Restaurant Row or cursed locations? A new Chinese food spot struggles to find its fit.

There's a strange contradiction on Austin's Barton Springs Road: it's known as Restaurant Row, yet it's also home to a string of "cursed locations." While Chuy’s, Baby Acapulco’s, and Green Mesquite have stood the test of time, the spaces between them have seen a constant shuffle of restaurants.

The latest addition to this row is Zoé Tong, a modern Chinese restaurant opened by Sichuan native Simone Tong and her husband, Matt Hyland. They relocated to Austin during the pandemic, bringing with them impressive culinary credentials. Tong owned the acclaimed Silver Apricot in New York City's East Village, while Hyland co-founded popular pizzerias.

Zoé Tong aims to break the curse but has struggled with execution and inconsistent service. The menu boasts creative, modern takes on Sichuanese, Cantonese, and Singaporean flavors, but the dishes often fall flat, with heavy-handed flavor profiles and poor kitchen execution. The restaurant also falls short in terms of design and aesthetics, with a slapdash dining room and off-putting decor.

Trying to ascertain much about those and other dishes proved largely difficult, as most of the staff, outside of one exceptional server, possessed little menu knowledge. Unable to educate us on much of the menu, one server even talked us out of an extra dish or two.

While there are some promising dishes, such as the cold sesame noodles, tea-smoked duck, and pig ear salad, the overall experience is a letdown, leaving patrons wondering if Zoé Tong is just another casualty of this supposedly "cursed" location.

Zoé Tong at a glance

• Rating: 4.5/10
• Address: 1530 Barton Springs Road
• Phone: 512-387-6671
• Website: http://www.zoetong.com
• Hours: Dinner - Mon-Thu: 5-9:30pm, Fri-Sat: 5-10:30pm. Brunch - Sat-Sun: 11am-2:30pm
• Prices: ~$65 per person before drinks and tip
• Highlights: Cold sesame noodles, tea-smoked duck, mushroom and lamb noodles
• Notes: Complimentary valet parking, paid parking on Barton Springs Road