Xiao Bao Biscuit

I am regretfully writing this review about my lack-​luster experience at one of my favorite restaurants in Charleston. My fiancé and I stopped in this afternoon for Okonomiyaki and their daily special, a pork belly biscuit. I ordered my Okonomiyaki with pork candy and a fried egg. Normally, a total hit, today, that was not the case. I sat and ate my cabbage pancake hoping and praying the flavors that I love so much were going to come out. However, they never did. The cabbage wasn’t super fried on the outside like usual, the inside was too thick and ended up tasting like steamed cabbage that my grandma would make and not enough sauce on the top. Was it gross? No, definitely not. It was mediocre and left me feeling melancholy. Hopping for a redemption Okonomiyaki.

I just got Rhonda Rousey’d in the mouth by the Okonomiyaki and I liked it! This cabbage pancake dish never fails to render me into a dazed and confused state. This TKO wouldn’t be possible without the magical pork [cotton] candy. I also add the fried farm egg and pork belly… it’s basically a salad ;)
They have Coke hecho en Mexico!

XBB: «I Have My Rules» — And They’re Not Customer Friendly
Three of a party of four arrived at XBB and were told by the vacuous hostess we couldn’t be seated until the 4^th arrived (we should have lied and said we were a party of three and then been pleased and astounded when our fourth friend arrived.) The owner then explained this was because «[He] has his rules.» If he had seated us, the 3 of us would have had a pre-​dinner drink — as opposed to standing at the entrance. I guess when you’re All-​Knowing, creating decrees works. But if you’re in the hospitality business, you might want to get off your throne.
So, we left and had a nice dinner at Lana’s. Thank goodness Charleston has lots of restaurants.

We went on a Thursday evening and made with time to spare before the kitchen closed at 10 pm. I had heard that the Okonomiyaki (cabbage pancakes) with the works (bacon, pork belly and an egg) was their speciality dish. If you combine that with the very tender Mandarin Beef and Sticky Rice with a Chang beer — it was a very unique dining experience. The Tofu dish was very spicy and we ended up ordering several orders of the dumplings.
It’s in an old Gas Station with a Hipster Vibe. We were fortunate to find parking in the front.

So, so good… my first choice for Asian food in Charleston (pickings are slim enough that I don’t need to specify a particular cuisine). Love their lunch and dinner menu, their cocktails, the staff, everything. Try the passport cocktail, and for food don’t miss out on the yu xiang. We usually order a bunch of dishes and share. Watch out for anything with Szechuan peppercorns, not the typical spicy but mouth-​numbing!

Great atmosphere. One of the more unique places in Charleston.
I had the dumplings. Alright flavor. All 5 dumplings that were served in the portion could easily fit in my mouth at the same time. Portion size was EXTREMELY small which made it difficult to judge the taste. Not the best dumplings I’ve had.
My friend had the tofu bowl. It was relatively good, but nothing spectacular. At a high cost for a small portion, we expected more.

XBB: always surprised with new and interesting flavors from different countries. Yum! Today I had old faithful… Okonomiyaki. If you haven’t had it do yourself a favor and go right now. Then paratha with green curry and roti bread. There were tons of veggies making a great vegetarian dish.

Very very good. The atmosphere is fun and the wait isn’t long at all. They offer all kinds of beer, but unfortunately mine was served on the warm side.
I got the Papaya salad which was very good, but kind of heavy in sauce in flavor. It came topped with cilantro which is always a huge plus in my book. But every other time I’ve had papaya salad it’s always been light and refreshing. So this was just different than expected.
Daniel had a hash dish with eggs. He enjoyed it — but his seemed pretty heavy too.

Love love love this place in fact I will probably eat a late lunch there. You can’t go wrong always fresh friendly and delicious. Just thinking about the food is making my mouth water and while this review is for Tuesday of this week when I had early dinner, i’m going to cut it short so I can get over there ASAP. I have probably eaten here at least 30 times consistency is key! Yum Yum Yum and kisses to these guys

Let the record state that we drove past Xiao Bao not once, not twice, but three times. It’s actually housed in a renovated gas station.
We arrived early for dinner. As soon as we walked in, we were transformed to a low-​lit, New York style gastropub with elegant brick walls lining the restaurant. The ambiance is cool and extremely hip, while the décor is what every trendy restaurant aspires to be.
Now, onto some of the best food Charleston has to offer.
1. Yu Xiang — a vegetarian offering showcasing fried Brussel sprouts and Chinese eggplant in a «fish fragrant» sauce. Unbelievable flavor. Salty, spicy and tender.
2. Okonomiyaki — (in my opinion) the star of the show. A cabbage pancake, if you will. I could eat this like candy. And the presentation was phenomenal. You’ll be licking the plate.
3. Butter Curry — Indian style curry with braised lamb. Very traditional, but undeniably delicious.
With only ten items on the menu, the food better be pretty damn good. Well, there’s no doubt that Xiao Bao goes above the status quo. Be prepared to have your mind blown!

