XO

BOO to restaurants that commit to catering events then fail to show, call or make other arrangements!
No, I won’t be supporting your new mgmt, or anything else by you either
(although my boss at Enzo’s thanks you for the opportunity to feed all us hungry reviewers!)
Nice cater fail!

Boo to XO for not posting the we have closed note until they had already moved.
I saw the reviews and decided to head down and give it a try… why not right?
Yup it was closed and this was well over a week ago!!!
Thanks for wasting 15 minutes of my luch so I could waste 5 more deciding what my back up food would be!!!

This place looked promising, not just based on the menu, but also the modern layout, which compliments the Jet hotel it’s located in and even the service as we were sat down. Unlike so many places dealing with Asian food in a contemporary setting, I was happy to not walk in on loud, pounding electronic music and forced ambiance.
The menu first offers up appetizers and an above average tea selection. The tea was high quality (but not highest) and I would have been okay with spending $ 4 on it if they brought a refill of hot water.
Looking towards entrees, you have ramen dishes, noodle dishes and rice dishes. Each offers up the usual concoction of vegetables with chicken, beef, pork, shrimp, duck or tofu and then at XO are typically seasoned with various chilis. They also provide a hot sauce in addition to their house sauce, which is simply a hot sauce with white soy and sugar to calm it down.
Unlike some obviously unrefined palettes, I’ll be quick to point out that this is not dried ramen in a bag aka the mid-​70s rebranding of instant noodles in North America. As a traditional dish, Ramen can be particular in that beyond noodles and soup, each locality in Japan seems to have it’s own approach. The broth here was sparse and I couldn’t place what stock was used (seems more likely they use a neutral broth affected by the ingredients). It was average. If you absolutely love ramen, you’re better served heading to south Denver and visiting Oshima.
I’ve also had both the rice and «exotic» noodles. Both of those, while fresh, suffered from the same problem… the bowls tasted like they were slathered in butter. They were rather large bowls, two helpings worth easily. Therefore, I’m not going to knock the entrée prices, which can range from $ 10 to $ 14.
The one area where I can recommend XO is for lunch. It’s never packed, making it one of the less-​crowded sit-​down options downtown and as I mentioned, the service is good. It offers an alternative to more common selections along the mall and more importantly, they have an $ 8 lunch deal that is an absolute steal. It’s usually 4 – 5 dishes offer the entrée menu that are available for the lunch.

If i could give this place less than a star i would. I can’t believe some of the reviews on here. I must have been at a different spot, but who am I to judge. If you want to pay $ 10 for the $.10 Top Ramen it’s your decision. I ate this stuff through college and really don’t want to relive that cuisine thanks.
Random Fact: This place is garbage
Helpful Hint: Don’t eat here and if you have to enjoy the water, say you are going to the bathroom, and grab a burrito at Pete’s across the street.

I liked XO, but not enough to give it 4 stars. The restaurant has two spaces, one in the back of the Jet Hotel that is sleek, clean, modern and a bit sterile. They also have an outdoor space in the front of the hotel — a great space to watch the evening transition from old business-​types to the young, dumb and full of {use imagination} set. Regardless of who’s out, it is a great perch for quality people watching.
The food is okay. Some good. Some subpar. We started with a plate of yellowtail sashimi. I thought that the flavors were good, but the fish was overseasoned. I think that raw yellowtail doesn’t need much added flavor, just a touch here and there. It resulted in a salty plate that also seemed a tad slim in quantity.
My wife ordered a pork ramen dish. The pork was chewy and rather bland. The broth was an off-​putting blend, overly salted and metallic tasting.
I got the Duck Ramen which I liked a lot. The broth was brilliant — meaty, substantial, and perfect balance of sweet and salt. The produce in the soup was crisp and fresh. My only complaint is that the duck was a bit overcooked.
Service at XO was very attentive and our food was served rather quickly. I will probably try XO again sometime — perhaps lunch to see if things improve — or at least to do more people watching.

Dunno if they mean something else by XO, but their XO sauce is not XO sauce:
Guess it’s our mistake in thinking they use this famous and very tasty Cantonese sauce :(It’s not a bad spicy sauce, though, but just seems like some hot chili oil/​peppers, etc.
XO does a better job than some other asian fusion places around town — the duck and noodles in the ramen were pretty good, as were the noodles, shrimp, chicken and other tasty bits in the yakisoba. Broth was just average, and there was such a little pool of if in her ramen, my wife had to ask for more! It’s a noodle soup!
However, they pair a basic green salad with a very spicy XO salad dressing. It didn’t work for us, so I doubt it’ll work for «normal people». I’m sorry the shimp gyoza were not the explosion of flavors in my mouth that Hans O. had; they were ok, but not freshly-​made tasting, and pretty small.
The dining room is pleasant, but small and not exactly the full downtown modern zen experience I was hoping for. Noodle bar, so think upscale Noodles and company. (I like that chain’s spaces, pretty nice for fast food.)

