I had read about this little restaurant on a blog that I follow. It takes the Asian steamed Bao buns and fills them with interesting things like fried soft-shell crab or BBQ pork or hot chicken.
So, the 3 of us (Mike, Anna, and I) decided to give us a try.
I had read online that it was wise to make a reservation. What an odd reservation system they use. When you make a reservation, you get a text that says "We have received your request. We'll let you know when it has been accepted." So, it is kind of like...we may not accept it. About 4 hours later that same day, I got a text that says "Your reservation request has been accepted." I don't know what the deal is with that, but I found it odd and a little off-putting.
It is a small restaurant in an old restaurant in the middle of the Central Ave. restaurants of Clayton. It probably only has 8-12 tables. When we arrived and we said we had a reservation, they said "We've put you in that high top by the bar." Mike explained that we'd like a regular table if possible. They made the accommodation but didn't seem really happy about it. Old people don't like to sit at high top tables for too long. It makes our legs hurt. FYI.
So, this is kind of a restaurant with fancy bar drinks. I don't think I can actually call it a bar. It has a bar area but I can't imagine anyone coming here to just drink.
I tried a drink called the Cherry Blossom (the one with the flower (pansy) on top). It had Vodka, elderflower liquor4, cherry liquor, ginger liquor and lime juice. It was very aromatic. It was good.
Anna tried a drink called Respect the Geisha. It was made with plum sake, grapefruit liquor, raspberry liquor and prosecco (like champagne). It is the one with the umbrella. It was good, but had too much of a champagne taste for me.
Mike tried a Red Light/Green Light. It had tequila, hibiscus liquor, lime juice and orange bitters. It was probably my 2nd favorite to the Cherry Blossom.
I ordered a bowl of Tom Sap soup (like hot and sour soup) and one Bao sandwich...the fried soft shell crab. The soup was the consistency of Miso soup...meaning it was just a clear broth with a little bit of tofu and mushrooms floating in the bottom. The broth was super yummy but I paid $3 for one shrimp to be added to it. It was a $9 bowl of super yummy broth with one shrimp.
My bao sandwich was good but not great. It was a breaded and fried soft-shell crab with a little bit of eel sauce (sweet), masago (the little orange fish eggs on sushi) and some microgreens. There was nothing bad about it. It just didn't have much taste. The bao bun was fine, but there was nothing amazing about it.
Mike had a special where you get 2 bao sandwiches with fries and a coke. He tried the hot chicken and the waygu beef. The hot chicken was the best thing we tasted all night. If we ever went back...that's the sandwich I'd get. It was sweet and spicy in an Asian sort of way. The sauce was very yummy. The waygu beef was kind of just like eating a "slider." The fries were fine.
Anna loves "Katsu." Something (usually pork or chicken) that is katsu is breaded in panko crumbs and fried. She also loves soba noodles. So, they had a soba noodle bowl that you could add katsu chicken. It had a soft boiled egg and some cabbage/veg in a broth that she said was just average. She was there was nothing wrong with the entire dish but it didn't WOW her in any way.
Overall, this was a fun place to try. It was probably a one and done, but we don't regret trying it. It was a fun outing on a Sat. evening.
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