Talk about flavor. This place has it. I ate a curry that was so strong my taste buds could not register.
I look forward to visiting again next time in charleston

Xiao Bao Biscuit has a cool name, a cool atmosphere even, but alas, it’s not quite my cup of tea. My sister-​in-​law has been there a few times and loved the cabbage pancake (okonomiyaki). So during our recent trip, she dragged us for snacks and drinks one night. We waited a while because even at 9 PM, it was packed. We ended up sitting outside, and fed the mosquitos (but that’s not the fault of the restaurant).
Anyways, we ordered a few dishes and drinks. The cabbage pancake was tasty, but it’s not really a pancake. It’s a bunch of cabbage in the form (i.e. flat and round) of pancake. It is tasty, but I was expecting some sort of carb. At any rate, it was tasty, even if it was what I was expecting. All the other dishes we tried (dumplings, chili cumin lamb, mapo dou fu, etc) were nothing to write home about. Well, actually most were pretty salty that I just honestly can’t say I enjoyed any of them.
So «A-​OK» in that for what I think the restaurant is trying to accomplish (hip place for drinks and small plates), I think they’ve accomplished. And that the cabbage pancake was unique and tasty.

I was impressed walking in. I love the casual atmosphere, the comfy seating.
The lunch menu is pretty small. I do like the selection, though. I had the Bo Bo Ji and it was very tasty at first. After a few bites… OMG, it got REALLY spicy! Towards the last few bites, it was hard to finish the dish because of the overwhelming amount of spice. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m very tolerant of spice… i love hot cheetos, sriracha, wasabi, and really spicy mexican food. … but the spice that they put into this dish was wayyyy too much. It just took too much away from the flavor of the dish :(
A few people I was with had the Phở Ga. This did not look like a traditional Phở Ga at all. This is usually a soup, but at Xiao Bao Biscuit, they didn’t have any soup in it. … just the noodles and veggies. The presentation looked really good. But again, this was too spicy for my sister and cousin.
Since I told my kids that we were going to have Asian, they were so excited and were expecting to have noodles. After looking at the menu and noticing that there wasn’t anything except for the Phở Ga that were noodle-​based, I asked the waitress if they would be able to make a noodle dish. She said they didn’t have anything that they can make with noodles and w/​o the spice, and so suggested the cabbage pancake. So this was a disappointment for my 3 little kids. They pretty much just settled for plain white rice… boring!
One thing I was excited about was that they had Calamansi juice, which is a popular Filipino drink… one of my favorites growing up, actually.
If they can lessen the spice levels and have non-​spicy noodles for kids, then this place would get 5 stars.

Looking at my notes from our lunch at Xiao Bao, the first thing I have written is: Parking! Haha. The exclamation mark is definitely deserved as the small lot was incredibly helpful when I realized that most of the neighborhood only had residential permit spots. Luckily, the rest of our experience was just as good.
At about 1:15pm on a Wednesday, the place was about ¹⁄₃ full. We seated ourselves at one of the communal picnic tables they have out front. It’s a covered area, which is a nice way to enjoy a warm sunny day without toasting. The main indoor space was very breezy and airy. I think this is a former auto body shop? They definitely had the industrial/​hipster ambiance on lock, right down to the servers.
For drinks we ordered the calamansi juice and the Vietnamese lemonade. The latter had a sparkling taste and might not be for everyone. I actually had to switch with my husband because he preferred my calamansi juice (kumquats and limes, I think). For entrees, I had the Bo bo ji, which was slightly spicy with a wonderful peanut sauce. My husband had the Pad kra pow, which he really enjoyed thanks in part to the beef’s tenderness and the slight kick of spice. Portions were very decent sized.

Been eating Asian food my whole life, this place is not that good for either authentic or fusion. Maybe that’s why I didn’t see any other Asian customers. The ambience and décor are fun. They offer the Chinese Apple Cider and Me. Brown coffee which brought back my childhood memory. However, the food is too salty and not impressive. My husband and I were disappointed.