Wau?

Holy crap joint, Batman, Wau is the hottest restaurant on the upper west side and on the list of new New York City places to eat?

Maybe hot in spice level, but Wau reeked of mediocrity.

We departed with a hungry heart and bad breath.

I must state that I have a very low tolerance for spicy food and I am also allergic to red and green peppers…both elements were pervasive.

Wau is definitely the wrong place for me.

Wau is a diminutive eating establishment with no personality and a lousy beverage list.

The wine I ordered could have been on the Olive Garden wine list.

Every dish had heat so we attempted to order spice neutral.

The Roti Canai had a tasty Malaysian/Singapore/Indian savory pancake served with a coconut milk curry potato dipping, but the sauce was hot, hot, hot ($9.50).

The Mango Salad was overly flecked with red chili. The dressing was too sweet. I attempted to remove the chili flakes from the mango strips, but proved to be an exercise in futility. The tomatoes did not go well with the mango. A waste of $12.

The Nasi Goreng is Indonesian fried rice spiced with kicap manis (sweet soy sauce), shallots, garlic, ground shrimp paste, tamarind and chilli. We chose the seafood add on and it was meager. The dish was spicy despite the disclaimer and the rice oily ($18).

After 45 minutes of burn baby burn we asked for the check.

To sum up the evening the couple sitting next to us who appeared to be on a successful first date exchanged photos of their cats during the entire meal and barely ate…they were too busy replicating the physical moves from Cats the musical at the table.

Don’t mean to be catty, but the dining experience was less than purrfect!😹

Wau 434 Amsterdam Avenue New York City. Open for lunch Monday-Friday 12-3:30pm, Dinner Monday-Thursday 5-10pm, Friday 5- 10:30pm, Saturday12-10:30pm, Sunday: 12-9:30pm. Reservations on Resy.