The idea of XO is nice, high quality ramen noodles. And I really wanted to like this place. Unfortunately the dishes are all to similar in flavor to the $ 0.99 ramen found next to almost any college dorm room microwave. Save yourself $ 13 and go to King Soopers. I believe you’ll find the ramen in aisle 7.

I will never ever go back here! My husband and I just tried to have lunch here, I say «tried» because we were there for almost an hour and we were never able to eat, we had to go, I mean hello LUNCH HOUR. We did take our dishes boxed up and let me tell you the pad Thai we ordered looked like it was a side dish the portion was so small. I ordered something with shrimp in it, is it suppose to be virtually flavorless?
AWFUL!!!
The only good thing was we had a nice waiter, but the poor guy was running around like a chicken with his head cut off.
Never again!!!

I joined a friend for lunch at XO yesterday and was pleasantly surprised with the place. I liked that they had a selection of $ 8 lunch entrees that were delicious and filling, and a bit less expensive than the regular lunch out in downtown Denver (especially with waitstaff).
We sat outside on the patio, so I never saw the inside of the restaurant. I’m not sure what other dining accommodations they have, but the patio seating is great for parties of 2 – 3.
I chose to try the Lemongrass Chicken and a lavender citrus iced tea. Both had nice flavor and arrived very quickly at our table. Our waiter was just fine — we saw him regularly and he seemed attentive and friendly.
The reason I’m not giving a full five stars was because there were two employees waiting outside trying to invite people in to the restaurant and hand out «to-​go» versions of their menu. It meant I got seated right away, but it felt like there was almost way too much attention right when I got there. It was rather intense, and I’m not normally one to notice that.
In summation, I’d love to go again and try some of the other entrees, and I would definitely recommend this to friends.

I ate here for lunch recently and was really impressed with the place and my food. I started with a white ginger pear tea and XO edamame. The XO is a spicy sauce made with Sriracha among other things. It made my edamame quite yummy. And the tea smelled and tasted so deliciously refreshing.
For actual lunch I had a hard time deciding, but eventually opted for the vegetarian fried rice which came with corn, carrots, tofu, edamame, and mushrooms to name a few items. It was also pretty lightly fried which I loved. It wasn’t like traditional fried rice. And really it was much, much better than I expected because the term «fried rice» just means something not as flavorful and healthy feeling as the dish I ate. I think it was all of the vegetables that were in there.
And the service was awesome during my visit. Our server didn’t even blink an eye while I waited for the rest of my party to join me for a few minutes. I appreciate it when people don’t act put out because your whole party isn’t there.
I’d be interested in trying it out for dinner and tasting some of their cocktails on the menu. Plus I really want to try the tantan-​men noodle bowl.

ZEN!
XO is a real find. Classy, sophisticated, stylish. From a design standpoint, they hit everything right. The food is fantastic. The only weak link that kept this to 4 stars instead of 5 is the service, which while well-​meaning and friendly, needs polish.
There are so many great details. One of my favorites is that many of the tables sport live miniature Bonsai trees. The chopsticks are carved twists of fine wood, not balsa wood in paper [although I longed for that paper wrap since there are no hashioki (chopstick rests) to set my chopsticks onto]. Simple things like oval bowls instead of boring round. And a community table! I love a community table.
Here’s the best deal of all…
At lunch, you can get healthy servings of chicken pad thai, shrimp and duck friend rice or vegetable ram-​en (good ram-​en, not like dorm food Top Ramen) for only $ 8.00.
You can enter through the front hotel lobby, but the restaurant also has its own entrance on the alley just a little off the 16^th Street Mall. Almost feels like being in Shanghai and entering a noodle bar on a narrow back street. Except that the entrance is contemporary and very cool. The juxtaposition of the alley transformer relay box and the sleek «back» door is even too trendy for LoDo. Will Denverites «get» it? Gee, I hope so.

