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Comment Archives: Locations: Restaurants: Asian Fusion
Re: “Fire Street Food”
Oh my gosh. I'm shocked this has 4 stars... the food and service are both MEH. I wouldn't say it's terrible but definitely MEH.
Re: “Xiao Bao Biscuit”
Stopped in the other night for a drink and menu read.
I had to put the phone light on menu to read, tiny lettering & dim light.
Ended up ordering the Beef Carpaccio and the Lamb/Pork wontons from the 'Starters'.
The carpaccio was awesome, just the right amount of heat from the chile, and literally melts in your mouth.
The wontons were delicious as well. Served piping hot and tasty as well.
Now the bad part. These 2 apps were $14 combined. The carpaccio was served on a plate about the size of a tea saucer or dessert plate, paper thin & one layer thick. Big on flavor - short on quantity. The wontons...5 in all, served on the same size plate, again, a small portion for the price.
Add to this a $5.50 can of beer and it starts to add up fast. I also found it odd that there was no draught beer. I know cans are all hip these days...but really $5.50? Dinner plates start around $12(it is a very limited menu) and climb up from there...with your can of beer in an old gas station. Obviously, some love goes into the food but if you have an appetite, or give due consideration to the value of a dollar, this may not be the place for you.
Re: “Xiao Bao Biscuit”
XBB is unfair to early bird geezers. 6pm is a very odd time to open for dinner service in a town crammed with retirees who like to eat early. Oh well. Maybe Denny's will put asian on the menu some day.
Re: “Xiao Bao Biscuit”
We went back to XBB in February and it was a much better experience. The items listed as mains were more substantial and the pricing was adjusted across the board. The Szechuan peppercorn drink was intriguing and delicious, and the okonomiyaki outstanding. I'm glad they have made some changes, and we will definitely go back regularly.
The only real problem we had was difficulty reading the menus due to the small font, dim lighting, and the lack of contrast between the charcoal print on light gray paper. A minor quibble is that nothing indicates whether or not a dish is spicy. I can handle heat, but I still like to know what I'm getting into.
Re: “Ko Cha Asian Restaurant”
very average food, nice people but speak very very poor english
Re: “Xiao Bao Biscuit”
As soon as I opened the door, I knew this was going to be good. It just smelled right. It smelled like Asia.
Even though they do not focus on one cuisine (which certainly made me skeptical), they are taking great pains to make everything as authentic as possible. We have been three times and everything has been wonderful including Ramen, Bun Thit Nuong and the gorgeously sweet and spicy duck Geng Bped. While I can’t vouch for the authenticity of everything I have had there, the absolute authenticity of the dishes that I am VERY familiar with in their countries of origin gives me confidence in the ones that I unfortunately missed in my extensive Asian travels.
Until someone else starts making Asian food this authentic around here, you can charge me anything the hell you want.
Som Tam papaya salad is my favorite dish from any cuisine in the world and I have enjoyed it many times both in Thailand and Laos. Theirs is spot on. Everything you need to know about this restaurant comes from the fact that they don’t even ask if you want the dish prepared the way it is supposed to be or if you want it watered down for the American palette. It came nice and spicy without me having to plead and beg and unlike many Asian places around here they are not afraid of fish sauce. They serve it the way you would get it in Thailand or Laos without giving you the option of dumbing it down. Please don’t let anyone talk you out of this approach.
Re: “Fire Street Food”
Service is just kind of meh. Atmosphere also leaves something to be desired, as the tables are kind of cramped in the very narrow space.
The food, however, is outstanding and reasonably priced. Best curry this side of Calhoun. Working on King street, I eat here at least once a week.
Re: “Fire Street Food”
My husband and I had food from here twice for takeout and once to dine in (in the span of about 2 weeks). We've tried a variety of the items on the menu, and everything has been terriffic. The service was more than fine the time we ate there. I highly recommend the Pad Thai and the Laos Egg Noodle Soup with Braised Pork. You can't beat the food for the price! It's one of our new favorites.
Re: “Fire Street Food”
Great food for a great price.
Re: “Fire Street Food”
I won't go into the whole ordeal...but based on my families experience on a single visit...I have no plans to go back.
Service was weak even though we were seated 6' from counter and there were only a couple other patrons. Waitress was more involved with setting up shop & organizing rather than waiting on customers. Meanwhile, one of the owners(?), a woman, is walking around with a glass of wine in hand and offers no assistance.
My meal came out separately and long after everyone else was served...in a party of 3. Food was not appetizing and bit 'off' from one would expect of familiar dishes.
No thank you.
Re: “Ko Cha Asian Restaurant”
Love this place - - favorite Korean place in Charleston. Excellent quality and prices and friendly staff.
Re: “Xiao Bao Biscuit”
I've been to XBB twice now, once for lunch, and once for dinner. Both experiences were fantastic. This is NOT an Asian Fusion restaurant. The dishes XBB create are authentic to Asian heritage; some of them are indeed spicy, and you will enjoy your experience more if you share the dishes among the table in the Asian tradition.
Lunch provides some great sandwich options, I had the pork sandwich (filling but not too heavy) and the cabbage pancake is fantastic (this dish is on both the lunch and dinner menus). The dinner menu is more extensive, so there is plenty to try. The flounder dish currently on the menu is absolutely to die for -- it has this lightness complemented by fennel and dill that keeps the broth from overpowering the fish. I wanted to steal it all for myself!
Also incredible is the drinks selection. Joey (formerly of Belmont Lounge) has created some amazing cocktails, and they have some really cool international beers I had never heard of, but were very good.
