambiance, attentive service, and friendly staff.
Some of Our favorites
— Tom Yum Soup with Shrimp (shrimp are deveined and butterflied)
— Yum-​Yum roll (great for sushi novices)
— Drunken Noodle
— Red Lava Seafood
— Crispy Duck with Red Curry
— Su Tei Crispy Snapper Fillet (with yellow curry)
Live Jazz on weeknights (Mon and Tue?) and great Lunch Specials too make this our new favorite place in town.

Judging from the outside, you’ll have no idea that the inside of this restaurant was beautifully decorated with lavish furniture and pretty lights.
Good service. They are more than happy to explain some of the items on the menu and give recommendations.
To be honest, the food isn’t AMAZING here. Most of their dishes are a ht or miss. And might I add the prices are a bit steep– but the service and ambiance of the restaurant is what brings the ratings up to a 3.
1. Red Curry. My #1 recommendation from the restaurant. It is without a doubt my favorite dish and it’s the saving grace of my rating as well. This curry alone bumps up my rating to a 4. It’s just that good!
2. Drunken Noodles. It’s good, but not great. I just had better so I can’t really rave about it– but it’s decently delicious so give it a try.
3. Pineapple Fried Rice. One of the restaurants best-​selling dish. I can’t argue with that since the concept of it is cool. The fried rice is served in the carved out pineapple! The inside of the pineapple is, of course, used in the dish which can only mean that it’s incredibly fresh! None of that artificial canned stuff. While the pineapple is delish, the fried rice lacks a special oomph.
4. Moon Fire Roll. It had a bunch of ingredients in them, but what I remember from the top of my head is eel, spicy tuna, and shrimp tempura. On paper, it sounds amazing and I was really looking forward to this specialty roll but unfortunately it did not deliver. The roll comes wrapped in foil on a cast iron-​like pan LIT on fire! Awesome. Thinking it was going to be a baked dish, I dug in to only to taste not-​so-​fresh, lukewarm roll. Steer clear from the rolls here. I do not recommend them. Try one of the 3 above.
5. Fried oysters. Similar to 4, not fresh. I think they use frozen oysters.

New Favorite!
Kanawha City is lucky to have such a well executed Asian fusion restaurant. The place is a great date restaurant with cozy booth and intimate two tops near the zen fountain.
The menu is made up with traditional Thai, simple Japanese hibachi, and sushi. Most entrees are moderately priced from $ 11 – 15. I ordered from the list of chef specialities — Yellow udon seafood curry. Shrimp, scallops, calamari, and mussels where cooked perfectly in a slightly sweet and spicy sauce.
I had duck lettuce wraps, papaya salad, and spring roll appetizers. Then washed it all down with a Full Nelson Ale.
I strongly suggest you make this your new favorite.

I had the chicken in red curry. At first I thought the curry to be too hot but as I ate, it was most excellent. My meal came with miso soup and a small salad.
I will most definitely be a regular here.

Start with friendly service, put them in a nicely laid out restaurant, put pictures and explanation of the sushi on the menu (a couple of them are hard to read with light-​on-​light, but the pictures are still good) and serve up large portions of delicious food.
I have NO complaints! My food was fresh and delish! I would absolutely return! As good as it gets!
Note: Su-​Tei doesn’t yet have their liquor license. Until they do, I was told that they’re fine with people bringing their own from the next door Kroger.