I am having mixed feelings about this place, and it has nothing to do with the food. The food was great: beef satay, truffle edamame gyoza, duck ramen, and shrimp and lemongrass ramen. We loved everything and were so excited about the reasonable cost! Nothing on the menu exceeded $ 14. So, in my head I am figuring out about $ 40 – 45 for our meal (before drinks…) Sweet! As the portions are HUGE!
Now, the negs. When I browsed the drink menu I was so excited to see they have sparkling sake! I ordered it, but the server was reluctant to give me any because they were «out». Since we were next to the bar, I could hear him trying to convince the bartender to give me a glass. He came back with about 4 oz. When I finished, he asked if I would like another… I asked if that was possible? Because I did… He went back to the bar and asked the bartender and he said «I told you I was only going to give out one…» …pretty annoyed. When the server came back he had about 2oz for me and said I would be charged accordingly. When the bill came, I was charged about $ 10 per glass… hmmm.
So, out bill came out to about $ 100. RIght when you think your din is going to be reasonable our 4 drinks ended up being 60% of the bill. Just a heads up.
Also, another thing that hit me the wrong way. Our entrees came out 5 min after our apps were served. I was trying to hold out on ordering, but since the place was dead, the server was over every 2 seconds. A little staggering would have been nice.
The server was a nice guy, just need to work out some kinks.
I know that I will be back, because the food and sauces rocked!
I am hoping next time I go, I can bump up the starage!

XO is mind blowing.
If you like Nine75 you will fall in love with XO; youngest restaurant sister of Nine75. The concept of a place to eat, enjoy the time being, surroundings, company, is pretty much the same, very sophisticated, clean yet relaxing environment without the white sand from the Japanese garden. The difference that you’ll spot right when to get into this restaurant is that you’ll go through a tunnel, a bright one, very crisp, very Zen, to a sustainable atmosphere; dark wood, windows everywhere absorbing natural light, crisp furniture, relaxing and inspiring artwork.
Waiting staff is very knowledgeable about what they serve. They will go through few dipping sauces and condiments offered on the table, and explain about every ingredient that goes in it, as well as any item of the menu; their knowledge about sake is impressive! Really worth asking about sake and any item from the menu. I was really impressed about the waiting staff; everyone was very XO’s educated.
Food:
Tried few different appetizers or enticements:
*Beef Satay — flat iron steak, red onion, mixed leaves, cilantro, curry-​peanut sauce
This is not what you are probably used to… XO’s beef satay is incredible! If you have been to Indonesia and Thailand, you can probably relate, it has all Indonesian spices used for satay, the main key is the combination of spices, lime, and red onion and a bit sweetness, then it hits you with Thai flavors, like a hint of lemongrass and cilantro; then flavors get tied up with a layer of peanut sauce on the bottom of the plate, serving as a bed for this skewers and topped off with mixed greens.
*Shrimp Gyoza — black tiger prawns, ginger, leeks, togarashi-​yuzu ponzu
What a twisted experience! XO’s gyoza is a cross breed between Japanese and Chinese dumplings. I was expecting to be filled with ground shrimp, pieces of ginger, some leeks… I was completely wrong! When I sunk my teeth into this gyoza, it was bind blowing; chunks of crisp and crunchy black tiger shrimp — perfectly cooked, embraced by hints of ginger and leeks, topped off with togarashi-​yuzu ponzu, brilliant! Can’t get that in either a good Japanese restaurant, not Chinese… If you can find it in a Chinese restaurant, good luck asking for togarashi-​yuzu ponzu sauce. This Gyoza is perfectly pan fried, and not deep fried like most places.
* Truffled Edamame Gyoza — edamame, truffle, white soy, scallions, superior sauce
I was very curious to know what was and how it looked, since I have never seen it before… Edamame, truffles, gyoza? I love all these ingridients but never seen them together. I’m not going to spoil it, you have to try it. It’s an amazing brilliant combination of ingredients, very mind blowing and completely unexpected… You have to try it.
Dinner:
Had the pleasure to devour one of their signature ramen, the «duck ramen» — ramen, chicken broth, crisp duck, cilantro, bean sprouts, sesame seeds, scallions. The first thing that came to my mind was when west meets east in a very sophisticated way, not negative by any means! Ramen noodles where perfectly cooked and had a nice flavor to it, the broth was light and not overpowering, had a perfect serving amount of bean sprouts, scallions, awesome aroma (very subtle) from cilantro leaves… The duck was perfectly cooked! I really appreciate XO’s approach on the duck, perfectly Asian spiced, but cooked perfectly (crisp skin, slight pinkness in the center) like from any finest western cuisine, and not from an Asian place… WOW!
Overall this place is amazing; never seen a place that would embrace sustainability, great ingredients, perfect execution in everything being served… I can’t wait to go back there and try different dishes of their menu! XO is like a gastronomy spa!

The sake menu is amazing. The food menu, while limited, is well-​executed. I highly recommend the lemongrass chicken and the ginger-​fizzy delight of a cocktail our whole table enjoyed during dinner.