The vibe is very cool and this is a really easy place to meet people and strike up new conversations. Not only is the staff really friendly, but the other patrons were a lot of fun and interesting to chat with. Overall, this is a great addition to the Charleston scene, and definitely provides and experience you can't find anywhere else in town!
Re: “Xiao Bao Biscuit”
While I applaud the well needed diversity in our ethnic food scene... !#@% $14 bucks for pork butt, rice and an egg is a little offensive. And let's keep in mind we are not in a part of town where the rent should be dictating the prices. I don't care how good you can make those ingredients taste, they are still those ingredients. As someone who has cooked professionally all my life I know the product to cost ratio and frankly the quantity you get is not up to snuff either. Bummer because I was really looking forward to this place.
Re: “Xiao Bao Biscuit”
While I applaud the well needed diversity in our ethnic food scene... !#@% $14 bucks for pork butt, rice and an egg is a little offensive. And let's keep in mind we are not in a part of town where the rent should be dictating the prices. I don't care how good you can make those ingredients taste, they are still those ingredients. As someone who has cooked professionally all my life I know the product to cost ratio and frankly the quantity you get is not up to snuff either. Bummer because I was really looking forward to this place.
Re: “Xiao Bao Biscuit”
I have been a long-time supporter of D and Josh as they have worked through opening XBB. We went to several of their pop-ups and were excited to help them get off the ground since Charleston lacks good Asian food.
They opened while we were out of town so when we went they had been open about a week. We were told the menu that night was different from their regular one, and it was divided into Appetizers and Mains. We ordered shrimp toast and tofu laab appetizers, then the shao bing -- fried chicken with a sweet and spicy glaze served with pickled vegetables -- and a papaya salad with pork for mains. Our waiter said the appetizers would be out shortly. About 20 minutes later three of the dishes appeared at once and the waiter said he would be back with the shao bing.
As I looked over what we had my first thought was "Is that all?" The laab was about 1/4 of a cup of minced tofu and three small bibb lettuce leaves. The shrimp toast was four slices of baguette, each with about 1T of shrimp mixture smeared thinly on them. The papaya salad was slightly more substantial, but it was mostly papaya and only had three small pieces of pork on top. The shao bing was delivered, and my partner literally asked the waiter "Is that it?" For $8 he got a small piece of fried chicken, on a biscuit, with two pieces of pickled cauliflower and one thin slice of pickled carrot on the side. Once we got past the shock of the minuscule portion, we both reached for the menu to see if it said there was a biscuit involved. It didn't. That menu confusion continued as we started eating.
I decided to start by tasting the papaya salad, and was greeted by an explosion of chilies. I don't mind heat, but the menu did not say this dish was spicy. It didn't even mention chilies as one of the ingredients. It was so hot that I couldn't even taste the laab or shrimp toast.
One of the owners came to clear our table and I mentioned that the dish was very spicy. She lit up and beamed with apparent pride, saying they wanted it to be authentic. I pointed out that it should say it on the menu and told her about not being able to taste the milder flavors in the other dishes. She quickly cleared the table and hurried off.
What I could taste was excellent. Everything was treated properly and true to the original dishes. However, the portions were embarrassingly small. We ended up spending nearly $50, including one beer each, and left hungry enough that we heated up some leftovers when we got home.
We're going to give them a month or so before we head back.
Re: “Octobachi”
Great atmosphere. We sat at the bar on both trips to Octobachi and the service was awesome. Very friendly and knowledgeable staff. Sushi is really good, but basic. They only have a few rolls to choose from. The hibachi is really good, flavored well, and you get quite a lot of food. The fresh spring rolls are also really great. I love that they are very into the local scene. They seem to grow a lot of their own produce as well. The only big downfall is the Pho. It is not good. At all. It tasted as if they took a beef boullion cube and put it in a bowl of water with a few noodles and a bit of beef. I would really like to see them either hone this recipe or remove the item from the menu because it is really the only blemish on an otherwise stellar menu.
Re: “Octobachi”
I had a sushi roll that was the special that night and it was fabulous. A couple of other sushi rolls off the menu were great, too. Fresh with a nice mix of textures. The sushi isn't cheap, but it isn't unreasonably priced for the quality compared to other places in town. I would not recommend the pho. It is too expensive, and the broth is completely flavorless. Even the accompanying condiments couldn't flavor it enough. The waiter was great-very friendly, laid back, and helpful. The tables are awful. If you so much as set a glass down they jiggle uncontrollably. Crossing your legs under the table or putting your hand on it as you stand up or sit down causes your drink to slosh out of your glass. I'd definitely go back for sushi, but I'd sit at the bar.
Re: “Octobachi”
Octobachi has a great environment, great staff, and high quality food. It's a great restaurant and they always have drink specials! I am excited to have them in my neighborhood!
Re: “Zen Asian Fusion”
The Sushi was great, the presentation was great and the taste was great I recommend the place to all my friends. The servers and maitre'd (James) were very friendly and gave us a free appetizer. Great place!
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Re: “Xiao Bao Biscuit”
Thit Bo. Damn. I wanted to go into the alley out back to see if there was a Vietnamese lady squatting over a piece of charcoal with a grill basket in one hand and a fan keeping the coals hot in the other. These people are doing it right. The nuoc nam sauce was wonderfully fishy, citrusy, and spicy. You are supposed to just dip into it but I finished it off with a spoon.
BeerLao for $4. Yes, in Laos it is $.60, but you are not in Laos.